Comments | 90scartoonman: A Word On Black Heroes

90scartoonman

A Word On Black Heroes

Mar 16, 2006 22:40

I probably should've done this for black history month, but I was too mad at Reggie Hudlin. Mad at him for what exactly? Not living up to Christopher Priest's great run on Black Panther? Writing the worst parts of the Spider-Man Other crossover? Pushing this Storm/Black Panther relationship? All of the above? I dunno.

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marvel comics, black characters, rant, cartoons, dc comics

Comments 8

mattzimmer March 17 2006, 13:52:21 UTC

I like the diveristy in JLU too. There are a lot of different colors on the team and that is just cool. I like that even for the alien characters the producers have been cool about casting people of color (African American Carl Lumbly for J'onn J'onnz and Hispanic Maria Canals for Shayera). I think JLU is pretty neat that way.

90scartoonman March 17 2006, 23:48:59 UTC

Yeah, JLU is brilliant like that. Phil Lamarr is great, but I'm glad they got another African American voice actor for Mr. Terrific. Hey, doesn't a black guy do the voice of Vandal Savage?

mtgat March 17 2006, 14:25:13 UTC

The nice thing about JL was even though, demographically, John could have been a token character, he was given the most spotlight episodes, the best roles, and he tied with Diana for most character development. Going off of screen time and percentages of "saving the day," there's a strong argument to be made that he was the primary hero in the ensemble, which is pretty fascinating considering who else was there.

It's not just superhero teams, though. Most of genre television is the same way. The original BSG and DS9 are the only two shows I can easily think of who had multiple black male characters in primary roles. (I'm stretching for BSG, as the original Boomer didn't really get much spotlight time.) I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the backgrounds of the people writing the comcics/shows. Throw in a token minority. Throw in a token female. Everyone else is a white guy. It's changing as the makeup of the writers and producers change, but it's a slow process.

90scartoonman March 17 2006, 23:57:49 UTC

Green Lantern is easily one of the most developed heroes in the entire DCAU. Unlike Batman, who's been in so much and only has a few key moments, GL's screen time isn't wasted. I never even thought of the "saving the day" thing (I always thought of Flash as the guy to come through when the chips are down, but that's just due to "Eclipsed" and "Divided We Fall", probably ( ... )

What do you all think of Black Superheroes having the word "Black" in their names? style92 March 17 2006, 21:52:05 UTC

Like Black Lightning, Black Panther, or Black Vulcan ( ... )

Re: What do you all think of Black Superheroes having the word "Black" in their names? 90scartoonman March 18 2006, 00:09:23 UTC

Not to mention Black Goliath, Black Manta, and Black Marvel. Speaking of Black Marvel, did you ever watch the Fox Spider-Man series? Black Marvel was part of a group of superheroes from World War II. His identity (and his race) was secret, but he chose to call himself Black Marvel as a point of pride (he was in the comics too, but I don't know if there was a similar explanation). So yeah, I like your idea. It may not make much sense for heroes today, but it certainly would fifty years ago.

Sounds like the makings of a good story!

Hey, Aboriginee, Black... same thing anonymous March 27 2006, 01:19:17 UTC

Hey I'm Aboriginee, so Bishop does count! Thank you very much. He didn't mean it Bishop... don't break his nose.

Re: Hey, Aboriginee, Black... same thing 90scartoonman March 27 2006, 04:19:42 UTC

Fine, fine, he DOES count.