The Lost Essay Found! - Luke Cage's Mouth...

[scottwoods]

I found it!  it's not online anymore, but I found the text.  Whew!

This was the essay I wrote for Comic World News back in 2002 about black superheroes in the comic marketplace.  This is an addendum to the conversation that was going on the other day around these parts about Black Panther.  This is more about how I hate Luke Cage than it is about BP

Comments

[bobdapoet]

Thanks for this, this was a great read.

[scottwoods]

Thank you for taking the time to read it! I was scared that, since CWN didn't have it up online anymore, that I was going to have to re-type it one day. Then I found it while cleaning out my computer last night. So I'm happy about that.

Looking at it now, it holds up pretty well, but now there are so many other considerations that didn't exist at the time, so some of the points aren't as valid as they used to be. They've done great things with diversity in the animated comic stuff.

This is a great dinner conversation this week

[bobdapoet]

I was going to ask you about some of those changes since 2002, but I'll save it for Austin, and dinner one night.

Re: This is a great dinner conversation this week

[bobdapoet]

that's me :)

[kyooverse]

have you perused Azzerello's Loveless? That made me and my partner's heads spin.

Also... there's something kinda wack about the language in 100 Bullets I think. Like, he nailed the white characters, but the characters of color? I forget brothaman's name, but sometimes, I couldn't understand a word out of his mouth because it was so bad and forced... to me

[dj_muse]

I used to be married to a comic person (not as in he was "comic" although he thought his jokes were funny) and we had discussions about the really poor representation in mainstream comics. From what he said, it sounded a lot like what you're saying, and I know a lot of it comes back to white, geeky fanboys being the main audience.

You could argue this is why the portrayal of women (of any background) is so ridiculous (let's not get started on the barbie-doll figures and worse, either). I think it comes down to a need for people to be able to represent themselves accurately in the medium. Making a nuanced, accurate view of any character in a mainstream comic is hard enough, but when you don't even have enough knowledge of where the character might be coming from, it's that much more difficult.

That said, I think women get a better portrayal in indie comics because there are a lot more women creating them. I really believe change will come first to the indies way before it goes mainstream.

[edcunard]

Just as good today as it was then, Scott. Maybe better.

beautiful essay

[anonymous]

heartfelt and right on the money about most things. i do think you missed the point of a lot of blood syndicate, though... but that's just me, 'cause i wrote the stuff. you should read the essay i wrote for the dc comics in-house magazine and the heat i got for just suggesting that maybe folks of color didn't get fair representation (they stopped the presses and added a half sheet rebuttal before the first issue even go out).

Re: beautiful essay

[scottwoods]

So, wait, so you're Ivan Velez, Jr.? Consider it a pleasure to "meet" you! How ever did you find this old thing?

For the record, I thought the book was just starting to find its legs when it got cancelled.