This is a comment by Jacobtk on the post “This was really a way for DC to play liberal politics to shut up one side and to play to the fanbase.”

Equal representation is not storytelling, and it is not what comics are about nor should it be. Equal representation is simply playing identity politics, and that only appeals to a niche audience that rarely buys comics, including comics featuring the politically correct characters they demanded.

I can appreciate people wanting characters to look like them, but that argument works in the reverse. If you cannot identify with characters who do not reflect your life or experiences, how can you expect other people to care about or identify with characters who do not reflect their lives or experiences, let alone expect them to support people changing characters they do identify with just to appeal to another group?

People should set aside the identity politics and just worry about telling good stories with good characters because a good story with good characters will take care of the rest.

And for the record, I have read comics for as long as I remember, and I have been a Batman fan since I was five. It was partly my love for Batman, a character I am nothing like, that helped me get through 14 years of abuse. So I am well of aware of the importance a character can have on a child. I am also aware of what it feels like to have a character you love retconned for no good reason.

Photo credit: Flickr / heschong