Every time I buy a comic book that lacks diversity, I’m supporting that failure. In 2014, I’m supporting diversity.
I have a confession to make: I’m an accomplice to the misrepresentation and under-representation of women and minorities in comic books. Not only comic books, but also, the movies, cartoons, and television shows that stem from those characters. I’m guilty and I want to turn myself in.
No, I’m not on any conference calls with DC Comics executives saying, “Think Don Draper in spandex. Let’s keep it white, let’s keep it male, and let’s keep it hetero. Oh, and by the way, get those necklines a little lower on the lady hero. How’s she supposed to fight crime if her breasts aren’t exposed?”
When I flip through my comic book collection, that’s exactly what my $2.99 has been saying.
After a quick glance, I have 42 different comic book titles in my collection. Of those 42, six feature women as the title characters or as co-equal members of a team. Of those 42, eight feature minorities as the title characters or as co-equal members of a team. (Caveat: These are mostly DC Comics. I have a feeling that Marvel might fare a little better because they focus on superhero teams a little more. More freedom for diversity if you can still trot out a white male for the cover on occasion. Think: Wolverine and the X-Men.)
The Mary Sue, a spectacular website, highlighted a new graphic novel about Black Canary and Zatanna written by Paul Dini. Paul Dini is famous for writing tons of DC Comics cartoons, along with the comics, Harley Quinn and Black Canary. Paul Dini was writing for a cartoon on Cartoon Network, and the executives stressed that boys and girls like a different kind of humor and a different kind of action. As Dini and the other creators began to focus on the girls in the show, something funny happened: girls and families began to watch. The network executives told him that they have “too many girls” and to re-focus the show on what boys supposedly want to see. He expanded the audience too much and was told to start alienating large groups of the population. Seriously? What kind of a business decision is that? Well, it’s this kind: The race car you designed is too fast; we want you to slow it down. Or: This salad is too healthy; drench it in some bacon grease.
So, I want to make this bad business model into an even worse one. For 2014, I’m only buying comic books with a woman or minority on the cover. That means as a main character or as a creator, but preferably both. This might seem extreme, but I haven’t been buying comics very much lately, so it should also serve to get me back into a medium that I love. This might seem completely inconsequential considering the millions of dollars that these companies pull in. Well, that’s because it is fairly inconsequential, but I’m a consumer and I vote with my dollar.
So, here’s a partial list of what I’m excited about in 2014:
Batgirl (New 52): Written by Gail Simone, and everything she touches is dope. Also, Batgirl’s roommate is a trans woman. Triple Points for Batgirl.
Saga: This is an Image Comics title following two parents fleeing a galactic war with their newborn daughter. Billed as “Star Wars meets Game of Thrones”. Consider me sold. Illustrated quite beautifully by Fiona Staples. Also, all Image titles are creator-owned. Triple Points for Saga.
Pretty Deadly: Another Image Comics title. Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Emma Rios. “Part folklore, part fairy tale and part western.” Follows the main character who is the daughter of Death and a gunslinger. Quadruple Points for Pretty Deadly.
Stay tuned for a more extensive list of comic books that excite me in 2014, and possibly, some reviews as I start reading.
Note: I’m not trying to throw any shade at heterosexual white male heroes. Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern. And, to paraphrase Whitney Houston: I will always love The Flash.
Photo— Flickr/ JD Hancock
Men outnumber women incredibly in the armed forces, police, fire, dangerous “heroic” type jobs so it’s only natural that comic book inspiration would have mostly males on the roster. Action movies, etc are largely male for that reason. Whilst superheroes aren’t real, the battles are nearly always male on male just like real life with war, etc. The minority part would probably be worse, although is it proportional to the population distribution by race? eg if whites are X%, blacks are Y% but they only have Z% of black characters which is less than Y% then that’d be a much… Read more »
re Heimdall, at least, aren’t the Marvel Asgardians interdimensional aliens rather than Norse deities? (I’m phrasing this as a question more for politeness’s sake than anything else: yes, they are.) So skin color is kind of completely irrelevant there, even setting aside the dubious historicity of *all* Norse being white. Also, if you think women are outnumbered in ‘heroic’ type jobs, possibly you should consider the (a) pain tolerance and fortitude required for childbirth and (b) sheer lifesaving capabilities of the medical profession and battlefront nurses. Heroes gain that status because they save lives, guard others, protect those weaker than… Read more »
But the types of heroes portrayed here aren’t medics, they’re heroes and super-heroes fighting Hitler on steroids, aliens, etc. The heroes who literally fight dominate the top movie charts.
(Totally not talking about movies. Talking about comic books. The source material has to change before the movie adaptations of it do.) 1. Women have in fact literally fought throughout human history. Warrior queens, female warriors, female soldiers — it’s a thing. It happens. World War II alone has a ton of examples. Look up the Night Witches of Soviet Russia. Look up the women who flew for France or England. Look up Mona Parsons, Nancy Wake, Hannah Szenes, Vera Atkins, Noor Inayat Khan, Violette Szabo, Krystyna Skarbek, Christine Granville, and Constance Markievicz, just for starters. Hell, look at the… Read more »