It helps to have something to identify with in a character. Skin color is just one of many ways in which to identify. Most black characters (older ones, at least) have gone through many of the issues that black people in the real world deal with, so it can engender empathy, leading to a possible predominantly black fanbase.
Still, writers don't play up race as much as they once did, so in most publications I feel like it's a non-issue. I'm much more likely to identify with a character's personality traits or nuances of their character than because of, say, what nationality or region they come from.
I mean blade and black panther are two o fmy favorite heroes because the skin color helps me to indentify..like I can understand why blade was in disbelief when he found out he was half white...which is pretty funny actually
No. It may be easier to identify or relate to a character which you share more in common whether it be race, religion, politics, etc. But if a person said I didn't like character X because his skin color is Y then I'd consider that a racist point of view.
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I wouldn't say I like or dislike any character more because of any specific race but I do find characters with different aspects to their character much more intriguing than say your run of the mill leading white male christian heterosexual characters.
For instance, I love Captain America because he's a blonde haired blue eyed freedom fighter against Nazi's who see him as their version of perfection. And I love Northstar because he was one of the very first openly and almost celebrated homosexual characters but even more so because despite this they don't stop form still writing him as just a kickass character regardless of his sexual preference. I loved Patriot because he's almost the exact opposite of Steve and still stands for the same thing against the same people. And I absolutely love Micheal Holt because he's so kick ass and despite meeting the Spectre himself he's still very much an Atheist.
So I don't love characters more or less because of what they are but I do love them more for being different things.
I remember someone once accused me of being racist because I was bitching and moaning about Micheal Duncan Clark playing the kingpin because the kingpin was white. I'd always pictured John Goodman playing Wilson Fisk. Anyway this actually really bothered at first because for a second it actually made me question if it was being racist. But then I realised I'd be just as pissed if a white guy played the part of T'Challa, Blade, Luke Cage or John Steward.
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Its not exactly racist... you can't exactly fault some for having an easier time relating to characters that have more in common with them.
Me? I couldn't careless about skin colour... but I'm much, much more inclined to read a book based on a Canadian character than one of any other nationality. Its one of the man reasons Marvel gets much more of my money then DC... since apparently Canada doesn't exisit in the DC universe.
alot of my favourite characters are white, that's true, but i don't think skin colour was ever a deciding factor... i mean, i always liked jim rhodes more than tony stark, purely because i thought his armour looked more badass...
For me its not the deciding factor in itself, it would be combined with other factors such as personality, powers, costume etc.
I would not like a black character specifically and soley on the reason that he was black.
To be quite honest I dont see how thats racism. It would be racism if I actually believed that just by being a black superhero that automatically made him better than white superheroes.
Hell some people prefer to date certain races, is that racism?
Last edited by Phantom Zone on Jul 12th, 2008 at 12:01 PM
why would it be racist racism is defined as: hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Its not hating the other comic book characters, when a majority of superheroees are white american though its hard to indentify whih is why they are adding more variety, like the blue beetle becoming hispanic, like having a black superman, and isnt batgirl asian?
It's a complicated thing to address simply because it's a complex topic. One thing I've noticed in the tangent Superman comics is that they don't really touch upon Harvey's skin color (after they named the experiment that created him) at least to this point. He's simply referred to as SuperMAN.
Personally, I find that adding racial diversity is refreshing as long as it's not done just to have "token" character of a given race.
Harvey is a great character overall. He's being granted great depth and seems like a powerful character (personality wise in this instance.)
Kyle Rayner, My favorite GL, when it was revealed that he had latin roots, I thought that was great and well done. Particularly since I relate to that character already.
Eradicator. Now this was a funny one. When DC decided to give Eradicator a latin (seeminly Puerto Rican) heritage (family) living in the Bronx, it was so poorly done that it turned me off to the character. It felt forced and wrong and took away from the character.
So basically, diversity is a good thing..as long as it's not simply done for diversity's sake or in poor taste.
To choose a Superman simply because of color..well, that's a bit extreme. Kal started it all and Harvey already has a very interesting history to him. Being a Supes fan, it's great.
There's always the shogun of steel...lol
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Jul 11th, 2008 10:37 PM
