Brad MacKay did a piece for The Toronto Star on the dearth of black superheroes. Unfortunately, they edited it a bit too much (it happens) so Brad posted the original, unhacked piece on his blog. It includes some really good quotes from Reginald Hudlin:
“Listen [black characters] are important, not just for black readers but for white readers too,” he says. That’s why “It’s no surprise that the most struggling medium of them all, comic books, is the one that has the hardest time embracing black culture…It’s like Spider-Man, is The Beatles. Now the Beatles are classic – I love the Beatles. But if you’re a record company and all you have is The Beatles, that’s bad. Where are your Alicia Keyes, your 50 Cents, your Kanye Wests? There’s nothing else? There’s this huge public culture going on that they are blissfully unaware of.”
Lots of other choice quotes in the link. Check it out, it’s a really good article.
March 20th, 2007 at 10:58 am
On Talk@ it was pretty much decided that it was an uneducated article.
March 20th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
It would be nice if Hudlin offered some examples of who the comic book superhero equivalent of Alicia Keys or 50 Cent would be? I was under the impression that the black characters in comics had a pretty diverse range of personalities and backgrounds. I guess we need more black superheroes who…what…have a good singing voice or write misogynistic rap songs?
What the hell is Hudlin talking about?
March 20th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Heroes (male, female, black, white etc.) in general have to have something that strikes a cord with the reader. That “It” factor a.k.a good storytelling. In this case black super heores had been relegated to sidekickism, and had little development in terms of characterization.
Hudlin’s work has made Black Panther a character with depth and appeal, as Chris Priest did previously. Bendis’s take on Luke Cage is very good unlike the Arazzelo’s abysmal work on “Cage”.
If we’re talking about a Barack Obama of black super heroes. I think it’ll be a matter of time before that creator/writer comes along.
But right now let’s continue to develop the existing characters Falcon, Photon, Tigra, Firestorm, and Jakeem Thunder.
March 20th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Also Static Shock was the top-rated Sat. morning cartoon on WB kids.
March 20th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
“But right now let’s continue to develop the existing characters Falcon, Photon, Tigra, Firestorm, and Jakeem Thunder.”
Don’t forget Steel, Natasha Irons, Misty Knight, Black Lightning, Storm, Amanda Waller, Bumblebee, Cyborg, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Mr. Terrific II, Spectre III, Vixen, Bishop, and hundreds more black characters.
None of whom have “depth and appeal”? Please.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Mr. Terrific is the best black superhero in print right now… he simply kicks ass… heck… isn’t he leading the entire JSA?!?!?
March 20th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Not only that, he’s the “third smartest man in the world”.
Not exactly sure how they determined that…or who number two or number one are (possibly Batman and Lex Luthor?). Fantastic character….whose skin color makes absolutely no difference to me. Wasn’t that the goal of the Civil Rights Movement?
March 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Yes, there’s very few black superheroes with “depth and appeal.” There’s needs to be more.
And I think what Hudlin was talking about, from your previous post, are more black superheroes on the level of a Superman and a Batman, or a Spider-Man. Currently, there are none at this level.
And “Where are your Alicia Keyes, your 50 Cents, your Kanye Wests?” To me that translates into where are the “cool,” contemporary black superheroes (read: not created 30 or more years ago) that can be marketed to a black audience today.
Not to “who…what…have a good singing voice or write misogynistic rap songs?”
We each read what we want into things, though, of course.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
“Don’t forget Steel, Natasha Irons, Misty Knight, Black Lightning, Storm, Amanda Waller, Bumblebee, Cyborg, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Mr. Terrific II, Spectre III, Vixen, Bishop, and hundreds more black characters.”
You’re absolutely right, and there was no intention of slighting them. There are also the other MilestoneMedia heroes (my personal favorite Icon). The ones I mentioned were the ones that immediately came to mind who need more developing.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
“And I think what Hudlin was talking about, from your previous post, are more black superheroes on the level of a Superman and a Batman, or a Spider-Man. Currently, there are none at this level.”
Yes, but the question is, how do we *get* a black superhero to that level. There’s no magic formula for creating a new character and having him hit 100k sales every month. It’s not like DC can just say, “OK, now let’s make a black character who is just as popular as Superman.”
March 20th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Yeah, it’s not easy to do.
But you start by creating more black characters, and using the ones that are already here - and “fixing” them if necessary.
Of course, and as pointed out in the article, black superheroes continue to flounder in this market. So to fix that you need to expand the market.
So you need more and better black superheroes, and you need a bigger market, one that’s more diverse.
And, yes, none of this is easy.
March 20th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Er… Tigra’s a white woman.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:27 am
Lets keep it real, here. The point isn’t to set out creating Black characters just to claim diversity.
It sounds a lot like affirmative action when it’s played that way. Likely the best point in the whole article is to just write strong Black characters that the general audience can get down with.
There are always going to be cats out there who favor the classics — let them have that. Some people dig the past and could care less about today, or the future. If their flavor is old-n-busted, it’s all good. There is still an audience for new original flavor formations.
Those in the market who are willing to stretch a little for some solid Comics content are likely to get on board with Black characters written for todays readership.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:44 am
Bahlactus said:
“There are always going to be cats out there who favor the classics — let them have that. Some people dig the past and could care less about today, or the future. If their flavor is old-n-busted, it’s all good. There is still an audience for new original flavor formations.
Those in the market who are willing to stretch a little for some solid Comics content are likely to get on board with Black characters written for todays readership.”
Man, you must have read UVC #1. In that issue of the comic fanzine, creator Mark Davis (Blokhedz) echoed your comments that the nostalgic comic fan doesn’t represent everyone interested in the medium. There is a growing number of fans desiring Black superheroes or any superhero for that matter who are more contemporary. (This would explains manga’s success in the USA.) This fact motivated him along with Mike Davis (his brother) and writer Bradon Schultz to create Blokhedz in the first place. It also motivates them to market and sell the book in unconventional venues (barbershops, teen centers, etc.) as well as strike a deal with book giant Simon & Schuster to publish the book in the mass market.
The success of Static, John Stewart and Blade outside comics indicates that Black heroes CAN be very popular. The issue is whether the comic industry is willing to explore new ideas and business strategies to tap into that audience.
Frankly, I think that indy Black creators like Mark Davis are the ones who will the lead in making comics break out of its direct market ghetto and get back into the mainstream.
September 21st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
As an avid comic book reader the biggest disparity I see is the lack of powerful Black superheroes. All of the most powerful characters are White. These are the characters that get the epic story lines. Characters like the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Superman, and even Wonder Woman have major roles in comic stories. Most of the Black characters have powers that keep them limited to bit players in major comic story lines. Black Panther, Power Man, and Black Lightening for instance are great characters in their own rights but their “level of power” in comic book story-telling limits the roles they play. Hence they will never gain the level of popularity that the more powerful White characters have.