Checking the dates (it was posted on the 25th, and linked on the 27th), I count 5 comments by 4 people condemning it before Cheryl Lynn showed up (on the 26th). After she made her point, she got some agreement and a second thread was started by a commenter who had much the same point. That’s 6 people commenting before it was linked on the antiracism community, and 4 had immediate reaction that agreed with the original post.

As for the rest of the readers, they were silent and there is no guessing at their thoughts. But of the vocal readers, a 2/3 majority felt that it was not the Storm they loved and with that ratio I would call the majority “Many.”

To be fair, I don’t recall Black women back in the 80s wearing mohawks to be rebellious. That’s more of a White punk culture thing.

The issue many are skirting is that Storm’s earlier portrayals were based on IMAGINED Black culture and experience (African or African-American). So, some non-Black fans steeped in Marvel continuity naturally are shocked when they are exposed to real Black culture and experiences…like Storm dealing with the “Is your hair a weave?” question.

I could go on, but comic vet Christopher Priest has already beaten me to the punch:

http://phonogram.us/comics/powerfist.htm

http://phonogram.us/comics/adventures/frames/chips3.htm

And Ben isn’t the source of the comments in the McDuffie issue, he’s only the messenger.

A friend walking up and basically saying “Jamie Q from Accounting said that you’re wearing a wig, is that true?” is just as offensive, if not more so, than Jamie Q saying it to your face.

Also note that there’s a big difference between Harmony saying she would like her own hair to look like Storm’s, as opposed to, say, asking Storm where she bought the wig.

And Ben isn’t the source of the comments in the McDuffie issue, he’s only the messenger.

“Is a background on women and their feelings about hair really necessary?”

Clearly my opinion is: Yes.
Maybe I am strange because I am male and have had my hair groped and fondled by women (envious of it’s curl and softness), but then again none of the people I share a house with got it either so maybe I’m not.

I am however, certainly bothered that everyone is very eager to assume if someone in the audience didn’t get it, clearly it’s their fault.

“A writer can’t explain every motivation behind a character, all he can do is demonstrate it.”

And thus… explain it. Furthermore there is no one saying he has to explain every motivation, just ones that he’s going to spend two pages or more on or be ground breaking character development.

Lisa:

“Jkarabella — You mean the later comments which were made after Cheryl Lynn linked the post on an anti-racism community?”

Well yes, those are the vast majority of the 100+ on there and explains the sudden influx. But before Cheryl linked to it there were just as many reader comments praising the scene as condemning it.

And two readers out of 135 (plus however many watch the RSS) is still not “many”.

http://i15.tinypic.com/6bvil1l.jpg

Her “silent sigh” suggests that it’s a question she’s gotten before, and is more than a little tired of.

And I’d hardly call Ben Grimm a “nobody.” I’ve always figured that the X-Men and FF have had a relationship of mutal respect at the very least, and warm comraderie as well. Someone you respect asking you an irritating question is much worse than some nobody doing it. The person you respect should know better.

Questioning someone’s appearance isn’t always superficial or trivial. That sort of thing is an insult just like calling someone fat or a coward.

I don’t think it’s very out of character at all.

And even if we’re being charitable, and ignoring certain other icky factors that Hudlin brought to the table, for McDuffie to have Storm “wig out” over such a superficial, trivial thing as some nobody questioning her appearance… it’s just deeply, deeply out of character. And if you take that in conjunction with what Hudlin’s been doing with her over in “Black Panther”, it paints a much uglier picture.

There’s only so much that can be communicated. Is a background on women and their feelings about hair really necessary?

If you didn’t understand the background, then “sexist/vain” wasn’t the best conclusion to jump to. A writer can’t explain every motivation behind a character, all he can do is demonstrate it. And if he demonstrates it, then for somebody out there it’s going to be the first time that they see it. The reader does have some responsibility to ask “why did she react that way, is there any possible good reason for it,” before assuming the worst.

The thing that’s weird to me is that people had such a strong reaction to this at all. If a female character is shown worrying about her appearance an inordinate amount of times, that I can understand worrying about. When people get upset the very first time it happens, it seems to me like they’re expecting not just super-human powers, but super-human patience. I *like* seeing Storm have a sore spot about something. She can’t be super calm and capable about everything.

Jkarabella — You mean the later comments which were made after Cheryl Lynn linked the post on an anti-racism community?

Many Manstream readers? There were three of us who commented that it read as sexist/vain to us if you count the Manstream operator/admin who posted it initially. There were more black Manstream readers who enjoyed the scene commenting on it.

And if you read, once the extent of the hair invasion issue was explained both of the readers of Manstream changed their view to that it was not that Storm didn’t have a right to be as angry as she did, but that scene did not communicate the background behind her anger to readers who were not in a position to know about it.

I realize what it looks like from the comments visible on the top level but really it is different once you read in depth.

Actually, the writer, Dwayne McDuffie, is a black American male. That means he may have been more comfortable writing that than, say, I would.

I was actually thinking the other day that it would be funny if someone found out that Reed is actually 6 inches shorter than he appears. Over the years he’s been gradually making himself taller and nobody noticed.

Now, I’m a man so I don’t really know how true this scene is…but it makes sense to me that a woman who was being accused of basically faking her hair would want to defend herself. Also, I remember more than a few issues where she would be brushing her hair as a form of soothing herself. So I think its also part of the character.

Again…I would have to re-read much of late 80s/early 90s x-men to find the issues with those scenes in them…but I’m pretty sure they are out there.

I see where Cheryl’s coming from with her interpretation, but I disagree with her implicit suggestion that Storm has never been depicted in the context of African-American culture (or rather, that fans have never been receptive to such attempts).

The thing is, as far back as I can remember, Storm wasn’t “Americanized” in the sense that her African heritage was left behind (the way, one might argue, Magneto’s ethnic identity has become so muddled and confused). Now, I’ll certainly concede that there’s a lot more to Africa than the tribal-earth-mother-goddess-slaughter-chickens-in-your-name material Claremont used to work with when establishing the character, but I do feel it was an authentic attempt at depicting someone who comes from another culture and isn’t being assimilated/consumed by the WASP world.

McDuffie’s mistake was taking a situation that, as Cheryl says, certainly should resonate with women (and probably would have seemed humorous with, say, Sue or Emma Frost), and grafting it onto a character who’s never been defensive or even concerned about her appearance. Let’s not forget that Storm wore a mohawk and leather for most of the ’80s, just because she felt like it. So it just rings false to me.

I didn’t even read the particular issue in question, so I’m not commenting from the P.O.V. of someone who saw the representation (and I’m not saying she was vain or the comment indicates she was vain — I’m just asking if it is possible perhaps there was that perception from some of the readers).

Any idiot could look at her hair and tell it was natural, and the way I phrased the question didn’t come out right at all. Her reaction was, “I’m so tired of people asking me that,” and she rolled her eyes in frustration. It was obvious that she’d heard that question many, many times before and was sick of hearing it.

That’s why I laughed when I read those panels. I’ve been in Ben’s place. It also made me like Storm more than I ever have before. Seeing an extremely capable woman have a sore spot about something made her feel a lot more human.

1. White comic fans can’t accept well rounded characters who don’t look like them.

2. Comics are irrelevent and even hostile to mainstream Black readers and their experiences.

So, McDuffie and Marvel made the right call by keeping the scene in FF #547. That took a lot of guts.

Besides, the scene IS funny.