Why Diversity in Comics is Much More Important Than You Think

yea we need more. do you think the list you gave is huge?

Khan has been exposed for that long neither has the new archetype for Alan Scott. Most characters do fail. only a few books are mainstays anyway and most been popular before posters here were born. A commitment to a character is needed. Not a "well they're not hugely successful right away, dump it".

I'm all for diversity, I just hate it when it's done with "politically correct" motives behind it.

I don't understand some of the comments left by the posters who say that race doesn't matter. It does matter. People like you and I are writing these stories with these characters in it. When there is a limited number of characters of a certain race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, etc. perception of those kinds of people become limited, and we will become judgmental based only on the portrayals we see. When you only see one kind of black person in movies and on TV, you'll think that's all there is to black people because that is all you are exposed to. Black people aren't all thugs, hispanic people aren't all border-hoppers or carpenters, and there are many things about Muslims that we don't know about because the media is focused on limiting our perception of them.

When all we ever get to learn about an entire culture is only one story, then we all lose out in real life, and from the looks of some of these comments, I would say we still need to learn.

On the subject of what the big two are doing, I agree they are doing a great job. Finally, after all these years, John Stewart is headlining his own Green Lantern book, the Justice League has what Cyborg, who, if DC gets their acts together, has the potential to be the biggest minority hero out now, and they have more (not necessarily better) representation of women.

Marvel is doing their best too right now. Soon, we will have two comics starring women of color, which is probably the most ever at one time in the history of the big two, and the two characters are integral parts of the Marvel Universe (Kamala less so, but she's getting there). They also have I think 6 comics starring women. They have also portrayed gay people well in Young Avengers.

These companies are making baby steps towards the solution of getting comics where they should be. Now it is up to the audience to help them get there as well.

@carolina574 said: "Some people, for example, were mad when a writer made Shatterstar "gay" (he's actually bisexual and polyamorous), but IMHO, it made the character much more interesting than the rather forgettable "swordsman"-type character he was before".

so shatterstar became more interesting because he shags dudes? REALLY??? I disagree ...i think it did nothing for that boring hero ...were you reading x-force to see who he slept with ???

Here's my problem:

we already have characters like Cyborg, Falcon, black manta, Spawn, Cloak, Luke Cage, War Machine, etc. do we need more?

It depends.

Miles Morales was introduced in an appropriate way. it wasn't so extreme where it seemed like a money grab. Peter Parker died, and he needed to be replaced. Miles is a GOOD character. He's written really well and the storyline isn't about his skin color. Peter needed to be replaced anyways so it kind of had to be done one way or another. although Miles probably has more readers due to the diversity issue.

Characters like New-52 Wally West and Kamala Khan however....are pathetic. Now, I don't mean any of this in a racist way. at all. I just simply feel it was stupid to just randomly bring in Kamala Khan. the News covered the story all over! I really doubt the Muslim comic reader population was like "hm. we need a superhero of our ethnicity." Marvel did it for the money. it's simple as that and it wasn't necessary. at all. same with DC's decision to make Wally West Hispanic/American. I found it as an excuse for money. It's kinda sad that the whole company goes into a fiasco about what to do and how to make everyone happy. I mean I hate the Peter/Mary Jane marriage breakup, I even wrote into the book about how angered I was, and they AREN'T changing it. so why must they go into some politically correct mode and make sure that they make a character for everyone, if no one is complaining? the comic market is usually just for that culture of people, so The marriage storyline would affect storylines more. The characters are there because they know they can attract mainstream media thus upping the sales by doing so.

I'm not sure if someone actually did complain about not having a Muslim superhero, but from what I've heard and researched, it was completely out of the blue. And I don't have anything against racially diverse character. I only complain when it is written out of the blue, with no reason. If it was written that Wally West had a kid, and he was part Hispanic, then ok. that's fine. I might even read it. But to change the character altogether? is THAT really necessary? Another reason I think these changes are made all for money is that we know Marvel tries to profit off of it's money until they can't anymore with their. I still see ads from Captain America 2 in my comics. that movie is out of theatres! Also, Marvel NOW! has a black nick Fury jr. clearly in model of the movie counterpart. But isn't their already one in the Ultimate universe? My only logical explanation for this besides a money grab, is that Marvel thought people would want to read about black Nick Fury since Samuel L. Jackson plays him, and rather than them reading a non-main continuity story, they'd want to put him in the main universe, in which the movies are based off of.

And the factor that the characters are "for the future" is a bunch of crap in my opinion. ok, so it might mean something is going to be remembered about the character. but likely not. Does anyone talk about Gay Green-Lantern from Earth 2 anymore? no. It's done and over with. DC got it's 15 minutes of Mainstream fame, and then it was back to only affecting the comic market's thoughts. So why do they try anymore? as it is, no one cares about the Kamala Khan thing anymore. Now it's Wally West. a continuing cycle it seems like to just get money.

honestly being a minority (hispanic) and collecting comics since the late 70's nobody gives a crap what colors the heroes are and changing their race is corny, also making legacy heroes and making them a minority is dumb sometimes ...it works for mr. terrific but on ms. marvel its weak ...it feels forced ...just create new heroes that are black hispanic asian or gay dont make kid flash hispanic/ black that's wack ...it feels forced ...making black manta black was cool when it was done because his voice on the cartoon sounded black and black was in his name ...changing a white ms.marvel to cap marvel just to create an islamic ms marvel ...weak... creating baz an islamic green lantern felt cool in the context of that storyline ...sometimes it works ....but comic fans can tell when its done right. human torch black with a white sister for the movie just because the director worked with micheal b jordan ...dumb ....please just create new heroes that are minorities with original origins ...kid flash ....a mistake .....john stewart and james rhodes cool because it was done in the context of those books without replacing the original hero altogether ...miles morales cool ..they should have made a new speedster not wally as a hipanic/black man ...just a new hero ...dc please dont make donna troy black or asian next .

This has to be the most comments in Comic Vine history, nice

maybe their motives are less about equality and more about money. I would think they have been other ethnicity's wallets for some time now. there have always been changes to characters I don't know why their ethnic background is a major sore spot. Ollie being liberal didn't/doesn't hurt him. Its actually apart of character now. the way most people would describe him.

It would seem the major publishers agree with you gotta get into those minority wallets too dont they? Characters that have existed for decades shouldnt be completely remade just to try to appeal to a new audience just create a completely new character

I like Miles Morales, because he's a new character. He's not some already established character that they changed their ethnicity for no reason. He's such a great character!

I agree, as well. I don't have any problem changing a character when there is a good mechanism for doing so that fits within the context of the universe they're in. Some people, for example, were mad when a writer made Shatterstar "gay" (he's actually bisexual and polyamorous), but IMHO, it made the character much more interesting than the rather forgettable "swordsman"-type character he was before.

When I was younger, I was a huge X-Men fan, and Storm was one of my favorite characters. It wasn't until I talked to some female readers who expressed their discomfort with the character for having blue eyes and white (basically platinum blond) hair that I started to realize how important having a character that looked like you could be to allowing you access to the power fantasy offered by most superhero comics. As I got older, I started appreciating characters that allowed others to do this like Monica Rambeau, Steel, Vaporlock and T'Challa, and a multitude of other characters that weren't necessarily my race, sexuality, or sex.

Sometimes, the most important thing to do is make sure there is a bunch of characters who look different and come from different backgrounds - that allows people from a larger variety of different backgrounds to have a character to provide a heroic archetype.

Great article. I agree diversity is very important but not when they impose upon already established characters.

I would rather read about interesting new characters, new powers and new names.If they are well written and illustrated, they will sell.

Picking up a new fan base by hijacking well established characters only alienates and potentially loses the established fan base.

exactly. DC is clueless half the time.

@captainmarvel4ever: That only proves my point. Green Arrow survived because DC

Put more effort into ensuring he survived. He wasn't selling well at all until Lemire came along. They didn't put a fraction of that effort into certain characters despite making promises to the contrary. To say that they should just give up on attempting to create new minority characters is just giving them an excuse to be lazy and uncreative as well as to destroy beloved characters.

Like I said, I didn't know if he/she was really new or someone who had created a new user ID for nefarious purposes. (comic book humor)

Good article. I think the increasing diversity of comics is a very good thing. This increase hasn't been done perfectly, of course. There are always bumps along the way in such a complex subject as this. But the basic reality is that even a decade or two ago, the vast vast majority of comics characters were white, and the female characters rarely had their own books or were treated with equal attention to the males. Now, there are increasing numbers of other ethnicities and female characters are getting more prominence and respect. Sometimes the introduction of these new characters are flubbed, but it's all going in the right direction. For people like my daughter, this means having characters they can identify with and appreciate in an all new way that wasn't possible before. It's also very encouraging to hear that CV's population has such a high percentage of females.

@hammertron: Dude, don't go putting people down for having low post numbers. We all started that way. That's a crappy way to welcome people to the site.

Good article. It encompasses very well and eloquently the most measured side of this argument.

I for one remain of the opinion that it would be so much better for Marvel and DC to grow and not stunt their own potential for change. A character like Wally would have been so much more fondly remembered if he was older now and a new Flash was on the stage (again, my opinion).

For the same reason, I think that if we want diversity in comics, we should have GOOD new superheroes, kind of like Miles. But usually people who read the big two are not too fond of change.

From the way I see it, you have two choices: you either want to read the same characters for all of your life (not a bad choice, mind you), then you have to accept that the characters need to be rehashed and changed over and over; choice two, you want an actual story with a start, middle and end portion, then you have to go outside of the big two.

If you stick with Marvel and DC, you can't complain if you only read the same characters in a different sauce.

This.

Also, as much as diversity may be important, the quality of writting is more important. I much rather prefer a white well written hero, than a bad black written hero and vice versa.

Also i think it would be stupid if they suddenly made Captain America(Steve Rogers) black, asian,indian, mongolian, russian etc etc. They kept him who he was, while still having other characters who assumed the same mantle and were superheros. Patriot from Young Avengers is one of my favorite and i dont understand why they would use him more.

Ah, I see. This post makes your first reply more clear.

It wouldn't surprise me if some people made more than one user ID to either inflate the apparent support their side has or to protect their main user ID.

Maybe there are genuine first time users who recently decided to post.

If so, welcome to ComicVine. We're happy to have you here.

@hammertron actually i dont, i was supporting your argument because i found the writer's baseless assumptions and on-the-spot reeducation of a ten year old to be overbearing and beyond the scope of his responsibility.

and because someone has few posts doesnt mean much, i've been lurking on this site for years.

Look at that. A newbie with 3 posts.

This newbie thinks it's ok for three adults to gang up on a 10 year old child and bully and intimidate that child into buying a comic book just because those three adults think their way is the only way and that everyone must agree with them otherwise anyone who disagrees with them must be closed minded and in need of correction, forcibly if not done voluntarily.

If the mother of the child is smart she'll immediately steer her child away from comic books in general and that comic book store where the three "adults" hang out while waiting for the next child to threaten and intimidate.

Excellent article. I agree with everything.

Hating a character of different ethnicity/sexuality does not automatically make you a racist/sexist. Why do people go by the opposite logic? It's as stupid as "Batman w/ prep solo's God", "Hulk has infinite strength", and most DBZ battles.

it pisses me off when they do it on purpose like wally west but then you have characters like Luke Cage and Ms Marvel who are what they need to be not what the publishers think is going to get your money.

thats a major point. other races have been able to relate and love white characters, it shouldn't be such a problem for white readers to love and relate to other ethnicity's. but it might be.

@hammertron my first thought is that the kid was surprised by a black spiderman because, this being his first spiderman comic, his exposure to spiderman has been movies, toys, and cartoons -all peter parker. other peoples' first thought is that his parents were raising their child wrong, something theyre fully-qualified to rectify

They might not be relatable to everyone, but white male characters won't be relatable to everyone either.

I much rather a push for a new character then changing characters. i love Static, if you push a character to the point he is just apart of the idea of the company they well do fine. Jason todd died and came back with a major push in Batman related works until he was ready for his own comic. Damien took Tim's spot and was the story line for a while. The best example is Cyborg, he was given a spot in the premiere team of the comic world(the best way to do it, same way they brought Sentry back). Vic was in DCAU movies and all the comics. He needs to expand now.

I haven't been a fan of wrestling in ages but i admit they have the best system of bringing up new stars and villains.

Diversity is fine, but to change a iconic character is not a good idea.If you are going to make a book more diversed then choose a new character or make up a new one. I just looked at the new Wally for the first time and can't believe that they changed his race, I mean of all the characters to change the race of you chose a red head with freckles!!! Why? I mean the DC universe has become pretty diverse with all of the black characters they have, but notice how we have so few asian characters. I can't even think of any asian characters in one of there books, besides Katana. Lastly, I noticed in the comments that a lot of people liked the new Wally. That is fine if it isn't due to pair pressure, that many people suffer from, when it comes to diversity. Its great to be diverse, but so many people think that if they don't agree with some on a change of diversity that means they are racist, which isn't the case. New Wally to me has a bad costume as well as a terrible general black teenage look. I preferred the red headed look, which to me is the more diverse due to the lack of red headed characters of late.

Diversity is fine and all so long as it doesn't change established characters. There is no justifiable reason for taking a character who was always white and then turning them black. How many times do we see a black character get turned white? I can recall very few instances. It's pretty much disrespectful to the character and looks like they're just being used as a tool to promote diversity as it adds nothing to their character. If they need a character to appeal to a minority group then create a new one instead of messing with the old. Another thing about diversity is that Miles and such may be interesting and all but not everyone is going to be able to relate to them. For ex, I don't really relate to him because I'm not black and I'm not really near his age either(that's probably the biggest reason). I could also say something similar about a female solo title because I'm not a girl myself. Kaine's Scarlet Spider on the other hand was someone I could relate to. Then again I'm sitting here pondering what I said about Miles because I did read War Machine's solo title he had a few years ago and it was one of my favs.

I couldn't read the whole article because I found it disturbing, to say the least, that three adults thought it was not only acceptable, but cool, to gang up on a poor 10 year old child who dared to have an opinion that they disagreed with. I wonder if the child has a different impression of the whole situation where he felt intimidated and threatened into buying a comic book that three "adults" thought was "cool".

Then the "writer" goes on to describe how he personally knew the family insinuating that someone gave the child some ideas that the "writer" felt were unacceptable.

I wonder if the "writer" and others associated with the "writer" will begin harassing the family for daring to have ideas other than what the "writer" approves of. Maybe the whole family will not be harassed because the "writer" specifically pointed out that the mother was a "normal" person.

I wonder what the whole and true story is about this situation.

@wundagoreborn: Nothing makes people stop listening like calling it a teachable moment.

@inferiorego Props to you and the other folks in the store for taking advantage of the teachable moment.

Vibe was only an ok book. Batwing had other problems that didn't involve being a new or minority character. It's this type of thinking like yours that never allows DC/Marvel to go beyond the few characters they always use which is helping in the killing of the comic industry.

Never mind that outside big two companies are growing with new characters and are successful.

Diversity is fine, but to change a iconic character is not a good idea.If you are going to make a book more diversed then choose a new character or make up a new one. I just looked at the new Wally for the first time and can't believe that they changed his race, I mean of all the characters to change the race of you chose a red head with freckles!!! Why? I mean the DC universe has become pretty diversed with all of the black characters they have, but notice how we have so few asian characters. I can't even think of any asian characters in one of there books, besides Katana.

SO much wrong in you post.

• No he can't afford to be bad because he was going to get canceled.
• They did stay around on many books to change teams. It still sucked. Green Arrow didn't which is why it stayed.
• Same thing happen to non diverse books as with the diverse ones.
• Same thing happened to established as non established.
• The characters don't stop being available for good writing just because their book gets canceled. Many successful established characters get canceled all the time. Many people believe that the way comics should be done now. Have a run then canceled and come back later for another run.
• You're still grasping at straws to support a bad idea that creates more problems without actually addressing the real problems.
• I'm starting to see what that other guy sees.

@dernman: Vibe was a book with good writing, and his book didn't succeed. Batwing had good writing, and although it went on for a while, it still got canceled. If fans don't latch on to characters and support them, then they can never grow. If DC can't get fan support, then changing a character already supported by the fans can solve that problem.

The writing failed not the character. If being different means good writing that by all means be different. Not that it has too. Yes they can. Hire good writers with good stories and stop supporting the bad ones. There are a whole world of good writers out there looking for work. Use them. With better writing it will be better all around for the industry no matter who the character is.

@dernman: Exactly, he's an established character, so he can afford to be bad for a while and then bounce back. If you make an old character diverse, then they can stick around and wait for the writing/art to improve.

People are not going to care for something that is new if it's poorly written.

Vibe's book wasn't that great. It was only ok. Green Arrow was in danger of getting canceled (many green Arow fans actually agreeing with it0 until it became great when they changed the writing art team. That is with him being an established character and having a fan base.

What's clear you're grasping as straws to defend a bad idea.

@rubear: I'm still not sure why you think I'm a troll, in fact, you feel very much like a troll to me.

@dernman: They did have new diverse characters and they failed, being better may mean being different. They can't just suddenly be good at it, so changing characters gives them a chance to work at it. But if you need something that shows they're trying, here's this:

Read what I just wrote again then. There were edits.

• You don't fix problems by creating more problems.
• You don't fix problems by not addressing the actual problems.
• Having poorly written diverse books isn't a solution when you should have well written diverse books
• Anything can leave us when the fans no longer see the character there. There is only so much you can change whether it be story or race/sex before the character stops being the character and fans go elsewhere.
• Sorry but there is no good excuse.
• DC can succeed with new diverse characters if they get good writers, give them time, cancellation doesn't mean failure (Punisher is a success but he keeps getting canceled), give them time and stop expecting insta blowout success, team books, add them into cartoons which always make fans. There are so many options instead of doing something stupid and making excuses to defend it.

"Hey, man, i heard you like to find problems, so i put a problem in your problem so you can find problem while find problem" (c)
Pure troll logic. xD

@avenging_x_bolt: If people did care they would support the series. Vibe's book was great, well written, good art, and it was promoted well. Even if some of the books weren't great, if people cared, they would support them anyways. Look at Green Arrow, his book sucked but people continued to buy it, why? because he's an established character. It's clear DC's new diverse characters aren't taking off, so changing old ones could be the only way.

I love how people arguing for diversity always say skin color doesn't matter when it obviously does or we wouldn't even be having the conversation.

And Miles Morales would have been cool if he weren't so stereotypical. Black AND Hispanic? With a black AND Hispanic name? Come on. Why not make him gay and mooslim also, that way he could have all the bases covered.

that's for this article. i complain A LOT about the lack of diversity in the comic book industry including websites like this so glad that the change isnt just happening on the page but in real life as well. for years we people of color have had no problem reading/watching a story about white characters and can relate to them so its beyond me while whites cant do the same. you can relate to a billianaire ninja who dresses as a bat but not a warrior king who dresses as a cat? its all about the person's personality and their struggles and how they deal with them that make them (including us) who and what we are NOT our skin color.

@captainmarvel4ever: people cared. Most of those series just sucked ass and Dc hasn't bothered to try anything else with said character ( with small exception of Blue Beetle in threshold)

@dernman: Not 100% what your saying, but if DC can't succeed with new diverse characters, then changing established characters, who we know won't leave us, may work for them.