Author Archives: Jabari Sellars

Sorry, but you all look alike

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My name isn’t Jabari. It’s Parker. And Ahbleza. And Lorenza. And Sonny. And Andrae. And Hashim. These are some of my closest friends, and in many ways, we are all one in the same.

I don’t mean that in a loving “we’re all united” way, I mean that I’ve been called all of their names and they mine on more than one occasion. Why? Because we look alike. Yep. My friend who is three shades lighter than me and has braids that reach his shoulders looks just like me. My brother who weighs 100 pounds fewer than me and who couldn’t grow a beard to save his life, is my identical twin! I’ve had so many non-black friends, teachers, and colleagues call me the other black guy’s name that I’ve lost count. Instead of getting angry, I most feign utter disgust and ask whoever has made the mistake if all black people look alike. The guilt and shame on their faces makes up for any hurt feelings. But in all seriousness, do we all look alike? If not, then someone needs to inform about 90% of all comic book artists.

A black superhero seems to have only a few default looks:

The Sam Jackson: Bald with a Goatee

Perfected by Marvel’s Luke Cage, the Sam Jackson is the style for the brotha that don’t take no m*****f*****g mess! This look shouts street cred, and gives the wearer a sense of ruggedness.

 

 

 

 

The Paul Robeson: Mid/Close Cut

Otherwise known as the regular, the Paul Robeson is the look for a more educated black man. Regal and distinguished, this is the style for the book-learnin’ brotha. Hey, if it’s good enough for the King of Wakanda, and the Third Smartest Man in the World, then it’s good enough for you!

 

 

 

And finally…

The Locks

The Locks give any black superhero the third, and longer, option. This look says “I’m young, I’m hip and, just like my white counterpart, I can put my hair in a ponytail.”

 

 

 

Almost every black superhero has gone through one of these phases; some have even gone through all three. I’m not asking for black superheroes to be given blonde hair or anything, I’m just asking for a greater degree of variety. Can we at least get a Jerry Curl?

When the Mind Wanders…It Wonders

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I’m in my room. I can’t sleep, so I’m just looking around the room. I have three five-level bookshelves and on four-level bookshelf in my room. Two are filled with comic book trade paperback divided by the publication, then divided even more so by their titles, then divided more so by their part in the comic canon. On the bottom of the shelves are my issues that I’ve collected from flea markets and comic shops wrapped in protective plastic. On top of the shelves are my toys  action figures collectibles divided by character and publication and so on. My other bookshelves are just books put in alphabetical order and separated into two groups: fiction and nonfiction.

I’m not sure what makes me feel more embarrassed and ashamed: the fact that I in less than six months, I will be twenty five years old and a high school teacher responsible for the academic livelihood of minors and I have more comics than classics, or the fact that collection of comics and toys  action figures collectibles isn’t nearly as massive as I thought it would be by age 24. Somewhere in the past, there is 14 year old me shaking his head in disappointment.

Anyway, I’m looking around my room, and I notice a Mr. Terrific collectible my friend gave me for Christmas. I start to think. In most comics that focus on superhero teams, there is an initial page that shows the reader the roster of the team. There’s often a picture with a quick bit on information about the character. Batman: The World’s Greatest Detective. Green Lantern: Wielder of the Most Power Weapon in the Universe. Flash: The Fastest Man Alive.

You know what Mr. Terrific’s slogan is? Mr. Terrific: The Third Smartest Man in the World. Third! I’ve done my research, and I can’t find any hero in the DC universe who definitively has the epithet of The Second Smartest Man in the World, not to mention the smartest. What message do I hear when I think about Mr. Terrific’s byname? “We have no idea who the smartest man in the world is—Hell, we don’t even know who is in second place; what we do know is that whoever these two brilliant people are, Mr. Terrific is by no means smarter than them.” Wow. Looks like Wonder Woman’s jet isn’t the only thing that’s invisible….get it? Invisible? Can’t see it? Glass ceiling? Unnecessary limitations placed on people of color? All that from starting at a bookshelf.

Women needed, but only temporarily

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Pick a superhero team, any team, and I can guarantee you that team has a male leader. X-Men? Cyclops. JLA? Superman. Avengers? Captain America…or Iron Man…or Thor. You get the picture. There aren’t many female leaders in comics. Well, that’s not entirely true. There have been a number of female team leaders, but they were only temporary leaders. Sadly, most female leaders in mainstream comics only get to be interim coaches. An interim coach is the immediate replacement coach whenever the real head is fired or quits. These stop-gap leaders get to stay for the remainder of the season, backed publicly by all the important people, only to be replaced in the end. For most interim coaches, the shortened, problem-plagued season is their only opportunity to show people they can be effective leaders; they rarely ever get a chance to show their skills in a more promising situation. Sadly, almost every female leader in comics has been an interim coach.

Not all interim coaches simply walk into the role of leader, some fight for it. In the X-Men, goddess and mutant Ororo Monroe aka Storm, thought that de facto leader Cyclops was becoming weak and irrational as a leader, and openly challenged him for the position of head of the X-Men. And she won! Rather than truly changing roles, however, Storm’s actions were written as a motivational strategy to encourage Cyclops to be a better leader. Despite her very high power level and proven leadership skills, Storm stepped down the moment Cyclops declared he was ready once again to lead.

Other female leaders have terrible luck. For example, Dinah Lance, aka, Black Canary was appointed the leader of the Justice League of America only months before the Final Crisis. Black Canary comes from a family of crime fighters, has been on five other superhero teams, has been taught by the greatest fighters and strategists in the DC universe, but none of that experience could have prepared her for the death of Batman and her granddaughter, the mutilation of her son, and the resignation of Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. This is one of the very few times she gets to be a leader, and everyone either dies or quits.

Ultimately, almost every female leader is made to be a pawn within the comic universe, or a throw-away plot device. For some, at least, there is a moment in time when they are truly the established leaders; for Ms. Marvel, however, she was only a leader in name. After the Civil War, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, decided the world needed a new group of Avengers. He asked Ms. Marvel to be the leader. Despite being the “leader”, Ms. Marvel had no say in choosing the roster, didn’t pick the missions and was left out of the loop on every major case.

One can only hope that we will see more long-term female leaders. There doesn’t make sense that most creators not only use males exclusively for leadership roles, but also use the same males. I mean really, how many teams does Wolverine need to lead/join?

Whatever you do, don’t state the obvious!

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A few post back, I talked about Wiccan and Hulking from the Young Avengers finally kissing in an issue of their limited series “Children’s Crusade”. In addition to their recent public display of affection, long time X-Men member, and openly gay superhero, Northstar is set to be married to his partner. In the past few years, more and more LGBT characters have gained greater exporsue, from The Question and Batwoman’s on-again-off-again relationship, to the Authority’s Apollo and The Midnighter tying the knot. At the risk of sounding like my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or simply anyone that I’ve ever talked to that is older than me, it wasn’t always like this.

While many characters’ sexuality is being recognized and celebrated, older LGBT characters experienced problematic depictions and were often the product of tired homophobic innuendo. In fact, Wiccan, Hulking, and Northstar, the three characters who have had arguably the best exposure of all queer superheroes had relatively off-putting beginnings. For Northstar, creators decided not to simply tell readers that the Canadian mutant was gay. Perhaps the heads of Marvel thought it was bad for business, or the writers couldn’t muster the courage to introduce Northstar as gay character; regardless, the X-Man wasn’t identified as gay until the not-so subtle hints started to pile up. One such helpful hint was the way Northstar was frequently drawn and described, a French-speaking, pointy-eared fairy. Yep, the gay guy is a fairy. But at least he had a cool name.

Wiccan is not the first codename Billy Kaplan…Wait, let’s back up. When the Young Avengers were introduced, both Wiccan and Hulkling were written with a sexual ambiguity. They were not out, which led to the heterosexist assumption that they were straight, but they also had a weird relationship. In many early issues, whenever Wiccan or Hulking was injured, the other shouted their name in fear and concern. In one famous instance, Hulkling was willing to attack a teammate suspected of hurting Wiccan. When the writers decided to make the characters’ relationship an established part of the canon, as move they planned before the first issue went to print, they changed Billy’s codename to Wiccan. His previous codename was Asgaurdian.

Non-White=Non-Human

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A few years ago when Iron Man 2 was in theatres, a friend of mine shared a link to a story that argued that James Rhodes aka War Machine is the ideal black super hero. In the article, writer Graeme McMillan explains how War Machine exhibits so many stereotypes that he is the epitome of the exploited superhero of color. So that got me thinking.

The edgy non-white character isn’t exactly a new idea in entertainment, especially in film, on television, and in literature. The black man is almost always edgy and anti-social, the Latino is always hot blooded or seductive, and the Asian is always the epitome of peace and calmness…unless he’s an angry samurai. Again, this is nothing new. But when we look at comics, there is another trend being used on minority characters. A surprisingly large number of heroes of color are being depicted as not entirely human. Don’t get me wrong, nobody is writing or drawing these characters as stereotypical savages; however, a number of minority superheroes are shown as not 100% human.

Some are shown as half human/half robot. Used mostly for black males, this trope can be seen in such characters as the Avengers’ War Machine, Cyborg of the Teen Titans, and the JLA member Steel. Unlike their white counterparts like Iron Man, and Batman—who are known for their use of advanced technology and suits of armor—these black heroes often struggle with maintaining their human personalities. All three of the heroes have had recent story arcs in which they battled their robotic halves in a fight over their humanity and sanity. Iron Man doesn’t deal with this much trouble with the Extremis virus.

Other characters are shown as being half animal or monster. JLA members Vixen, Pantha, and Wildebeest all have the ability to adapt the physical appearances and abilities of animals. In fact, both Pantha and Wildebeest are always depicted as humanoids, and Vixen always has long canine teeth or claws. Speaking of teeth, there is the vampire hunter Blade. Because he is half human/half vampire, he is known as the day-walking half-breed who has the ability to live like a human.

 

 

I’m not sure what is going on here—truth be told, I’m not sure if anything is going on—but this trend caught my attention. It is too easy to point out how having a black speedster, or Native American magic user is problematic;however, the absence of the blatant doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t any questionable practices being used.

What’s My Power Again?

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Have you ever seen The Venture Bros.? If not, treat yourself to the best Jonny Quest parody ever, and one of the funniest shows I’ve seen. The show is full of hilarious knock-off versions of famous comic and cartoon heroes. My favorite episodes are the ones featuring The Impossibles. Yep, they are a knock-off version of Disney’s The Incredibles, which in turn is a knock-off version of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. The Impossibles have all of the powers of the Fantastic Four, but with slight twists. For example, the Impossibles’ version of The Human Torch isn’t resistant to fire; that means every time he flames up, he suffers horrible burns.

And then there is the Impossibles’ version of the Invisible Woman. Unlike Sue Storm, who can become completely invisible, Sally Impossible can only make her epidermis invisible, turning her into a walking poster from high school anatomy class. I was watching an episode with a friend a few nights ago and I commented on how funny and sad Sally Impossible’s power was. “Oh, and Sue Storm has made?” my friend asked. “Guys in the 60s make a female super hero that is not only pushed to the background and turned into a mother figure, but she can actually become completely invisible, unacknowledged, and insignificant.” I never thought about Sue Storm, that way, but after talking with my friend, I haven’t looked at female superheroes and their powers ever again. I mean, let’s take a look at a few:

Rogue-A member of the X-Men whose powers of ability absorption make it impossible for her to touch any living thing, and force her to wear a full body stocking for protection.

Wasp-A founder of the Avengers who, for the majority of her existence, had the power to shrink down to the size of an insect. Her husband, Ant-Man, who is known infamously for hitting his wife, has the power to shrink and grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firestar-A radiation/fire based mutant who stopped using her powers after she learned that using them would make her infertile.

Bombshell-A being of pure energy who must be enclosed in an indestructible shell, lest she suffer from radioactive meltdown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intentional or not, the powers that some female superheroes exhibit hurt them, or reflect some chauvinist mentality. True, any power can seem socially counterproductive, there is the diamond covered African-American X-Man named Bling, but some just seem too on the nose not to be acknowledged.

Bisexuality in Comics or “Hey guys, you still have half a chance!”

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While many comic book publications are hesitant to show gay male couples being intimate in any way—I mean, how long did we have to wait for Hulking and Wiccan to kiss, or Northstar to get married?—it has been a long time since the same creators have shied away from two women getting physical.

Now this hypocrisy is hard to explain. In the eyes of many heterosexual men, lesbian relationships, especially the lesbian relationships in which the women are sexy, are a source of sexual entertainment. They are a plaything of straight men; in fact, some would try to argue how lesbian intimacy isn’t even gay! But this is nothing new. Depictions of females engaging in homoerotic behavior has always been a go-to for heterosexual male demographics regardless of the medium; however, in comics, creators have made it even clearer that these relationships aren’t meant to uplift the LGBT community, but rather to entertain straight males, by making more female characters bisexual.

Don’t get me wrong, while the validity of bisexuality is a topic of many heated debates inside and outside queer communities, it can’t be denied that some people love, have loved, both men and women. In the end, the heart wants what the heart wants, right? But when it comes to comics, the entirety of one’s sexuality—lust and love—are never explored. Instead, the supposed bisexual female characters are depicted as women who fall in love and sleep with men, but can only make a sexual connection with women.

Take the Mystique as an example. After decades of denial, Marvel finally recognized the shape-shifting mutant’s lesbian relationship with the clairvoyant Destiny. Since their rarely acknowledged relationship, Mystique has been with male mutants Azazel and Sabertooth and gives birth to two children, one of them being the famous X-Men member Nightcrawler. Many sources argue that it was the intention of the creators for Destiny and Mystique to be the parents of Nightcrawler, but we all know gays can’t raise a child soooooooo. What is left is a lesbian character that is written into a bisexual character with a preference toward men.

Rather than accepting or celebrating queer people and queer relationships, mainstream comics deliver the same creepy message: No gays! Lesbians are okay, if they let us watch and maybe join.

Truth in the Courtroom

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What’s in a name? Apparently, if you’re Black Vulcan, the answer is everything.

What the esteemed Attorney Harvey Birdman shows us in this clip is the issue of assimilation versus isolation among characters of color played out in a name. For most superheroes of color, the first mark of their ethnicity comes in their real name or their codename. It makes sense that minority characters have birth names that reflect their heritage; in fact, this isn’t exclusive to people of color. The X-Men’s Ireland-born Banshee is named Sean Cassidy, and the Russian mutant Colossus is named Piotr Rasputin, so why not have a Latino hero names Maya Lopez? The problem arises, however, when minority codenames go beyond a celebration of a character’s culture, and start relying on stereotypes and lazy antiquated formulas.

For African-American superheroes, and their creators, finding a way to emphasize the color of their skin was easy: put black in their name. As if the color of their skin didn’t show it enough, these heroes’ codenames became giant sandwich boards that shouted “Look at me! I’m not white!” Here are just a few heroes whose codename is a product of this tired trope:

Black Eagle, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Blackwing, Black Vulcan, Black Racer, Black Spider, Black Samson, Black Goliath, Black Hood, Black Musketeers, Black Badge, Black Rapier, Black Manta…

This is just a few. And that’s not including heroes who had the word “black” in their subtitles, like “The Black Green Lantern,” or “The Black Superman”.

While the aim to call attention to these characters is noble, the overuse of the word “black” in code names has led to a different kind of assimilation and blending. But African-American superheroes aren’t the only one who had to sacrifice a little dignity for acknowledgement.

Enter the Super Friends!

In the 1970s DC Comics introduced a more diverse group of superheroes with the aim of sending a message of inclusion and acceptance. If we only take into consideration the fact that there were more non-white characters on television and in comics, then DC achieved their goal and then some. But if you think about the characters themselves…uh…well, let’s rundown the additions to the roster:

You’ve already met Black Vulcan, the electricity-based superhero with black skin, a black name, and a black costume. But what about his friends?

Meet Apache Chief. Presumably an Apache (it is never confirmed), this loincloth-clad stoic crime fighter has the power to grow as tall as a building by simply crossing his arms, and shouting “Eh-neeek-chock!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

El Dorado, the Mexican superhero with Aztec origins. While El Dorado has super strength, teleportation, and telepathy, he is more commonly known for swapping out English prepositions and phrases for their Spanish counterparts.

And then there is Toshio Eto, also known as Samurai. Like El Dorado, Eto uses Japanese phrases during conversation. Plus he has a samurai sword, and is often accompanied by Japanese woodwinds and gong crashes whenever he appears on the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could Black Vulcan simply be called Super Volt? Could El Dorado be Mind Master? Could Samurai at least not get the gong treatment? Who knows? In the end, these characters epitomize both success and failure regarding heroes of color. We call know their ethnicity, but we have no idea who they are and what they do.

Pants are Overrated

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Have you ever seen something and started laughing and shaking your head at the same time? You don’t know whether it’s the humor or the shame that’s more prominent, so all you can manage to do without bursting with inappropriate laughter is to let out a “that’s not right” or “that’s just wrong”. After watching this video, the only thing I could say is:

Female Armor Sucks

Did I oversell the clip? As a gamer and a nerd, it took all of my will power to remain in my chair instead of rolling around on the floor. If you have played a video game, looked at any video game art, or read a comic in the last few decades, you’ve probably seen this scenario play out. If the game or the comic is coerced, trying to appeal to its hormonal male fanbase, progressive enough to include a female character, she is automatically turned into a sex object. But this isn’t a new phenomenon; objectification is an ancient pastime. What makes the sexualizing of female characters more horrendous is the weak justifications the creators concoct to explain the need for every heroine to wear a thong or a push-up bra.

The clip from College Humor presents the first, and most commonly used, excuse: the fewer articles of clothing, the quicker the hero. The argument, it would seem, is that any more armor or clothing would restrict the female character’s speed and flexibility; this is why most female video game characters are bikini clad warriors with +1 SPD and AGL, and half-naked comic book heroines have their agility and speed included prominently in their attributes. This rule would make sense (in a “this is a comic book, so suspend your disbelief” kind of way), it was used consistently. So Power Girl wears a leotard to make her aerodynamic, and Tirga wears a bikini to enhance her agility, but The Flash and Spider-Man, arguably the fastest and most agile characters in comics respectively, don full-body suits?

So what is the solution? Well, let me rephrase…what is a solution that creators could consider? Because if the suggestion is to simply reduce the hyper-sexualized depictions of female characters, or increase the frequency at which male characters are overtly sexualized, you can forget about it, as those ideas get in the way of accommodating our straight male readership. At the very least be honest with the readers. We know it’s about sex appeal. We know you know it’s about sex appeal. Don’t lie, and if you do lie, try harder than this:

 

The Compromise of Color

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Arguably more than any other community depicted within comics, characters of color struggle most with the issue of balancing between isolation and exploitation. While the female and LGBT communities fight for proper acknowledgement, no other group has had their hand forced like people of color. The sheer quantity and frequency with which racial stereotypes were used in comics made it virtually impossible for creators to shift the paradigm to a celebration of diversity; instead, they had to rely on a white washing of all characters of color in hopes of developing the narrative that “we are all equal” and—to a lesser extent—all the same.

As a result of this problematic, but well-intentioned, goal, the angry rebellious black man, mysterious Asian, fiery Latino, and silent Native American were not replaced by positive diverse predictions, rather, they were exchanged for palate-swaps of their white counterpart. This historical white washing came in the form drawing every character, regardless of their document ethnicity, with European features—thin lips, light brown eyes, broad nose, and fine hair texture. Additionally, the visible argument for assimilation was proliferated by often surrounding characters of color with white teammates. Whether it is Mr. Terrific being the only black member of the Justice Society of America, Kato being tethered to The Green Hornet, or The Black Panther teaming up exclusively with the Fantastic Four, the agency of superheroes of color was legitimized only by their close association with white teammates.

Fortunately, over the years, creators have abandoned this strategy for the more progressive practice of giving characters of color prominent leadership positions on superhero teams, or giving them their own comic series. But as depictions transition from offensive and/or minimalist to relevant and respectable, the question turns to one of priority. That is to say, should a character’s ethnicity be an integral part of their being? Is it possible, responsible, productive, or right to make no references to an Asian or Latino character’s culture? Historically, characters of color and their development were associated primarily with their race. Some heroes acknowledge their ethnicity in their code name while others remind readers of their race and culture through catch phrases and vernacular (Eh-neek-chock!), and regardless of the intention of the creators, this tactic relies on the use of racial stereotypes.

But what is the alternative? Much like the one-dimensional depiction of LGBT characters, the use of antiquated characterization, however problematic, allows for easy recognition and guaranteed acknowledgment of a character’s race; to give that up seems a bit dangerous as to pursue the alternative is to revert back to assimilation. As a result of such unsavory options, most creators elect to choose the lesser of two evils, ensuring recognition at the cost of the most respectable depictions. For all minority communities depicted in comics, the name of the game is painful compromise; the only hope is that future creators can develop more full and round characters without depending on harmful tropes.