Super Hero Minorities

As a fan, I see the complaint that there is not enough diversity in comics. While I do think there is some validity in that opinion, I think the problem is a different one. It isn’t that there is a lack of diversity in comic book characters; it is that the minority characters are not highlighted often enough. In this entry I am going to take a look at some non-white characters and examine why they do not get more exposure.

The first thing we need to realize is that the earliest comic book writers were for the most part white men. So the lack of diversity is not so much a deliberate act of the writers, but a side effect of a lack of diversity in the writers’ room. Heck, most of Marvel’s characters were the product all of one man, the amazing Stan Lee. The same can be said of characters created in film and television. They are all merely a product of their times. But I have been happy to see a more diverse array of characters come on the scene in the past several decades.

An excellent example of diverse super heroes was the publisher, Milestone Comics. The company was partly owned by DC comics, but initially the stories published under its umbrella were not part of the DC Universe. This company featured super heroes who were, for the most part, African American. Such titles featured were Icon, which featured a Superman-like character; Hardware; Blood Syndicate; and, perhaps the most popular character to be created by the publisher, Static. Static would go on to have his own cartoon show and I am convinced that it is because of his interactions with the Justice League in this show that DC decided to integrate the Milestone Characters into the DC Universe proper.

Of course there were minority characters in the DC Universe before the arrival of the Milestone characters. Steel, who was introduced in the Reign of the Supermen storyline, was a weapons designer named John Henry Irons who decided to build a metal suit of armor to honor the fallen Superman who had once saved John. It was a monumental occasion because he was an African American character who was taking over one of the four Superman titles.

But it’s not just African American characters. DC Comics has also had a number of Hispanic American characters in its ranks. From as far back as Vibe, a Puerto Rican hero, joining the Justice League International to Jaime Reyes, Mexican American, taking over the identity of Blue Beetle. There have even been Native American members in the ranks of the Justice League, in the form of Apache Chief. The list goes on and on with nearly every race, religion and sexual orientation being represented somehow by a DC super hero.

To be sure, DC is not the only company with minority super heroes. Marvel Comics has had many minority characters. Famously there has been The Black Panther who is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Marvel also deserves credit for creating the X-Men, a group of mutant outcasts, who have been used as allegories by nearly every oppressed minority in our society.

It is surprising that there would be any lack of diversity in comics since the two largest comic book publishers are both located in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world. This diverse melting pot both produces the talent that creates these stories and also serves as the background in many cases. In fact, perhaps one of the reasons why Marvel is so diverse is that their Chief Creative Officer is Joe Quesada, a writer and penciller, whose parents were both Cuban immigrants.

Ethnicity though is not the only minority getting representation in comics. Over the past several years more and more gay characters have been introduced into the mainstream. Marvel comics famously had one of its gay characters, Northstar, get married to his long time partner. Beating them to the altar by several years was Apollo and the Midnighter of DC/Wildstorm’s The Authority. Sadly, the recent New 52 reboot broke up the happy couple of crime fighters, though has hinted they may get back together.

And let's not forget the ladies.

Comic books are an American creation and at its core America is supposed to be a melting pot. So it seems only natural that comics would become just as much of a melting pot. As more and more minority writers break into the industry we can hope to see more and more minority characters. And diversity should only be seen as a good thing which will keep comics from ever becoming stale.