Muslim Super Heroes

Recently in the news, Marvel comics announced that its new version of Ms. Marvel was going to be a young Muslim American girl. Needless to say, the media seemed to lose its mind. Some were hailing this move “as the first Muslim Super Hero” or the “first female Muslim Super Hero.” Basically the news media treated Marvel publishing a comic book about a Muslim character as the most groundbreaking event in human history. Sadly, like most things, the Media was extremely late to the party.

Dust from X-Men

Now before I go into depth about this subject I would just like to say, I am happy the new Ms. Marvel is Muslim. Comic books are a beloved source of entertainment for many people and the heroes in those books should be just as diverse and varied as the audience that loves them. My problem is the reaction people are having. I won’t even bother acknowledging the racists who I’m sure are screaming about her being “a terrorist” or any number of other slurs and insults. I already wrote an entry about racist comic book fans (see here). Frankly, those fans are beyond help. My problem is the people who see this as some novelty that they can exploit to write stories about “The First Muslim Super Hero.”

Night Runner

The truth is, there have been Muslim super heroes in comic books already. Quite a few in fact. Dust of the X-Men, a young woman who could turn her body into sand, was portrayed in a traditional burqa (the head to toe garb worn by many Muslim women). Night Runner, a member of Batman Incorporated who operated out Paris, was a parkour style fighter who was approached by Batman to be the Batman of France. There was even a retconning of the Captain America story that depicted a group of African American soldiers being injected with experimental versions of the super soldier serum before Steve Rogers ever was (in the Marvel miniseries Red, White and Black). One of the survivors of that program, Josiah Bradley, had a son who inherited his father’s super powered blood and became a hero named Justice. He also was a practicing Muslim. These are not obscure characters either. These characters appeared in the pages of the two major publishers. All of them long before Ms. Marvel did.

Another reason why I am perhaps miffed by this new Muslim hero is that they are essentially taking the name of a pre-existing hero and giving it to a new hero who fits a different social demographic. This was already done recently by DC comics with the hero Green Lantern. When Hal Jordan appeared to have died, his ring sought out the nearest eligible candidate to replace him. The ring found Simon Baz, a young Muslim American who was at the time being suspected of terrorism. As easily as the ring slipped on his finger, Simon Baz was accepted as the new Green Lantern. The problem is that the super hero identity then overshadows the person. It doesn’t matter who Simon Baz is because he’s just as replaceable as any Green Lantern (of which there are hundreds, six/seven from earth alone).

And there is the problem with calling this new hero Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel is a character that has been around for decades. Captain Carol Danvers received super powers from the hero Captain Marvel, an alien who was sent to earth to spy on it for his people but who instead decided to become a hero and protect the earth. Since her powers came from Captain Marvel, she decided to call herself Ms. Marvel. After adopting a couple of other identities over the years (Warbird, Binary), Carol finally adopted the title Captain Marvel and is currently featured in her own weekly title. Other characters have also adopted the name Ms. Marvel, one of them even being a super villain. So essentially this new Ms. Marvel is just one in a long line of heroes, easily replaceable should she not gain the admiration of the fans.

The truth is that I would much rather see a completely original character who is a Muslim American than to see an unused super hero name recycled to cash in on name recognition. And the simple reason is that is easier to sell a comic based on a recognizable name. Rather than come up with a new and original super hero identity for this young girl (which they have with her powers, background and family life), they are merely going to cash in on brand recognition (and perhaps a bit of controversy).