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Topic: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Comics (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Steve De Young
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 9:48am | IP Logged | 1  


So, Marvel in the last couple days announced part of their X-reboot, that being the two X-Men teams.  Now, the books may end up being garbage or good, but that's not what this is about.  One of the two books is going to feature the original five X-Men, the other is going to feature Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Old Man Logan, and some alternate version of Rachel Summers or other. 

What's disturbing to me is the raft of criticism that's been levelled against what to me looks like at least an attempt at a 'back-to-basics' reboot.  Specifically, people are mad, particularly at the book with the five original X-Men, because all the characters are white.  Publishing a comic featuring the original characters is apparently now politically incorrect.

Fortunately, DC seems to be largely ignoring this in Rebirth, but is this SJW nonsense part of what's leading Marvel down the path to its own destruction?  Does every comic now have to feature one team member from each racial, ethnic, socio-economic group, and sexual orientation?




Edited by Steve De Young on 29 November 2016 at 9:48am
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Joseph Greathouse
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 10:23am | IP Logged | 2  

I haven't seen many complaints regarding the new teams, but I can say that I understand the complaint. Its a very white cast in a not so white world. Mutantphobia has been the stand in for our own human hatred for some time. The X-Men has a huge cast of fantastic and diverse mutants they could pick from. But, they went old school for the aging audience who wants things how they were in the old days. 

I have been reading All-New X-Men with the younger cast and they had even introduced diversity in their group and its been a lot of fun. Its fun seeing teenage mutants road-trip around the globe and save whatever day it happens to be. I also, personally, like the cast for the other book. Plus Mark Guggenheim's work tend to resonate with me.   So, chances are I will pick up both. 

And hopefully the GenX book (whose title doesn't quite work for school age leads anymore, I just realized) or WeaponX will have more of the diversity of characters represented in our desired reading population.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 10:56am | IP Logged | 3  

There is a sub-section of comic readers who clearly confuse tokenism for diversity.

There are also those who think race is the only diversity. Remember the storm-in-in-a-teacup over the all-White cast of FRIENDS? A show whose main cast included an Italian American, three Jews, a WASP and whatever the heck Phoebe was. How is that not diverse? And where were the same complaints about THE COSBY SHOW's lack of diversity?

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Petter Myhr Ness
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 10:57am | IP Logged | 4  

...but I can say that I understand the complaint.
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Not me. If it was lack of diversity in comics in general, then it would be valid complaint. But using this complaint against the original X-Men line-up is like complaining that Beatles were all white Liverpudlians. 
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John Popa
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 11:12am | IP Logged | 5  

If Marvel's still putting out the book aren't they ignoring the 'nonsense' as well as DC?
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Steve De Young
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 11:24am | IP Logged | 6  

If Marvel's still putting out the book aren't they ignoring the 'nonsense' as well as DC?
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Marvel has current replaced Captain America with an African-American man, Thor with a woman, and Iron Man with an African-American teenage woman.

I'm detecting a pattern here:  One reason Marvel is shying away from publishing comics featuring their classic cast of characters is that those characters are mostly white guys.

I guess its not enough anymore to publish books like Black Panther and Luke Cage alongside Captain America and Thor.  Now every single book has to somehow tip the hat to diversity.  (As JB points out, really tokenism).
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Erin Anna Leach
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | 7  

Being transgender, I don't feel that any comic publisher should change an existing character to be like me, nor do I feel like there should be a token transgender member on the teams either. How about just create a transgender character and then tell a really good story with good art? I am available to write it. ;-) This is what was done when African American characters were created in the 60's and 70's. We got some really great characters too like Black Panther and Luke Cage for example. I know that some small publishers have transgender characters now. If at some point in the future this transgender character gets made a member of a team, that is fine too as long as it is warranted and there are good stories to tell.   
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Peter Hicks
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 12:46pm | IP Logged | 8  

Is Beast white now? I thought he was blue.
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Joseph Greathouse
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | 9  

"Now every single book has to somehow tip the hat to diversity.  (As JB points out, really tokenism)."

Perhaps it would be true tokenism if the only means of telling a character was a diverse background was through the picture, where the writing would be either a stereotype or nondescript.  But there is a lot more happening in the stories and backgrounds than that.  It is happening en masse with a combination of titles shows an effort that is much more than symbolic. Only getting a couple of characters, in the 60s and 70s, no matter how great they were, was really much more akin to tokenism. We are seeing diversity across numerous titles, and the quality of characterization continues and the popularity continues, and these impact the establishment of inclusive markets. 

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Jason Larouse
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 1:48pm | IP Logged | 10  

Is Beast white now? I thought he was blue.

********

It's the Silver Age version of Beast. In fact, all of the original 5 X-Men are time traveling Silver Age versions.

Current Cyclops is dead (replaced by Silver Age version)
Current Jean is dead (replaced by Silver Age version)
Current Wolverine is dead (replaced by future old man version)
Professor X is dead (replaced by no one, although Magneto is going to be the Silver Age X-Men's teacher). 

The X-Men comics are the worst they have ever been. Although they are doing a little better than the Fantastic Four I suppose.
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Mike Norris
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | 11  

All the comments I've seen haven't mentioned race. Those readers just seem to hate the original X-Men!
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Kevin Brown
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Posted: 29 November 2016 at 2:20pm | IP Logged | 12  

Beast has always been white.  His fur has been blue.   (Which was a coloring error in the beginning I believe...)




Edited by Kevin Brown on 29 November 2016 at 2:21pm
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