The state of black characters in comics.

The black or superhero of african american descent is mainstream comics was rare enough as it was; so, I'm wondering, is the new marvel NOW, going to be a premise, to go to all caucausian american or white line up in comics now, As a black man in America, I appreciated the representation of my race by the creation of superheros like panther, the falcon, and luke cage,but I frown on the sometimes inglorious origins and attitudes they attach to black characters. Luke cage got his powers in prison; and then when he got out, the by-and-large mainstream white writers have him charging for the use of his super powers. Urr, captain american or spiderman charging cash????? And when they do get it right, and create a character like the blue marvel, a black man who loves and serves his country loyally, they shelf him because of the prejudices that leak onto the page from the mind and biased attitudes most white writers carry about black people in general; The late Dwnye McDuffie said if he scripted an issue in which someone like daredevil got the best of thor, white writers would applaude his ingenuity, buutt, u put let's say,..the black panther characeter in that slot and white writers would cringe and state the impossibilties of that conquest. Sad. We can't even get it right in a FICTIONAL world on paper.

Well in retrospect, I guess I partiallyl owe marvel an apology. I see storm and bishop are in the new x-men title. But I still want a black character solidly established in mainsteam superhero groups. The blue marvel would be a nice fit in marvel mainstream. They should 86 all the current characters in the defenders, put a top artist on it, and project the team to be something more than a second rate avengers squad. BLue marvel. Quick Silver. Photon. Thundra. war machine. invisible woman. silver surfer.

I'm sorry brotha. But apparently racist white nerds make up a lot of the comic book community and they don't like black characters in positions of power.

@nelomaxwell:

Well you know, in retrospect of my initial comment,' I'd like to add I don't think white writers in general have this abiding hatred of blacks in comics; I just think human nature dictates we put to pen and ink what we know, and/or have experienced and since white citizens of this country spearhead most of the eco-financial-social American machine, that's whats projected in comic books. Now, having said that though, I am convinced they are aware of this lack of minority representation, and are simply not interested in addressing it. Its frustrating, but the answer isn't to continually gripe about it. At this stage in society, we probably have the greatest concentration of black multi-millionaires in this country in the last 25 years or so; and all we have come up with in the tradition of epic animation is 'bebo kids'. That's tragic. If we want more black product on a national level in animationdom and comicdom, its up to black people to create that product. Because even when big boys like Disney, 'throw us a bone' so-to-speak like their movie... the princess and the frog that showcases a young black woman, even it has a touch of stereotyping I wasn't comfortable with. The voodoo aspect for one; and the movie struck me as being a tad dismal for a Disney creation ;the white characters, the dad and daughter had an equal sense of presence with the star of the movie And another, it seems because its a black person involved, that whimpsical pristine, larger-than- life eir and sense of innocence that associated with the lead female character in all of Disney's animated productions was missing this time also. And the lack of that strong, heroic male character we're used to seeing that balances the female lead was obviously watered down also; because, if they followed the status quo in the framework of their other movies that character would have had to have been a charismatic BLACK man and whatever that character was opposite her, he was definitely NOT black. A mixed white/ Arabian maybe? Don't know. I just didn't like the obvious shun of the African American male. It's like white writers have a problem giving them ANY kind of props unless its associated with being the 'robin' to a super heroic white lead character. I know I might come off to a lot of you as being nit-picky, but what I'm stating, is more than personal opinion. It has realistic merit to it.

It's rough for them because of the lack of exposure.

I only started reading comics regularly last year, but throughout the time, reading past and present story arcs, I've come across quite a few black characters who I've enjoyed reading. In Final Crisis, one of the few segments I enjoyed was the one centered around Black Lightning. All of the characters in that section of the story were black. The rest of Final Crisis was a bit shit, but that section really stood out as being one of its saving graces.