Chad Heath Dr.

Sally Griffin English 1102 24 March 2014 Diversity in the World of Superheroes Spiderman, Batman, and Iron Man have starred in some of the most successful films in the past decade and they were all based on comic book characters. A comic book is a small magazine bound book that contains a series of comic strips, usually in chronological order. Since the 1940s, comic books have been popular throughout the United States. The most popular genre of the comic book world were superhero comic books. The most popular comics to occur in the 1940s were Superman, Batman, and Captain America. These comic books sparked a major impact on America by widening each and every kids imagination. With these comic books becoming very popular, many more characters and books were made. The comic book industry is a vastly growing community that includes anyone who likes to read comic books or watch television and films based on the comic books. The comic book industry is one of the largest growing industries in the country right now, due to many immensely successful blockbusters such as Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and of course The Avengers. The industry has also received success in the television world, with shows like Arrow and The Walking Dead. Due to the success of the films and television shows, the sales of comic books have increased tremendously. In the comic book industry, there are quite a few comic book publishers. The two most successful companies are Marvel Comics and DC Entertainment. Marvel Comics is famous for The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, Captain America, and Wolverine. DC Entertainment is widely popular for Superman, Batman, and the Justice League. There is

Heath 2 an enormous amount of characters that have been created in each of the comic book universes. Many of them have been put into major motion pictures or even television shows either live action or animated. Characters like Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, and Superman have appeared in multiple films throughout the decade and have cashed in millions of dollars. The films have been enjoyable for all ages, from the adults that read the comic books when they were young to their children. Almost all of the characters that have been brought into the cinematic universe are Caucasian characters played by Caucasian actors. Spiderman, Batman, and every other superhero movie star were cast with Caucasian actors. Although the original characters from the comic books were also Caucasian, that does not mean you should stay with the old source material. Some fans believe that staying strictly to the source in the films is the only option to have. But the United States is changing and Caucasian is no longer the most populated ethnicity anymore. African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics are taking up most of the United States population. Caucasians are not the only people that enjoy superhero films and comic books now. With all the other ethnicities getting into the comic book world, of course people would think, Is every superhero the same color? Having other ethnicities as superheroes could potentially draw more fans in to watch the movies. With the diversity of the world changing every single day, the comic book industry is gaining more and more diverse fans. Therefore comic book artists should change their stories to fit in todays society. One major superhero that could perhaps be of another ethnicity could be Superman. Born as Kal-El on the dying planet Krypton, Superman was sent by his birth parents to planet Earth as an infant. He was discovered by a young Caucasian couple on their farm in Smallville, Kansas, which is probably the most stereotypical Caucasian state that could have been picked. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 on April 18, 1938.

Heath 3 Originally Siegel and Shuster created a bald madman who used his powers to destroy the human race. Siegel and Shuster eventually agreed that their character should save people and not destroy them. Later on after that, Superman was born. Superman has always been portrayed as a Caucasian male in all the comic books, movies and television shows he has appeared in. Superman has starred in six films in the past fifty years. Superman was and still is a major contender in the comic book industry. He has been featured in thousands of comic books since then and has even featured in his own self-titled comic books. Superman is still featured in comic books today. Superman has changed the lives of Americans all throughout the comic book industry. His popularity has sparked the creation of many other superheroes over the years. Being an alien from another planet, how in the world does Superman look like your average Caucasian male human being? Understand though, Superman was created in the late 1930s to early 1940s so having him look like a Caucasian male makes sense for that era of time. Back in the 1930s and 1940s But the times are changing, the country is becoming more diverse each and every day. Superman is an alien from another planet. What are the chances that alien comes to Earth and lands in the United States? Apparently the chances were pretty good. What were the chances that alien looks exactly like your normal everyday Caucasian American? Again, the chance was extremely great. Superman even grew up in Kansas, which has a very high ratio of Caucasian to other ethnic groups. Most people imagine an alien from another planet to look nothing like us human beings if not little green men. The fact that Superman is from another planet means he could have been made into any other ethnicity or could even possibly look like an actual alien. Superman was made to look like a Caucasian man in a time of war when the United States was about to enter World War II. Based on the fact of Superman was created around World War II, it

Heath 4 made sense to have him look as American as possible. After the World War II began, Supermans slogan changed from fighting for truth and justice to fighting for truth, justice and the American way. (Harris, 2013) During the war, writers and publishers of Superman used the character to address America. They used him to make America feel better and used him as their symbol for America. They wanted Superman to look like an All-American man. But the United States has changed in the past hundred years. More and more African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics are living in the United States now. So many films now have starred Caucasian males as the starring roles in the parts for the person who saves the world. Some fans believe changing the characters origin would ruin the character but if the writers for the film do it correctly, they could potentially have their hands on a blockbuster film. Even if Superman was African-American, people will still see a Superman film, because it is a film starring Superman. Superman has had such an impact on America that people would still see the Superman film even if a non-Caucasian actor was cast to play Superman. Technically since Superman is from around here, he is an immigrant to our country. Yet he is treated like one of us because he looks Caucasian. Some people believe the reason there is all Caucasian superheroes is because there are only Caucasian writers and artists. That is not true at all. The earlier comic books have inspired many other people to become artists and writers, and not all of them are Caucasian. There are plenty of artists that are of different ethnicities. For example, Jim Lee, a Korean comic book writer and artist, is famous for the Batman: Hush story line and the revised version of the XMen in X-Men Volume Two. He is currently one of the Co-Publishers of DC Comics. Another Korean comic book writer is Frank Cho, known for his storyline of The Mighty Avengers. Many artists and writers that are other ethnicities are taking over the comic book industry as we

Heath 5 know it. Joe Quesada, who was the editor-in-chief for Marvel Comics from 2010 to 2011, was born in the United States but was of a Cuban background. Replacing Quesada was Axel Alonso, who is from a Mexican background. Axel Alonso is best known for his work on stories from Vertigo Comics such as 100 Bullets, Animal Man, and Hellblazer. A popular Hispanic comic book inker, the person that adds ink to the sketches, is Jaime Mendoza. Mendoza has done ink work with Spiderman, X-Men, and the Heroes for Hire. Another popular artist is Dustin Nguyen. He is a Vietnamese artist who has done work on Superman and Batman, as well as created his own comic book called The Authority. Rising up in the DC Comics industry, Nguyen has drawn covers for many of the best comic books to come out of DC. One of the most recognizable and most popular superheroes is Spiderman. First appearing in Amazing Fantasy #15, Spiderman is easily the most famous Marvel Comics character in the comic book industry. Since his first appearance in 1962, Spiderman has been featured in over a thousand comic books. Spiderman has appeared in four films with a fifth film being released later this year. He has starred in quite a few cartoon series, all of which were highly successful. Spiderman even has Spiderman was hugely popular because he was the first teenage superhero. Before him the closest thing to a teenage superhero was Robin, the sidekick of Batman. Spiderman was no ones sidekick, he was a hero. Being a teenager in high school with high school problems and struggles of adolescence, he was more relatable to the teenage demographic. Spiderman was a nerdy teenager by the name of Peter Parker. He grew up in New York City where he attended high school and lived with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. During a field trip to a science exhibit, he was bitten by a radioactive spider and of course instead of dying, acquires superhuman powers. Being a science genius, he develops small gadgets to attach to his

Heath 6 wrists to shoot out adhesive webbing to swing around the city. Designing his own costume and figuring out how to use his own abilities, Spiderman was born. Since the first issue of Spiderman, he has always been portrayed as a Caucasian male. Being in New York City, Spiderman could definitely be another ethnicity. In 2013, the white ethnicity made up about 44% of New York Citys population, while the black, Asian, and Hispanic population made up 66.6%. (Census, 2013) Based on this fact, Spiderman could very well be an Asian, Hispanic, or AfricanAmerican man. Spiderman is located in one of the most diverse cities in the world and yet he is Caucasian. When rumors of the reboot Spiderman film The Amazing Spiderman was going to come out, an African-American actor by the name of Donald Glover made a comment on the Internet that he would love to play Spiderman. This comment sparked so many debates and blog posts. Many fans of Glover made petitions to have him play Spiderman and defended him all over the Internet. Donald Glover did not mind the publicity and the fans standing up for him but in the end, the casting director for the film still chose a Caucasian actor. There have been a few comic books where they created a new Spiderman called Ultimate Spiderman. This Spiderman was a multiracial teenager that was of Black Hispanic descent. This Spiderman was named Miles Morales. The plan was to create this character for a positive role model for non-white children. Not as popular as the Peter Parker Spiderman, the Ultimate Spiderman received backlash. A few critics and fans believed it was a publicity stunt, especially when it was released a few months before President Barack Obama was elected President. The comic did not last very long and was never rebooted. I believe Marvel had potential to make a great comic out of the multiracial Spiderman. Marvel did not have Hispanic or African-American writers writing the storyline for Ultimate Spiderman and therefore the writers could not write relatable stories to a Hispanic or African-American teenage boy. If Marvel Comics would hire a Hispanic or African-American

Heath 7 writer to create a comic book of Miles Morales, the story would be a lot better. They could write more relatable stories and it would be able to draw more teenagers into buying the comic book. Like Spiderman, DC Comics decided to create their own teenage superhero to attract teenage readers. A hero by the name of Static Shock was an African-American high school student named Virgil Hawkins. He gained his powers from accidently becoming in contact with an experimental chemical. Hawkins goes through many situations that any normal teenager would have gone through in high school, from getting bad grades to getting bullied in school. The comic book lasted for quite a while. The comic was so popular with the teen demographic it sparked its very own cartoon show. The show was very popular and last three or four seasons. He was original and many teenagers could relate to him. When DC Comics announced they were revamping their comic books for a newer generation of comic book connoisseurs. When Static Shock fans heard he was getting a new comic book, they were excited to read it. Unfortunately, DC Comics recreated Static as a genius college student who created gadgets to help with his powers, which is nothing like the original Static Shock. Many fans lost interest and the comic book was cancelled five issues later. This shows if you have something good in what you are doing, do not change it. This change ruined Static Shock for many people and chances are there will not be a reboot anytime soon. The original Static Shock would make a great film that would draw many young African-American teenagers as well as other ethnicities to see the film. If Marvel Comics or DC Comics would not want to change the originality of their characters, they could just create films of their superheroes that are of other ethnicities. For example, Marvel has an African-American superhero called Power Man, or Luke Cage. Luke Cage first appeared in the first issue of his own self-titled comic book, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. The comic first appeared on shelves in June 1972. In the comic Luke Cage obtained near-

Heath 8 impervious skin and superhuman strength in an accident. Luke Cage has become one of the most popular and successful African-American superheroes from any comic publisher. He has fought alongside with many of the best superheroes, including Spiderman, Captain America, and Iron Man. Luke Cage has appeared in many comic books, several video games, and has had major roles in several of Spidermans television shows. Luke Cage worked with the superhero Iron Fist, who is a skilled martial artist. Iron Fist, or Danny Rand, has the ability to concentrate all of his chi into his fist so he can heal others or strengthen his fighting skills. In the comic books, Danny Rand had to travel to a fictional land by the name of Kun-Lun where he learned martial arts. There he discovered to obtain the power of the Iron Fist was to defeat the dragon known as Shou-Lao the Undying. Using Iron Fist and the city of Kun-Lun could really bring the opportunity to use Asians or Asian-Americans in Marvels films. With Luke Cage and Iron Fist working together, they created a group called Heroes for Hire. The Heroes for Hire originally consisted of Colleen Wing, a Japanese woman, and Misty Knight, an African-American woman. The Heroes for Hire group was a very diverse group of heroes who initially only worked for money. Of course, being the good-hearted superheroes that they are, would always end up with less money than before. The group has worked with many popular superheroes such as the Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider, and the Black Panther. The Heroes for Hire group could easily make an amazing film, with them being such a diverse and dynamic group. This group of heroes have made appearances in hundreds of comic books and quite a few television shows. With the news that Marvel has made an agreement with Netflix to make television shows starring Luke Cage and Iron Fist, many people believe Marvel is trying to fulfill the diverse gap they are missing. Keith Chow, a contributor to the blog The Nerds of Color, believes Iron Fist should be played by an Asian-American. I want Marvel Studios to cast an Asian American actor to play

Heath 9 the lead in the upcoming Iron Fist show it is developing for Netflix. It seems logical enough to me, though as always, there are fans who are urging Marvel to resist changing his race. (Chow, 2014) Another great choice of a colored hero would be the Black Panther, one of comic books first colored superheroes to headline in his own book. The Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. The Black Panther has been noted as the first actual AfricanAmerican superhero to enter the comic book world. Since appearing in the comic books, he has been a fan favorite over the years. He has appeared in a numerous amount of comic books, animated television shows, and even a few animated movies that premiered on television. Born by the name of TChalla, Black Panther was the son of a king of a fictional nation called Wakanda. The name Black Panther was from the ceremonial title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe of Wakanda. Whoever claims the title as Black Panther becomes the ruler of the country where they will rule the tribes and also make diplomatic decisions. TChaka, TChallas father and king of Wakanda, was murdered and it was up to TChalla to avenge him. TChalla avenged his father and became the next Black Panther. As the Black Panther, TChalla has helped out the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, and even Daredevil. Many fans of the Black Panther would love to see their favorite character on the big screen. Some fans have even created forums where they discuss which actor would be good enough to play the Black Panther in a feature film. As long as Marvel Entertainment casts an African-American actor for the role of Black Panther, I believe fans will be happy and thrilled to see the film. Marvel Comics is not the only comic book publisher that is trying to break the barrier of ethnicity. DC Comics have been changing their characters over and over again throughout the years. One of their most favorable characters is the intergalactic peace keeper Green Lantern.

Heath 10 The Green Lantern Corporations (Green Lantern Corps.) are an intergalactic peacekeeping organization that protects every planet in the galaxy. There are thousands of Green Lanterns that are individually assigned to each planet in the galaxy. The Green Lanterns are basically the law keepers of the galaxy. The African-American Green Lantern named John Stewart is by far the most popular Green Lantern in the comic book world. John Stewart first appeared in the second volume of the Green Lantern series in issue 87. John Stewart has been featured in many comic books and has even starred in his very own series. John Stewart was also featured as one of the main characters in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon series. When comic book artists first created John Stewart, they messed up quite a few things. The major problem was the writers were Caucasian so they did not know how to correctly word an African-American mans dialogue. The writers made him use words like jive turkey and other typical 1970s AfricanAmerican terms. Caucasian writers made him into a stereotypical African-American man of the 1970s. Luckily the writers have changed and have fixed John Stewarts dialogue in the comic books to make him one of the best superheroes in the DC Universe. One major problem with the comic book industry is that they have the wrong writers write for the wrong characters. Having a Caucasian writer write the back story of an AfricanAmerican teenager does work well because the connection to the writer and character will have not be able to share the same experiences. Using the same race to write about their own race makes it possible to have their own personal experiences and allows the characters to become more relatable to the growing diverse world. I have come to the conclusion that the superhero films are working on having more diversity and that the comic books are adding diversity into their work as much as possible.

Heath 11 Bibliography

BatWatch. "Why Do Black Superheroes Fail To Sell?" Comic Vine. 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. <http://www.comicvine.com/profile/batwatch/blog/why-do-black-superheroes-failto-sell/90267/>. Berlatsky, Noah. "The Incoherent Backlashes to Black Actors Playing 'White' Superheroes." The Atlantic. 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/02/the-incoherent-backlashesto-black-actors-playing-white-superheroes/283979/>. "Black Panther (T'Challa)." Marvel Universe. Marvel Comics, Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <https://marvel.com/universe/Black_PantheGibson, Tracy. "The Politics of REAL." Chow, Keith. "Marvel, Please Cast an Asian-American Iron Fist." Racialicious- the Intersection of Race and Pop Culture. N.p., 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.racialicious.com%2Ftag%2Fluke-cage%2F>. White SuperHeroes-Why Only Them?... 25 July 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. <http://thepoliticsofreal.blogspot.com/2013/07/whie-superheroes.html>. Harris, Paul. "Why Is Superman Still so Popular?" The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 06 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/jan/05/why-issuperman-so-popular>. Logsdon, Amber. "The Biggest Superheroes Of 2015 Won't Be White Men." PolicyMic. N.p., 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/74811/the-biggestsuperheroes-of-2015-won-t-be-white-men>. "Population of New York City 2013." World Population Statistics. 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.worldpopulationstatistics.com/population-of-new-york-city2013/>.r_%28T%27Challa%29>. Palmer, Robert. "Lets Cast Some White Superheroes as People of Color Instead." InterrogatingMedia. 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 4 Mar. 2014. <http://interrogatingmedia.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/lets-cast-some-white-superheroesas-people-of-color-instead/>.