Grocer Man
Well-Known Member
A while back, DC began adding racial diversity to its cast by turning some of their superheros into legacies, and giving the costume to new characters that were diverse in ethnicity. For example, the black Jason Rusch became Firestorm, the Hispanic Jaime Reyes became Blue Beetle, and the Asian Ryan Choi became the Atom.
But recently, DC has started to comb the well of Silver Age nostalgia by resurrecting characters from that time and putting them back in their roles. Often, the successors who had those roles have to give the role back to their predesscessor, assuming they aren't killed off or sent into limbo.
The problem? These Silver Age characters are invariably white. They are taking the role from not only established characters who were finding their own path and growing into their own, but characters who represented an attempt to reach out to minorities. A few examples off the top of my head:
-Atom: The asian Ryan Choi was supplanted by his predessecor, Ray Palmer. While the two shared the identity for a while, Ryan went into limbo unly to be unceremoniously killed off. In a non-Atom comic.
-Firestorm: The black Jason Rusch had to give the identity back to the original Firestorm. Jason is still technically Firestorm (since the whole premise of the character is two identities in one), but he's just the backseat driver. Ronnie is the one that has actual control and that DC is hyping it's worth noting that Jason hates Ronnie's guts, after Ronnie's BL killed Jason's girlfriend right in front of him. Ronnie is basically indifferent to Jason's anger and is acting like a total douche.
-Batgirl: The Asian Cassandra Cain was succeeded by the white Stephanie Brown. While Stephanie is new to the cowl, she already had an identity as the Spoiler and even Robin. Also, Cass' character was horribly derailed in order to get her to quit being Batgirl, and now she's an on-and-off-supervillain. DC has also admitted they seriously considered putting Barbara gordan back in the role.
There's a really, really good Comics Alliance article on the subject here:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/05/06/the-racial-politics-of-regressive-storytelling/
But recently, DC has started to comb the well of Silver Age nostalgia by resurrecting characters from that time and putting them back in their roles. Often, the successors who had those roles have to give the role back to their predesscessor, assuming they aren't killed off or sent into limbo.
The problem? These Silver Age characters are invariably white. They are taking the role from not only established characters who were finding their own path and growing into their own, but characters who represented an attempt to reach out to minorities. A few examples off the top of my head:
-Atom: The asian Ryan Choi was supplanted by his predessecor, Ray Palmer. While the two shared the identity for a while, Ryan went into limbo unly to be unceremoniously killed off. In a non-Atom comic.
-Firestorm: The black Jason Rusch had to give the identity back to the original Firestorm. Jason is still technically Firestorm (since the whole premise of the character is two identities in one), but he's just the backseat driver. Ronnie is the one that has actual control and that DC is hyping it's worth noting that Jason hates Ronnie's guts, after Ronnie's BL killed Jason's girlfriend right in front of him. Ronnie is basically indifferent to Jason's anger and is acting like a total douche.
-Batgirl: The Asian Cassandra Cain was succeeded by the white Stephanie Brown. While Stephanie is new to the cowl, she already had an identity as the Spoiler and even Robin. Also, Cass' character was horribly derailed in order to get her to quit being Batgirl, and now she's an on-and-off-supervillain. DC has also admitted they seriously considered putting Barbara gordan back in the role.
There's a really, really good Comics Alliance article on the subject here:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/05/06/the-racial-politics-of-regressive-storytelling/
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