Why doesn’t DC have any successful minority superheroes?

[Doctor Bifrost]

It should be a no-brainer for D.C. to try to develop a larger media awareness of Vixen right now. She is featured in Justice League, appears on Legends, and has had a animated episode. I expect something big on the horizon for Vixen i just hope it happens while she is getting so many different projects across the board.

Unfortunately they put her in Justice League of America instead, a comic that I do not think does its characters any favors, and is a step down for her.

[Doctor Bifrost]

And in Jaime's case he actually became the iconic/definitive version of his mantle...

Hey, I got a few Ted Kord fans over here who would like a word with you...

(Again, I'm talking comic books, not animated series.)

I like them both, and Ted being a retired Blue Beetle mentoring Jaime is a dynamic I've enjoyed.

[The Darknight Detective]

I'm of Irish descent so I know exactly what you mean, man.

I'm half-Irish also, FWIW.

[Doctor Bifrost]

In this, the business student in me really comes out. I don't believe business *needs* to support or advocate social change. It's a bad recipe with ingredients that don't mix; business exists to create as much profit as possible, which means getting you to pay as much as they possibly can. That's it. Anything else is a lie they told you to make you buy their products. It's on us, as a society and a people, to pursue social equality. And when we do that, business will follow because it's in their best interest to give the consumer what they want.

In the abstract, this may be true. But businesses are made up of people. I have worked for several companies that have taken risky stands on social issues - where they could not predict how it would affect their bottom line - because the people running the company felt strongly about it, or because their employees convinced them it was important. (In several cases I was one of the employees.) Of course a financial analysis must be included - if it's likely to destroy the company, they're not going to do it. And they consider the possibility of short-term loss and long-term gain. And how your employees feel can affect your bottom line too.

But those weren't the only considerations at play. Financial predictions are always approximate - a guess, to some extent - and that left room for what the decision-makers felt was fair and just.

Many corporations were way out ahead of the government - and often the public at large - on LGBT rights. Some still are. Their decisions were affected by financial considerations, but they were also affected by the COO's lesbian niece sitting him down and discussing how it felt to be a lesbian in a world where people and institutions reject you or don't support you. I was there.

(Details modified to protect privacy.)

[Iconic]

Whether a character succeeds or fails also depends on how they are written, what writers and artists are assigned to them, how they are promoted, where they show up as guest stars and what guest stars show up in their stories, and other factors that are determined by editors and publishers. Comic-book characters don't have some intrinsic "merit" (completely separate from all these other factors), that, all by itself, determines whether they succeed or fail.

Absolute greatest post possibly ever

[mathew101281]

Marvel is slightly better at promoting their ethnic minority heroes, and DC is slightly better at promoting their Female heroes. DC really doesn’t have an equivelent character to Black Panther, Storm or Miss Marvel But Wonderwoman, Supergirl and Batgirl, have way more name recognition then even the most popular female Marvel characters.

[Ascended]

In the abstract, this may be true. But businesses are made up of people. I have worked for several companies that have taken risky stands on social issues - where they could not predict how it would affect their bottom line - because the people running the company felt strongly about it, or because their employees convinced them it was important. (In several cases I was one of the employees.) Of course a financial analysis must be included - if it's likely to destroy the company, they're not going to do it. And they consider the possibility of short-term loss and long-term gain. And how your employees feel can affect your bottom line too.

But those weren't the only considerations at play. Financial predictions are always approximate - a guess, to some extent - and that left room for what the decision-makers felt was fair and just.

Many corporations were way out ahead of the government - and often the public at large - on LGBT rights. Some still are. Their decisions were affected by financial considerations, but they were also affected by the COO's lesbian niece sitting him down and discussing how it felt to be a lesbian in a world where people and institutions reject you or don't support you. I was there.

(Details modified to protect privacy.)

Its always nice to hear stories about companies doing the right thing without regulations forcing them to.

But it was the people who made those things happen. It was their argument, their passion, that lead the way for positive change because it showed the company that there was value there. That's my point.

Expect people to do the right thing. Don't expect a business to do it for them.

Without that niece sharing her life experience, that COO likely wouldn't have made the choice he did. Business followed the social shift, or if you'd rather, the passion of its stakeholders. And that's all business will ever do, some just follow so closely they look like they're in front. Those are the companies that are really good at predicting changes in demand curves, demographic shifts, listening to their consumers, and managing their PR.

EDIT: And I dont mean to dismiss the credit due those companies either. When a business takes a chance on a policy that's riskier than usual, they deserve the credit for that.

[upgrayedd]

Cave Carson has his own book, he can be considered a miner

[Johnny]

Whether a character succeeds or fails also depends on how they are written, what writers and artists are assigned to them, how they are promoted, where they show up as guest stars and what guest stars show up in their stories, and other factors that are determined by editors and publishers. Comic-book characters don't have some intrinsic "merit" (completely separate from all these other factors), that, all by itself, determines whether they succeed or fail.

Beautiful post.

[Doctor Bifrost]

Absolute greatest post possibly ever

Thank you for those very kind words, BL!

[Doctor Bifrost]

Beautiful post.

Thanks!

10CHAR

[Daniel22]

Whether a character succeeds or fails also depends on how they are written, what writers and artists are assigned to them, how they are promoted, where they show up as guest stars and what guest stars show up in their stories, and other factors that are determined by editors and publishers. Comic-book characters don't have some intrinsic "merit" (completely separate from all these other factors), that, all by itself, determines whether they succeed or fail.

Exactly.. Sometimes people look at sales figures as proof that a character has less "merit" (whatever that means) than another, but not all series are created equal. Like "Black Lightning, Cold Dead Hands" isn't selling huge. It also is by a creator who hasn't written anything relevant in a very long time. The fact that he's the main character's creator is a trivia question that only hardcore fans know. The artist is not a well known, big name with a large fan base. It didn't get a lot of promotion. Compare that to, say, the Coates Black Panther relaunch. Marvel brought in a new and relevant writer, put an industry legend on art and promoted the hell out of it. These situations are tremendously different, and don't say anything about the characters relative to each other, and don't give a truly accurate representation of how the fans feel about the characters.

[Iconic]

Exactly.. Sometimes people look at sales figures as proof that a character has less "merit" (whatever that means) than another, but not all series are created equal. Like "Black Lightning, Cold Dead Hands" isn't selling huge. It also is by a creator who hasn't written anything relevant in a very long time. The fact that he's the main character's creator is a trivia question that only hardcore fans know. The artist is not a well known, big name with a large fan base. It didn't get a lot of promotion. Compare that to, say, the Coates Black Panther relaunch. Marvel brought in a new and relevant writer, put an industry legend on art and promoted the hell out of it. These situations are tremendously different, and don't say anything about the characters relative to each other, and don't give a truly accurate representation of how the fans feel about the characters.

Excellent point. As a reader of both, the quality is definitely there for Black Lightning but where is the promotion? Great TV show, but how about highlighting the book?

[Daniel22]

Excellent point. As a reader of both, the quality is definitely there for Black Lightning but where is the promotion? Great TV show, but how about highlighting the book?

The fact that it's a mini shows that they have little confidence it will find an audience. And of course if they don't have confidence in it, why should the public? I think launching it as a mini sends the message that they just wanted to have a book out there for the launch of the tv show and that's about it. I put it in the same category of Adams doing Deadman or Dixon on Bane. It's cool to see old creators getting work, and giving the older fans some nostalgia is ok. But Black Lightning should have been different. They had a chance to really support and push a character and chose to do the bare minimum.

[The Darknight Detective]

Whether a character succeeds or fails also depends on how they are written, what writers and artists are assigned to them, how they are promoted, where they show up as guest stars and what guest stars show up in their stories, and other factors that are determined by editors and publishers. Comic-book characters don't have some intrinsic "merit" (completely separate from all these other factors), that, all by itself, determines whether they succeed or fail.

It also depends on how much money a fan can spend on our hobby. The sad fact is, even with the exact same marketing, creator skill, etc., some characters won't be able to hold a comic.