Legion of Super Heroes #1 preview

[Overhazard]

Uh that movie came out 35 years ago. Since then it's become a lil tactless to slap on cultural attributes to someone not traditionally of that culture. So seeing white dude performing Martial Arts going by Karate Kid is eyerollingly bad.. There's numerous examples of Asian culture presented in with a white face. Audiences are obviously used to. It'd be a welcome change that for once East Asian culture not get whitewashed

How is keeping the character white any better? These guys are from a thousand years into the Future Right? Maybe there's a wave of Pan East Asian Nationalism and their cultures have become more blended. Orrr maybe he's of mixed heritage and wants to rep all facet's of his background?
And how is Dawnstars redesign tone deaf? How is her old costume less Native American than her new one? At least she has pants and is not just in a stripper-esque bathing suit lol actually her redesign is more appropriate as turquoise was an important part of the characters ethnic history


uh no dude.
im not saying it's because of his ethnicity but where he grew up. If it's in East Asia...yeah he's more likely to be exposed to Martial Arts than someone who grew up in Wales

KK being asian isn't the problem, the fact that he combines looks from different cultures is the problem, it's a little messed up.

Ever since I saw Dawny's redesign, I thought it was borderline offensive. Her old look was fanservice-y yes, and toning it down is good, but other people and I find it a problem because she STILL looks like a stereotypical native american from an 80's cartoon.

It's fine if you like it, but I can't help but think this way.

[Korath]

Minor correction on Karate Kid's hairstyle. it's not Chinese, it's Manchu. It was imposed on Chinese men under the last Imperial Dynasty of China, who was comprised of Manchu.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

And how is Dawnstars redesign tone deaf? How is her old costume less Native American than her new one? At least she has pants and is not just in a stripper-esque bathing suit lol actually her redesign is more appropriate as turquoise was an important part of the characters ethnic history

Because her old costume didn't have her with f**king glowing warpaint on her face.

im not saying it's because of his ethnicity but where he grew up. If it's in East Asia...yeah he's more likely to be exposed to Martial Arts than someone who grew up in Wales

Are you really trying to present this as a serious argument? No, actually, it doesn't make someone more likely to know martial arts if they live in East Asia. You do realize that its not a mandatory part of the Chinese curriculum that kids are sent to train with Xiaolin monks. Saying that a Chinese person is more likely to know martial arts by the mere virtue of living in East Asia is like saying that a Welsh person is more likely to be a medieval knight by mere virtue of living in the UK or that a New Yorker is more likely to be obsessed with Nascar and monster trucks by mere virtue of living in America.

How's can he be a stereotype when there's next to nothing to Know about this characters history? You're assuming hell be a stereotype, cause I guess minorites can't be associated with ANYTHING that might be cultural exclusive to them or they'll be seen as stereotypes??? + There's like one Asian male hero ...the shrinking guy the next one appears a thousand years later #winning

Again him being a 'stereotype' is your opinion... We have no backstory on this char right? So whose to say he's rocking that style cause he wants to or are you saying Japanese people CANT have a ponytail and rock a gi??

Again, are you serious?? I'm not assuming it's going to be a stereotype. We already know that it is. It's a stereotype because his redesign makes him look like he just walked out of an old racist political cartoon from the 1800s.



And, again, this doesn't even associate Val with something culturally exclusive to him because he's Japanese. The redesign obviously is meant to echo old, stereotypical Chinese design elements. In other words, it is like the artist is saying that Chinese and Japanese culture are the same thing.

It's one thing to want to like something, but it's another to turn a blind eye completely to obviously problematic and even blatantly offensive aspects just to defend it. In other words, what you're doing is being an apologist.

It could be he's of mixed East Asian ancestry and wants to rep all facet's of his background. Its still an upgrade from having yet another hijacking of East Asian sensibilities.

1) We're just gonna ignore the fact that retcons to Val's origin from way before Flashpoint already made him Japanese? Or does that not count unless he's dressed up in full Samurai armor?

2) If "repping all facets" of someone's background means otherizing and tokenizing them to such an extent, then no, it's not better. At the very least, it's just as bad. Again, there are several Asian characters in the DC Universe (or at least there were before Flashpoint) that successfully identify themselves as Asian without having to rely on outdated and stereotypical tropes and aesthetics. I literally gave a list earlier. We can also add Ryan Choi and Rose Wilson to that list.

Is it really that tone deaf?
1.) lol okay I honestly don't know much about Karate. So my bad for mixing up 'Martial Arts' with 'Karate' But it is a broad term for MA in Japan. Apparently The Karate Kid character who is a master of all Martial Arts has been offending you since the jump :/
2.) Again I'm not saying an Asian person is more likely to know Martial Arts cause they're Asian but because of where they live. Just like it's more likely a person in Hawaii learning how to surf than a person in Alaska. Quick look and I found 3.2 million Americans participate in Martial Arts while Martial Art participation is somewhere around 100 million worldwide. Soooo i figure theres a slightly higher chance of a person of ANY ethnicity to learn Martial Arts if they grew up in East Asia

Yes, yes it is tone-deaf. It doesn't help that you just doubled down on a blatantly racist statement.

[Stick Figure]

What all this illustrates is writers & artists really need to be more thoughtful when it comes to designing or redesigning a character. I took a second to look up Dawnstar & Karate Kid as I didn’t really know either character.

The Karate Kid look isn’t bad except for the stupid collar thing popping up behind him.
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The Dawnstar look ...isn’t so good. The current costume is an improvement in some ways.
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[WestPhillyPunisher]

So, regarding Dawnstar, the pendulum has swung from anime level fanservice to blatant Native American stereotype. To be honest, I prefer the former which I don't find as openly offensive as the latter, but then, that's just my opinion. Perhaps some sort of happy medium could have been reached instead, in any event, the damn warpaint in her redesign is beyond ridiculous.

[Talon1load]

There was nothing good about this book. The redesigns are terrible, the Bendisspeak is grating, he does nothing to really introduce us to the characters, he took the little boxes that used to allow us to know who and where everyone was from as well as their powers and turned it so we don’t actually get to see it but the characters do? Stop it. Once again, Bendis comes in and shits all over the DCU. With the poor sales on all of his books, why does he keep being given the reigns to stuff?

[kcekada]

Dawnstar's newest look is not appealing. I think you can walk the line between a uniform being attractive and being practical. Her outfit in the new 52 version of Legion Lost was very good. This new version -- I don't know -- that's not Dawnstar to me.

[Zero Hunter]

This is what the reboot version of KK looked liked. You could see his asian heritage more here without it being an outdated offensive sterotype.

[protege]

So I think I like the legion- except I really don’t know what’s going on. All the characters talking at once took me right out of the story. Karate kid didn’t really bother me, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the other legionnaires.

[Jackalope89]

This is what the reboot version of KK looked liked. You could see his asian heritage more here without it being an outdated offensive sterotype.

The gi works, as many forms of martial arts do use it (or clothing very similar) as well.

[SilverScarlet]

The Legion (along with The Avengers) is the team that got me in to comics.....I've followed every iteration since the Adventure Comics team. This is NOT the Legion.
Add to that fact horrible writing and WAY over the top/busy redesigns, and you have a book that won't last twelve issues, eighteen if DC is too proud to admit they blew it.
And then the Legion will be consigned to Limbo once again.

[Korath]

The Legion (along with The Avengers) is the team that got me in to comics.....I've followed every iteration since the Adventure Comics team. This is NOT the Legion.
Add to that fact horrible writing and WAY over the top/busy redesigns, and you have a book that won't last twelve issues, eighteen if DC is too proud to admit they blew it.
And then the Legion will be consigned to Limbo once again.

Sure. See you again at issue nineteen then.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Legion (along with The Avengers) is the team that got me in to comics.....I've followed every iteration since the Adventure Comics team. This is NOT the Legion.
Add to that fact horrible writing and WAY over the top/busy redesigns, and you have a book that won't last twelve issues, eighteen if DC is too proud to admit they blew it.
And then the Legion will be consigned to Limbo once again.

Take the over. With DC prostrating themselves at the altar of Brian Bendis, they'll let the book run for as long as he wants it to run BECAUSE he's Bendis. Remember this nonsensical hype:



DC made him sound like the second coming of Stan Lee (with all due respect to the memory of the great man), which he ain't, so they'll give him all the rope he wants to hang Legion, and that's very disheartening to me since I'm also a longtime fan.

[Sutekh]

The Legion (along with The Avengers) is the team that got me in to comics.....I've followed every iteration since the Adventure Comics team. This is NOT the Legion.

I tend to agree, and yet, I bought the Hypernaturals because it 'felt Legion-y' and I read appearances by the Shiar Imperial Guard over at Marvel because they are a blatant Legion riff.

I'll get this, too, even if I'd prefer reading about the actual Legion of Super-Heroes.

I imagine some fans of the original Hal Jordan (who was not an impetuous frat-boy, and actually kind of serious and competent) probably feel the same way about the Geoff Johns re-imagining of that character.

[Thor-Ul]

I tend to agree, and yet, I bought the Hypernaturals because it 'felt Legion-y' and I read appearances by the Shiar Imperial Guard over at Marvel because they are a blatant Legion riff.

I'll get this, too, even if I'd prefer reading about the actual Legion of Super-Heroes.

Thanks for the recommendations. I will check them.
I also would recommend The Quantum Age from Lemire. A fun series too.