Who's your favourite Huntress?

[Robanker]

Was she ever confirmed to not be Mediterranean tan? Perhaps it's because my family is Mediterranean and I have some relatives that look like her that I never questioned her as anything but Italian.

[TheCape]

Helena Bertinelli from both the JLU cartoon and the Simone comic book version. I remember having a bit of a crush on her when i was a teen lol.

[Restingvoice]

Was she ever confirmed to not be Mediterranean tan? Perhaps it's because my family is Mediterranean and I have some relatives that look like her that I never questioned her as anything but Italian.

When Grayson's in publication, fans asked Seeley and he said she's black sicilian italian, because there was a discourse back then, no, Helena's black, no, Helena's Sicilian, and fans back then also pointed an element of racism by not acknowledging that a Sicilian can be black.

Seeley in his tweet said it's both, but as of a few months later he deleted his tweet, so I'm kinda done arguing/correcting... not that people argue back when I said it, but well... the proof is no longer there... and there's been a constant depiction of Helena as not being clearly black, so I already see that over time, that's how she's going to be perceived.

I already see how tiring it's gonna be to argue when the proof is gone, and DC themselves don't care that the artists don't know, ya know?

[Project Initiative Cascada]

JLU got Helena down to an art. I loved her and Canary’s rocky relationship going from opponents to teammates and their overall chemistry. Really brought a great media adaptation to how well they worked as a team on Birds of Prey. That scene of them sparing at the end due to their competitive nature was cute.

Mary Tyler Winstead was great in Birds of Prey, but completely wasted and should’ve had a larger role based on how her background correlated with the main storyline. Then again that film was a clutter mess and should’ve just remained separate as a stand-alone Harley Quinn film (which did a knockout adaptation of Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti’s run). I seriously wonder if we will ever get a proper media adaptation of the BoP with the core three Barbara (how does she keep getting cut from all these BoP adaptations mind the godawful tv show?), Dinah and Helena.

[Robanker]

When Grayson's in publication, fans asked Seeley and he said she's black sicilian italian, because there was a discourse back then, no, Helena's black, no, Helena's Sicilian, and fans back then also pointed an element of racism by not acknowledging that a Sicilian can be black.

Seeley in his tweet said it's both, but as of a few months later he deleted his tweet, so I'm kinda done arguing/correcting... not that people argue back when I said it, but well... the proof is no longer there... and there's been a constant depiction of Helena as not being clearly black, so I already see that over time, that's how she's going to be perceived.

I already see how tiring it's gonna be to argue when the proof is gone, and DC themselves don't care that the artists don't know, ya know?

For what it's worth, creator intent only means so much. It's the printed page that matters. Notoriously, Gail intended Dinah to be "75% heterosexual" but due to a lettering error or something, however it was explained, the printed page said "heterosexual to the bone" and that was the end of it. I'm sure Gail Simone still thinks of Dinah Lance as bisexual, but the character is officially straight as of right now. Likewise, Tony Isabella throws a goddamn fit when anyone deviates from his vision for Black Lightning but it's DC's call, for good or ill, so if they want to have a romantic subplot between Jeff and Tatsu instead of Jeff and Lynn, it's not wrong of them to do so.

With Helena, so long as nothing is there to contradict Seeley, Helena can be black Sicilian, but it's not really racist for DC to say "she's tan Mediterranean" just like it'd be perfectly fine for them to say she's part or fully black, adopted or just took that name as a cover. I get lumped into "white" but my ethnicity doesn't really have much real representation, at most we get referenced as a pantheon of long dead gods or (superficially) by Wonder Woman, so it was kind of cool to see a Sicilian (at least in my neck of the woods, our cultures are very friendly to one another to the point of feeling like cousins) in comics and looking, well, not like classic Bertinelli (who I love, don't get me wrong).

Darker Sicilian, biracial, fully black from Sicily. I'm fine with it either way, and I do think going back to a pale, blue-eyed Bertinelli is a wasted opportunity and people will be right to think it's erasure. I won't dislike Helena for it, but I do think it's a poor direction to go when it's a solid way to differentiate her from Helena Wayne, should they do anything with her. Unlike PG/Supergirl, those two have never been the same person on different earths. They probably shouldn't look identical.

[Dr. Skeleton]

The original, of course. I don't like what DC has been doing with the current Huntress as of late.

[MajorHoy]

The original, of course. I don't like what DC has been doing with the current Huntress as of late.

By "original" you mean . . . ?





Or maybe something else?

[Pohzee]

I started reading comics too late to associate the role with Helena Wayne, but I never got the appeal of Helena Bertinelli like at all. So I enjoyed her makeover for Grayson. But I hate the current compromise.

[Mutant God]

In order:
Unlimited
Brave and The Bold
Arrow
BoP Movie
BoP TV Show

[Frontier]

I started reading comics too late to associate the role with Helena Wayne, but I never got the appeal of Helena Bertinelli like at all. So I enjoyed her makeover for Grayson. But I hate the current compromise.

I like the Grayson version of her own thing but she's never been Helena Bertinelli to me. I get why they tried to combine the two but I'm not sure the appeals of both characters work together.

[Robanker]

I like the Grayson version of her own thing but she's never been Helena Bertinelli to me. I get why they tried to combine the two but I'm not sure the appeals of both characters work together.

I feel it. I liked the classic Bertinelli take best, but Rebirth's costume was just way too good.

[Frontier]

I feel it. I liked the classic Bertinelli take best, but Rebirth's costume was just way too good.

It just doesn't seem to capture modern Huntress as well as the New 52 costume did, but I didn't hate it .

But the cloak is no trade for the cape in my opinion.

[Robanker]

It just doesn't seem to capture modern Huntress as well as the New 52 costume did, but I didn't hate it .

But the cloak is no trade for the cape in my opinion.

The cloak kind of pulled it all together for me, actually. Which is weird because I hate hooded cloaks on Green Arrow.

[Restingvoice]

For what it's worth, creator intent only means so much. It's the printed page that matters. Notoriously, Gail intended Dinah to be "75% heterosexual" but due to a lettering error or something, however it was explained, the printed page said "heterosexual to the bone" and that was the end of it. I'm sure Gail Simone still thinks of Dinah Lance as bisexual, but the character is officially straight as of right now. Likewise, Tony Isabella throws a goddamn fit when anyone deviates from his vision for Black Lightning but it's DC's call, for good or ill, so if they want to have a romantic subplot between Jeff and Tatsu instead of Jeff and Lynn, it's not wrong of them to do so.

With Helena, so long as nothing is there to contradict Seeley, Helena can be black Sicilian, but it's not really racist for DC to say "she's tan Mediterranean" just like it'd be perfectly fine for them to say she's part or fully black, adopted or just took that name as a cover. I get lumped into "white" but my ethnicity doesn't really have much real representation, at most we get referenced as a pantheon of long dead gods or (superficially) by Wonder Woman, so it was kind of cool to see a Sicilian (at least in my neck of the woods, our cultures are very friendly to one another to the point of feeling like cousins) in comics and looking, well, not like classic Bertinelli (who I love, don't get me wrong).

Darker Sicilian, biracial, fully black from Sicily. I'm fine with it either way, and I do think going back to a pale, blue-eyed Bertinelli is a wasted opportunity and people will be right to think it's erasure. I won't dislike Helena for it, but I do think it's a poor direction to go when it's a solid way to differentiate her from Helena Wayne, should they do anything with her. Unlike PG/Supergirl, those two have never been the same person on different earths. They probably shouldn't look identical.

Well Gail came in long after Dinah Lance was created and she's not even the first writer of Birds of Prey. Seeley created New 52 Bertinelli, so he has more say in this. I agree though, that if DC doesn't consistently depict it, then it's not gonna stick. I wonder if people remember that Catwoman's bisexual now, even though they announced it to the news, because she's only been depicted with Batman most of the time.

[MajorHoy]

. . . I wonder if people remember that Catwoman's bisexual now, even though they announced it to the news, because she's only been depicted with Batman most of the time.

Sometimes it seems like more of DC's female characters have been depicted as possibly lesbian/bisexual these days than not.