DC Africana Appreciation: Vol. 2

[lemonpeace]

you know what I would love from DC? I would love for them to boost more interesting Black supervillains. I would love to see a character like Gnomon developed, imagine the pathos to be had from an immortal black character and the injustices they'd see in their lifetime. i would like to see Red Lion develop and see what it would he like for an African warlord to evolve into a Doctor Doom-esque character. I would love to see Todias Whale evolve into an evil business man on the level of a Lex Luthor. more Lord Battle, more Black Spider, more Mr. Bloom, bring in some melevolent black Gods, create more black villainess; hell, make tattoo man LaLa from Black Lightning. As much as we need more black heroes presented more prominently, black supervillains are just as important. like, who doesn't love a great villian?

[The no face guy]

you know what I would love from DC? I would love for them to boost more interesting Black supervillains. I would love to see a character like Gnomon developed, imagine the pathos to be had from an immortal black character and the injustices they'd see in their lifetime. i would like to see Red Lion develop and see what it would he like for an African warlord to evolve into a Doctor Doom-esque character. I would love to see Todias Whale evolve into an evil business man on the level of a Lex Luthor. more Lord Battle, more Black Spider, more Mr. Bloom, bring in some melevolent black Gods, create more black villainess; hell, make tattoo man LaLa from Black Lightning. As much as we need more black heroes presented more prominently, black supervillains are just as important. like, who doesn't love a great villian?

I never thought about it, but there really isn't much in the way of black super villains is there? That being said I would like to see...

Bronze Tiger utilized much more as an anti hero in the world of Batman and Green Arrow. His is obviously not popular enough to hold his own title, but I would like to see him team up with the martial artists like the Question, Nightwing, and Huntress,and make frequent cameo's in the Batman comics. Bronze Tiger is one of the top marital artists in the DC universe, and should be put to much better use than he currently is.

[Raijin]

you know what I would love from DC? I would love for them to boost more interesting Black supervillains. I would love to see a character like Gnomon developed, imagine the pathos to be had from an immortal black character and the injustices they'd see in their lifetime. i would like to see Red Lion develop and see what it would he like for an African warlord to evolve into a Doctor Doom-esque character. I would love to see Todias Whale evolve into an evil business man on the level of a Lex Luthor. more Lord Battle, more Black Spider, more Mr. Bloom, bring in some melevolent black Gods, create more black villainess; hell, make tattoo man LaLa from Black Lightning. As much as we need more black heroes presented more prominently, black supervillains are just as important. like, who doesn't love a great villian?

I always figured we rarely saw black super villains was out of fear of offending us. “Oh why does the black guy have to be the evil one?”

I think it was one of the reasons why Baxter Stockman from the 80s TMNT cartoon was a white guy. I want to see more of Peek a Boo, Brick, Black Mass, Crowbar, Fatality, Coldcast, Bloodsport. There are just so many of them.

[Robanker]

you know what I would love from DC? I would love for them to boost more interesting Black supervillains. I would love to see a character like Gnomon developed, imagine the pathos to be had from an immortal black character and the injustices they'd see in their lifetime. i would like to see Red Lion develop and see what it would he like for an African warlord to evolve into a Doctor Doom-esque character. I would love to see Todias Whale evolve into an evil business man on the level of a Lex Luthor. more Lord Battle, more Black Spider, more Mr. Bloom, bring in some melevolent black Gods, create more black villainess; hell, make tattoo man LaLa from Black Lightning. As much as we need more black heroes presented more prominently, black supervillains are just as important. like, who doesn't love a great villian?

I remember Keith Giffen mentioned during a panel long ago that one of the fears was that since a lot of the biggest characters in comics are white, you would inevitably be creating a black character to get beat down by a white guy, so that may be why you'll see the more diverse characters be heroes rather than villains. He also posited that it's something we have to get over, which I agree with because otherwise the issues just remains unaddressed for fear of backlash. People like compelling characters, so as long as they're interesting I say it's fair game.

I'll say that in the case of Tobias, Lex is just so effective that perhaps that's not the model to follow because it's like trying to be a courier service picking a fight with Amazon at this point; Tobias fights Black Lightning, Lex faces Superman. On every level, Lex and his foil are more popular, faces far higher stakes, and has longevity. He's just going to become less unique trying to copy Lex.

Underground kingpin who works with (not for) Lex, perhaps as a trusted associate for things Lex must remain distant from in the eyes of the public? That could work because it would account for how Lex fools a lot of Metropolis, gives Tobias a very powerful ally and gives both Tobias and Lex a lot of room to play against each other.

Honestly I want to see more done with Manta, but he's so focused on Aquaman it really limits how he can crossover into other books. I'm down for a Black Manta mini, though. I think he's ripe with potential.

[Shockingjustice]

you know what I would love from DC? I would love for them to boost more interesting Black supervillains. I would love to see a character like Gnomon developed, imagine the pathos to be had from an immortal black character and the injustices they'd see in their lifetime. i would like to see Red Lion develop and see what it would he like for an African warlord to evolve into a Doctor Doom-esque character. I would love to see Todias Whale evolve into an evil business man on the level of a Lex Luthor. more Lord Battle, more Black Spider, more Mr. Bloom, bring in some melevolent black Gods, create more black villainess; hell, make tattoo man LaLa from Black Lightning. As much as we need more black heroes presented more prominently, black supervillains are just as important. like, who doesn't love a great villian?

See I wouldn't nind that either, but I admit I would be more than a little annoyed if their black villains were treated better/had more page time than our black heroes.

[9th.]

I'm on board with that, I'd love to see more black villains. I'd also like to see them pop up more in various books to get a bigger name. Maybe a little spotlight in the next event. I agree with my guy Lemonpeace, Gnomon and Red Lion have a lot of potential.

[Raijin]

I'm on board with that, I'd love to see more black villains. I'd also like to see them pop up more in various books to get a bigger name. Maybe a little spotlight in the next event. I agree with my guy Lemonpeace, Gnomon and Red Lion have a lot of potential.

Imagine having black villains that not only are a challenge against their respective hero. But also pose a threat to the DC Universe. Not even speaking on a cosmic scale. (Even though that would be cool!) Someone like Red Lion could go up against anyone and everyone.

[Midnight_v]

I kind of want to see all the mentioned in the Superman issue where Mohammed X first appeared. I'd be down with him becoming a "villain" or at least a solid "foil" as far as Red Lion... I'd like to think DC can do better than "Evil Black Panther" ... not sure.

Gnomon at a glance seems interesting.

[blackbolt396]

Imagine having black villains that not only are a challenge against their respective hero. But also pose a threat to the DC Universe. Not even speaking on a cosmic scale. (Even though that would be cool!) Someone like Red Lion could go up against anyone and everyone.

Make this happen DC.

[batnbreakfast]

Waller hasn't exactly had a large string of good stories since Ostrander either. The only good things that have been done with her outside of Ostrander is Rucka's run on Checkmate. Vixen's luck has nothing to do with her name but how DC treats her.

The difference being... Waller survived despite having no costume and being plus-sized because she's an interesting, layered character.

[Agent Z]

The difference being... Waller survived despite having no costume and being plus-sized because she's an interesting, layered character.

And I'm not disagreeing with that. It doesn't mean Vixen doesn't have her own merits as well.

[lemonpeace]

The difference being... Waller survived despite having no costume and being plus-sized because she's an interesting, layered character.

eeeeh, characters become more layered the more stories they have that fully realize their concept. Waller is largely an ensemble/supporting character, with no powers and (as you said) no costume, so she can be plugged and played in a bunch of stories easily. Vixen is a character that requires a solo to fully realize her potential, and again, characters become layered the more interesting stories they are in; so it's not a one to one comparison. it's kinda hard to make an argument that Waller is a more inherently interesting character when more people have been wanting a Vixen title over a Waller one for years. the difference isn't that Waller is an inherently more interesting or layered, not saying she isn't (admittedly, not really to me), the difference is Waller is more easily utilized because she requires less work on DC's end to be used in a story.

[Raijin]

Gruesome George could be Batwing’s Barracuda.

[Shockingjustice]

I'm glad this thread exist. It's one of the few times minority characters get brought up in conversation. But it's also somewhat discouraging knowing that this thread is needed because otherwise not a lot of people would talk about them. Most minority characters come after DC's golden years. They weren't apart of the JSA or original 7 JL, even the original Teen Titans to some extent. Most don't rank into people's favorites and some are on the JLA team as a replacement or a placeholder. Hal Jordan is still a preferred character on the league which is fine, but they also want Martian Manhunter to be the one to appeal to minorities which is a little weird. Besides the terrifics I haven't felt a minority character truly has a reserved spot amongst the different DC Teams.

I don't blame fans or DC for the fact, but man does it feel alienating when we can't see these great characters interact with everyone's favorite characters (Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, JSA). Half of them don't even have a history to be reflected on. The sad part is that I feel like they won't be able to even add diverse characters to the JSA or JLA without it feeling unnatural.

I want to appreciate all the characters. I want to see more underrated ones like bloodwynd or hotspot. I want to know more about some of the "popular" minority characters like Cyborg or Blue Beetle, but even their history is limited. I also want for their to be at least one minority DC character that fans and general conses would that they could look up to this character and that they're a great role model. Something that you don't have to find elsewhere because I like DC's world and worldbuilding.

[Raijin]

I'm glad this thread exist. It's one of the few times minority characters get brought up in conversation. But it's also somewhat discouraging knowing that this thread is needed because otherwise not a lot of people would talk about them. Most minority characters come after DC's golden years. They weren't apart of the JSA or original 7 JL, even the original Teen Titans to some extent. Most don't rank into people's favorites and some are on the JLA team as a replacement or a placeholder. Hal Jordan is still a preferred character on the league which is fine, but they also want Martian Manhunter to be the one to appeal to minorities which is a little weird. Besides the terrifics I haven't felt a minority character truly has a reserved spot amongst the different DC Teams.

I don't blame fans or DC for the fact, but man does it feel alienating when we can't see these great characters interact with everyone's favorite characters (Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, JSA). Half of them don't even have a history to be reflected on. The sad part is that I feel like they won't be able to even add diverse characters to the JSA or JLA without it feeling unnatural.

I want to appreciate all the characters. I want to see more underrated ones like bloodwynd or hotspot. I want to know more about some of the "popular" minority characters like Cyborg or Blue Beetle, but even their history is limited. I also want for their to be at least one minority DC character that fans and general conses would that they could look up to this character and that they're a great role model. Something that you don't have to find elsewhere because I like DC's world and worldbuilding.

I don’t think there’s anything unnatural about being a minority being on any of those teams. It’s sad that it would have to be questioned. If they were to make an all black Justice League, people will be asking what is there reason for being together other than being black. But why does there need to be a reason? When a team of straight white males come together, everyone brushes it off.