Is Captain Boomerang a racist?

[MarquisAsh]

Was reading the first issue of the suicide squad in the 80’s and he was about to call the black spider a “black something” before he got cut off by rick flag. Thoughts?

[Adekis]

Yeah, he uses a slur for aboriginal Australians as well. He definitely seems to be racist to me. Not just that "benefited from racist power structures and never questioned it," kind of situation either, but like "oh, I guess this is the kind of guy who might actually go on an avowedly racist rant" kind of racist.

[Lightning Rider]

Yeah, he uses a slur for aboriginal Australians as well. He definitely seems to be racist to me. Not just that "benefited from racist power structures and never questioned it," kind of situation either, but like "oh, I guess this is the kind of guy who might actually go on an avowedly racist rant" kind of racist.

Yeah, it fits.

[Nite-Wing]

He's an aussie and uses a lot of racist terms
He doesn't do that anymore of course but the entire ostrander run of suicide squad he calls bronze tiger and other black characters slurs

[Riv86672]

Yeah, he uses racist slurs and whatnot.
He also robs banks, kills ppl, kicks puppies and whatnot. He's a villain.

[Frontier]

Yeah, Digger has never been the most enlightened individual...

[batnbreakfast]

Ostrander's white trash personality Captain Boomerang was the best because he actually had a personality. Digger had a whole issue dedicated to his origin. Methinks Red Skull is kinda racist, too. I wish comics wouldn't play it safe all the time. Superheroes fought Nazis while actual soldiers were dying in World War II. Not being PC is part of comics DNA

[Adekis]

If killing Nazis isn't politically correct, then we're in the wrong timeline and it's time to call Captain Marvel Jr to kick some Ratzi ass.

[Robanker]

If killing Nazis isn't politically correct, then we're in the wrong timeline and it's time to call Captain Marvel Jr to kick some Ratzi ass.

Legend has it if you say "Ratzi" three times fast, Frank Rock rises from the grave to put any new ones who cropped up back in the dirt where they belong.

To the OP, yeah, he's supposed to be an unlikable dick to help you sympathize more with other villains because "at least they're not that lame, boomerang-tossing bigot." He sucks.

[Riv86672]

Legend has it if you say "Ratzi" three times fast, Frank Rock rises from the grave to put any new ones who cropped up back in the dirt where they belong.

To the OP, yeah, he's supposed to be an unlikable dick to help you sympathize more with other villains because "at least they're not that lame, boomerang-tossing bigot." He sucks.

He was one of my favorite OG members.
I was always waiting to see who he’d stab in the back next, and how!

[Username taken]

Ostrander's white trash personality Captain Boomerang was the best because he actually had a personality. Digger had a whole issue dedicated to his origin. Methinks Red Skull is kinda racist, too. I wish comics wouldn't play it safe all the time. Superheroes fought Nazis while actual soldiers were dying in World War II. Not being PC is part of comics DNA

Red Skull is a hardcore racist and Nazi. Same with Arnim Zola, it’s been depicted that way pretty explicitly in the comics.

Captain Boomerang was a racist during Ostrander’s run. He was meant to be the worst of the worst in contrast to guys like Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag. I’m not sure if that’s the status quo now though.

[JackDaw]

He’s an unpleasant piece of work, yet also oddly like-able. (I think...obviously opinions will vary).

For me, this (the Ostrander Suicide Squad run) is one of the great DC runs and one of its strengths is the way John O writes practically all the characters as real personalities, rather than out and out saints or sinners.

Incidentally, I think Amanda Waller in this run is one of the most admirable characters in comics...I was surprised in an earlier thread to see how many people regraded her as a villain...based (I assume) on things she has done in other later runs.

[Username taken]

He’s an unpleasant piece of work, yet also oddly like-able. (I think...obviously opinions will vary).

For me, this (the Ostrander Suicide Squad run) is one of the great DC runs and one of its strengths is the way John O writes practically all the characters as real personalities, rather than out and out saints or sinners.

Incidentally, I think Amanda Waller in this run is one of the most admirable characters in comics...I was surprised in an earlier thread to see how many people regraded her as a villain...based (I assume) on things she has done in other later runs.

Yeah, Amanda Waller wasn’t a villain. She was an office “Nick Fury” type who did whatever it took to get the job done. She was a morally gray character like Maxwell Lord in the original JL run.

But, I’m basing this on her pre-nu 52 appearances. Things might have changed now because most modern writers struggle to write characters in shades of gray without turning them into outright villains.

[JackDaw]

Yeah, Amanda Waller wasn’t a villain. She was an office “Nick Fury” type who did whatever it took to get the job done. She was a morally gray character like Maxwell Lord in the original JL run.

But, I’m basing this on her pre-nu 52 appearances. Things might have changed now because most modern writers struggle to write characters in shades of gray without turning them into outright villains.

John Ostrander (or maybe the John O/ Kim Yale partnership??) was/ were super good at “shades of grey”...not just in terms of writing characters, but also in writing plots where serious moral questions were raised.

Look at his run on Firestorm..maybe his least celebrated long DC run...the plot line when Firestorm makes the decision to try to destroy all nuclear weapons is genuinely thought provoking, miles better than the normal super hero punch-us.

[Username taken]

John Ostrander (or maybe the John O/ Kim Yale partnership??) was/ were super good at “shades of grey”...not just in terms of writing characters, but also in writing plots where serious moral questions were raised.

Look at his run on Firestorm..maybe his least celebrated long DC run...the plot line when Firestorm makes the decision to try to destroy all nuclear weapons is genuinely thought provoking, miles better than the normal super hero punch-us.

Exactly. Same with Ostrander’s run on the Specter.

But that nuance seems to be lost recently. Case in point, see Thor over at Marvel, a guy like Odin was pretty shady at times but all he did was in the greater good. Nowadays, he’s a sexist drunk bully that can’t even run Asgard properly.