The Mission: The Power of the Black Female Teenage Superhero

[CBR News]

Joseph Illidge examines the growing category of Black girls as superheroes in American comic books, from the Big Two publishers and beyond.


Full article here.

[Chimeratengun]

Wow, Moon Girl just elbowed Fallon Grey(Blade's Daughter) out of the spotlight. Ouch Marvel.

[Moose100]

I dno if I'd say that. There is room for more than just one. It's not like a contest or free for all for a set number of slots.

[ed2962]

He forgot top mention Black Lightning's kids Thunder and Lightning!

But yeah, the real issue will be how long Marvel and DC can keep these new characters in the spotlight. I hope they continue to expose them through other media. If they need to go on Good Mourning America or Fox and Friends or 106 and Park, do whatever it takes. Don't worry about those Deadpool fans go for folks who might actually buy these things for their kids.

[Chimeratengun]

I dno if I'd say that. There is room for more than just one. It's not like a contest or free for all for a set number of slots.

Sorry if I came off rude. Just find it strange that's all.

[IJS-Boy]

Forgot to mention, COMPUTO and XS from Legion Of Super Heroes. And didn't Professor X recruit Storm into Xmen in her late teens?

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Anyone else find it interesting that Wonder girl is still wearing that silly oversexed design the criticism of which led to the great board reset of '14? I wouldn't have even noticed but for the teen titans cover sourced in this article. All that drama and noise, and D.C. still can't be bothered to put a shirt on the poor girl. But noooo, we're gonna...trust...them....to...treat minority characters in a dignified manner, when they're still using hypersexuality to try to sell comics about teenage girls to thirty year old bros. Yeeeeeah.

[Agent Z]

I'd like to see Anita Fite get more attention. There aren't a whole lot of magic characters of color who aren't sidekicks.

[ed2962]

Anyone else find it interesting that Wonder girl is still wearing that silly oversexed design the criticism of which led to the great board reset of '14? I wouldn't have even noticed but for the teen titans cover sourced in this article. All that drama and noise, and D.C. still can't be bothered to put a shirt on the poor girl. But noooo, we're gonna...trust...them....to...treat minority characters in a dignified manner, when they're still using hypersexuality to try to sell comics about teenage girls to thirty year old bros. Yeeeeeah.

Sure, but her breasts aren't drawn larger than her head which was the real problem with that one particular cover. Same with new Power Girl, she has the cut out as part of her suit, but she still looks relatively modest

[PretenderNX01]

He forgot top mention Black Lightning's kids Thunder and Lightning!

Are they still in continuity? I know other heroes lost their spouses and kids.

I liked the animated shorts they did with them on DC Nation.

[ed2962]

Are they still in continuity? I know other heroes lost their spouses and kids.

I liked the animated shorts they did with them on DC Nation.

Sadly I think they were written out of the main continuity

[TeeracK]

Anyone else find it interesting that Wonder girl is still wearing that silly oversexed design the criticism of which led to the great board reset of '14? I wouldn't have even noticed but for the teen titans cover sourced in this article. All that drama and noise, and D.C. still can't be bothered to put a shirt on the poor girl. But noooo, we're gonna...trust...them....to...treat minority characters in a dignified manner, when they're still using hypersexuality to try to sell comics about teenage girls to thirty year old bros. Yeeeeeah.

If you think showing a little bit of cleavage is over sexed for a modern teenager in 2015 you are extremely sexist or out of touch.

[Baseman]

I could be crazy but I think there are enough black characters now. I'm not white, and I don't really like to think in terms of race but because tribalism is bad for humanity no matter how you look at it and i just think humans are humans, but since everyone else wants to talk about it i will. There are still a ton more white characters yes, but there are a good amount of black characters. The number of worth while Spanish, Jewish, and Arab characters are all numbers you could fit on one hand. The number of Asian super heroes could probably be counted on two fingers... it just seems kinda literately black and white when the world is a lot more then just black and white people.

Well that depends on what you consider 'enough'.While their are probably more black characters when compared to people of other races like you said its not that big when compared to the amount of white characters.Which is the race people usually use to measure these things.

[bloodofthegods]

Well when one lumps Germans, French, Scandinavians, Slavic, Russians, Greek, Australians, Nordics, English/British, Hungarian, Croatian and Canadians; then yes white is the majority. But none of these people are all the same, no more than all the countries of Latin American people should be lumped all together as Latino or Hispanic. Or any culture whose people happen to share the same skin color. All it does is convey the whole idea that it's okay to judge anyone based on their appearance, depending on the motive. People's cultures are all unique in their own way, and so are the people. Ignorance of their cultures and way of life aren't a valid excuse to just label them another white, Latino, or Asian. Labels are the worst, and something our species has still not learned.

[mathew101281]

I feel a lot of this diversity will be wasted if writers don't start focusing more on the supporting characters around these new diverse characters. To me the difference between characters like Batman, Superman, and Spiderman, and characters like The Punisher(a character who is popular but has problems keeping a book for long periods of time) are their supporting cast. I feel a lot of these minority characters could easily slip back into obscurity if more time isn't spent building up their rogue's gallery and supporting cast.