It's Getting Better: Pop Culture's Shift to Multi-Ethnic Characters Instead of Caricatures

[The Doctor]

I like characters like Sam Wilson, Jon Stewart, and Luke Cage.

I hate the ones like the new Wally West, the new movie Human Torch, etc.

Don't try to make a popular minority character by just changing a famous white one. Write an original or take someone like a Cage and make him better. It's more worthwhile in the end. Trying to cheat it just pisses people off.

[DevilsGambit]

I like characters of multiple races, genders, and creeds. The only problem is this fallacy "Simon Baz's religion and culture inform his character but don't define it." This is true for simon, but many other character are defined by their, religion,culture,etc. Their stories end up being weak because of it.

[mace11]

The point is: the amount of Asian superheroes who aren't stereotypes is amazingly low. Hell, the amount of Asian superheroes in general is pretty low.

There are alot of asian superheroes.

List of Asian superheroes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_superheroes

and
http://www.comicvine.com/profile/ryo...rheroes/12487/

[ouroboros]

Unfortunately, if no member of the creative team behind a certain product is of the same ethnicity or cultural background as the character, there will be some level of disconnect. People will heavily lean on stereotypes or end up "normalizing" the character to such an extent that all of his or her culturally and heritage informed unique experiences will be washed away.

That is the reason why a Sana Amanat and G. Willow Wilson created Kamala Khan is a much better realized and real character than a Brian Bendis controlled Miles Morales.

But would you want to see Amanat and Wilson create any character not of their ethnicity? Does the fact that none of them are black mean that any attempt by them to do a black character, for instance, would automatically fail?

[ouroboros]

There are alot of asian superheroes.

List of Asian superheroes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_superheroes

and
http://www.comicvine.com/profile/ryo...rheroes/12487/

I thought Ryan Choi's Atom got some props for being non-stereotypical.

That said, I'd make a distinction between "stereotypical" and 'archetypal." You could say that Sunfire as a character is stereotypical, because he doesn't have much depth. His raison d'etre, though-- of being associated with Japan's "Rising Sun" image-- is archetypal because it draws on an image of significance to the Japanese people. Certainly the Japanese themselves have created pop-culture icons around celebrated cultural icons, as when SPACE CRUISER YAMATO named its spacefaring vessel after a WWII battleship.

[CSTowle]

Jubes was a mall girl/skateboarder chick, so not very typical. And a very rare case of an East Asian POV character (especially on the most popular Western superhero comic on the stands, but they'd already broken that ground with a young smart-alecky Jewish girl the previous decade). I'd also point to the unfortunately named Grunge from Wildstorm. Dumb, horny bro looking to have fun with Absorbing Man powers.

[Bullet Sniper]

What's the difference between caricature and character in this very sense about being "multi-ethnic"?

[Bullet Sniper]

There are alot of asian superheroes.

List of Asian superheroes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_superheroes

and
http://www.comicvine.com/profile/ryo...rheroes/12487/

What about anime and manga characters and japanese media characters and icons? Isn't that enough asian superheroes for you? or are we only limiting this discussion to American comics and entertainment?

[mace11]

The point is: the amount of Asian superheroes who aren't stereotypes is amazingly low. Hell, the amount of Asian superheroes in general is pretty low.

What about anime and manga characters and japanese media characters and icons? Isn't that enough asian superheroes for you? or are we only limiting this discussion to American comics and entertainment?

This reply should be for Will of the Geeks,not me.



The links have all that above and i was not the one that mention this.



I was replying to will of the geeks who who said there was not enough asian superheroes and said the amount of asian superheroes are not low.

I corrected him and posted some links to say the amount of asian superheroes are high enough,not low or alot more then he thinks.

[mace11]

Southasian superheroes in marvel
http://community.comicbookresources....-Indian-origin




Thread: Asian and Latino superheroes?
http://community.comicbookresources....no-superheroes

[kurenai24]

I would like to see more black female superheroes, but more than that I just want to see more black female characters.

There is no denying the lack of Asian superheroes, or characters in general, especially males.

Unfortunately, if no member of the creative team behind a certain product is of the same ethnicity or cultural background as the character, there will be some level of disconnect. People will heavily lean on stereotypes or end up "normalizing" the character to such an extent that all of his or her culturally and heritage informed unique experiences will be washed away.

That is the reason why a Sana Amanat and G. Willow Wilson created Kamala Khan is a much better realized and real character than a Brian Bendis controlled Miles Morales.

The whole it's better to have pocs behind the writing of poc characters is true, especially for cultural reasons and even experiences, but the whole Kamala Khan is better realized and a more real character over Miles is stretching it far, the fact that Miles wasn't the smartest, the dumbest, the poorest, or the richest, and was just a normal introverted preteen before gaining his powers and still kept being true to himself whilst using his powers is what was real about him.

As much as it's better to have pocs behind poc characters, people tend to forget that in America where we have a big melting pot, it's the pocs that tend to have their heritage and culture stripped away by the European standards/culture that America upholds. It's not hard to find a Latino or an Asian person who doesn't speak anything but English, or may not be so closely linked to their culture as their parents or grandparents. And considering Miles is racially black and looks black, on top of the fact that he has a black father, and a mother who more than likely was a Latina woman who was Americanized and probably didn't teach Miles about his Puerto Rican culture/heritage, probably has Miles gravitating to his black culture more. Whether black people or rather black Americans have a culture is always debated, but people have to remember that unlike others who have have a deep sense of culture/heritage/customs based on their race, region and nationality, black Americans do not have that luxury, while black Americans do have a culture created of their own accord, it is very much a sub culture of American culture (and American culture is nothing but mix of everything), b/c their lineage/ancestry was stripped away.

Also, while Miles Latino heritage may not have made him have unique experiences, him being a poc and his family not having the best economic life made him have a unique experience in of itself, so I don't believe Miles is a good example.

I like characters like Sam Wilson, Jon Stewart, and Luke Cage.

I hate the ones like the new Wally West, the new movie Human Torch, etc.

Don't try to make a popular minority character by just changing a famous white one. Write an original or take someone like a Cage and make him better. It's more worthwhile in the end. Trying to cheat it just pisses people off.

Says the person who doesn't know how hard it is to create and keep original poc characters that aren't legacy based and attached to a popular title alive and/or relevant, nor do you seem to understand the behind the scenes complications that happen that usually has pocs characters going into limbo.

People who get angry over the fact that a white character gets changed into a poc without frankly understanding the above don't deserve to be listened to imo even if I do understand their irrational anger for their fave being changed in any way *shrugs*

What about anime and manga characters and japanese media characters and icons? Isn't that enough asian superheroes for you? or are we only limiting this discussion to American comics and entertainment?

Are these real questions, not every character in an anime are Japanese even if most of them are, nor do characters in an anime who have abilities make them superheroes, and even if they were called that, that may be great representation in the medium of animation and Japanese manga, but what about other mediums, like tv and movies. And lets not forget that anime tend showcase Japanese characters, what about the other Asians, so no it's not good enough representation.

[totalsellout]

it is just so nice to see a positive article on this subject for once.

[mace11]

Keep in mind some black americans still do have thier african culture,like nigerian americans,south african americans etc..
There are still some heavy african influence still in southern ethnic african american culture as well.
There are other black americans too like black hispanics,black asians from asia and afro-Caribbeans.

There are more black female superheroes then you think.
There are alot of black male and black female superheroes.
Check the links below.


Over 60 Black Female Superheroes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE3Iz2UmNAA



Over 20 MORE Black Female Superheroes!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slqN3h2i8RY







COMICS: First Look At INFINITY GAUNTLET #1 & New Hero 'Anwen'
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansit...news/?a=115376

Infinity Gauntlet (2015) #1 (Granov Variant)
http://marvel.com/comics/issue/53474...granov_variant



New black female blade
Blade in the All New All Different Marvel Universe
http://toylab.blogspot.com/2015/07/b...IVDDk-Ch035wyu

Tim Seeley and Logan Faerber offer an all-new all-different take on the vampire hunter as he takes on fatherhood!
More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/comics/24872/...#ixzz3gw3dTu9x



FEATURE: South African Superheroes - 'Kwezi', the new comic book from artist Loyiso Mkize
http://www.afropunk.com/profiles/blo...omic-book-from


'Marvel Introduces "Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur" By Reeder, Montclare & Bustos'
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=65306




List of black superheroes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_black_superheroes


Lists black superheroes world of black heroes
http://www.comicvine.com/profile/ryo...-heroes/11628/




Chronicles of Piye, An Original African-Based Comic Series Released for Sale in Print and Digital Formats
http://www.prweb.com/releases/chroni...eb10608473.htm



Legend of the Mantamaji





http://legendofthemantamaji.com/series/

Legend of the Mantamaji: Behind the Scenes Episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLHlGFdtXB0


Legend of the Mantamaji: Behind the Scenes Ep 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGCkU8q8gQs






Black Superheroes | WorldofBlackHeroes
http://worldofblackheroes.com/

and

http://worldofblackheroes.com/black-superheroes/


Black Supervillains
http://worldofblackheroes.com/black-supervillains/


Black Superhero
www.blacksuperhero.com/
‎

[mace11]

This deals with african culture too


The Pack: A new comic about African Werewolves in Egypt and Nubia







Facebook page for The Pack:
https://www.facebook.com/thepackcomic


Interview with the creator:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/03/15/the-pack/

[mace11]

http://www.comicbookreligion.com/?sr...s_religion__49



SuperAfricanAfrofunk crooner Sila Mutungi, has partnered with Visila Comics to produce a new comic series titled ‘SuperAfrican’.



Read more at: http://akatasia.com/articles/superaf...by-sila-music/

http://superafrican.com/