Diversity in the Batman line

[Kurisu]

They really should have reintroduced Stephanie Brown as a person of color if they were going to do the same for Wally. Their stance of wanting to show more diversity in their books would have felt a lot more genuine. I'd still love to see DC answer why they decided to change Wally but not Steph.

Cos hell hath no fury like a bunch of white teenage girls with tumblr accounts and no time on their hands?

[LoneNecromancer]

The bat line was getting good at having a diverse cast around 2002-05. There was Orpheus, Onyx, Crispus Allen, and Commissioner Akins who were black. Tarantula and Renee Montoya who were hispanic. Cassandra Cain who was half Chinese. Unfortunately, all of these characters are now absent from the bat-verse and now with the exception of Luke Fox (who rarely participates in the main story lines), the characters are white the whole way through. This is just plain wrong. Gotham is a big city, and big city's have diversity. Having a diverse cast enriched the stories and reflected the population of Gotham even if not all the characters were from Gotham themselves. I'm not accusing anyone of being racist, and I am not saying getting rid of all the minority characters was intentional, but seriously, this is a problem that needs to be fixed.

And this lot were all regularly appearing in the main storylines? Most of them were minor characters appearing in a couple books.

[Ebon]

It's crazy how a line of comic books based around the idea of a rich white man imposing his own ideals and beliefs upon basically the entire world through physical force and economic dominance would have a diversity problem.

Oh, and what terrible beliefs they are, too! Belief that everyone should be able to live free of crime, prejudice and poverty. The ideal that everyone should be free of fear. Someone who has given up his own chance at happiness so others can find it. Someone who uses his vast economic might not to lay about and get richer, but puts it to good use by funding endless charities, jobs programs, rehab centers, free clinics, providing the world with safer, cleaner technologies, etc. What a terrible capitalist pig.

Really, it's like some of y'all have never read a Batman book in your lives and just depend on memes, soundbites, and pithy but meaningless hearsay you've read on other sites.

[SpideyZERO]

No, do not make a character another race just because. I'm all for new characters, but do not introduce/change another character into another race just for sake of "diversity"

I mean, does this so called diversity even improve the books? If introduce this character of xxx race is relevant to the story, by all means, go for it. I don't want race change forced down our throat. I much prefer smartly written and beautiful drawn comics than "diversity". I read comics to be entertained, not about real world issues.

[JasonTodd428]

Post deleted.

[Ebon]

No, do not make a character another race just because. I'm all for new characters, but do not introduce/change another character into another race just for sake of "diversity"

I mean, does this so called diversity even improve the books? If introduce this character of xxx race is relevant to the story, by all means, go for it. I don't want race change forced down our throat. I much prefer smartly written and beautiful drawn comics than "diversity". I read comics to be entertained, not about real world issues.

Really, it's not being done as some attack on entertainment or to make a political statement - it's a means to expand comics readership by including characters that people can see themselves in. The marketplace is a diverse beast, and if you have a smartly written black character in this book, you greatly increase the chances that a black guy or girl reading the book will go 'Huh, I can identify strongly with this person - I want to check out their adventures on a monthly basis'. Or for the book unafraid to have two main male characters kiss on-screen, you will have straight allies going 'Huh, this book isn't afraid to give some decent space and dialog to a gay or bi character - I think I'll stick around to see what else they might do'.

[Orpheus]

And this lot were all regularly appearing in the main storylines? Most of them were minor characters appearing in a couple books.

Cassandra Cain was a crucial character as was Crispus Allen (mainly Gotham Central but he also played nice role in other stories.) Renee Montoya's relevance is undisputed. The other characters had tons of promise but DC did not give them enough exposure.

[Penguin Truth]

Damian was... half... Arabic?

[SpideyZERO]

Really, it's not being done as some attack on entertainment or to make a political statement - it's a means to expand comics readership by including characters that people can see themselves in. The marketplace is a diverse beast, and if you have a smartly written black character in this book, you greatly increase the chances that a black guy or girl reading the book will go 'Huh, I can identify strongly with this person - I want to check out their adventures on a monthly basis'. Or for the book unafraid to have two main male characters kiss on-screen, you will have straight allies going 'Huh, this book isn't afraid to give some decent space and dialog to a gay or bi character - I think I'll stick around to see what else they might do'.

I guess everyone has different expectations then. For me, I don't get the "identify with this person" and the company pushing certain agendas to get readers identify with the hero (example: Peter Parker being single is more relatable). I don't read Batman because I identify with him being an orphan whose parents were killed, and have billions and billions of money and dates super models. I read Batman because he's badass and has an all star teams working on him.

I have heard the "identify with this person" will attract readership, but I really doubt this claim. I don't think the race and "identify with this person" will do much sales wise. Look at Batwing's steady sales drop. Then again, it is quite likely that it has not been cancelled yet due to starring an African American hero?

[Trevel8182]

For me the Batman universe will always take place in this amalgamated 1930s, 1970s, and 2000s art deco era like the Batman Animated Series. So that means that I much prefer that most of the characters in the Bat-Family and the citizens of Gotham, to either be from Irish or Italian families.

[Orpheus]

I guess everyone has different expectations then. For me, I don't get the "identify with this person" and the company pushing certain agendas to get readers identify with the hero (example: Peter Parker being single is more relatable). I don't read Batman because I identify with him being an orphan whose parents were killed, and have billions and billions of money and dates super models. I read Batman because he's badass and has an all star teams working on him.

I have heard the "identify with this person" will attract readership, but I really doubt this claim. I don't think the race and "identify with this person" will do much sales wise. Look at Batwing's steady sales drop. Then again, it is quite likely that it has not been cancelled yet due to starring an African American hero?

I think Batwing has not been cancelled because Jimmy Palmiotti is co-writing it and he is a highly respected guy. It's fine if you do not agree that diversity brings in new readers, I disagree but whatever. My point is that in big cities there is a lot of diversity, and it is absurd that Gotham is almost totally whitewashed right now. The fact is that city's have lots of diversity, and that is being ignored, and personally I think the bat-verse would be a ton better with diverse heroes, and at least acknowledged that Gotham is not 99.99 percent white.

[Dzetoun]

Cos hell hath no fury like a bunch of white teenage girls with tumblr accounts and no time on their hands?

I have to agree with this statement. The was enough of a bruhaha over Wally. Can you just imagine the explosion it would have created if they had changed one hair on Steph's head? I don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't have wanted to see the backlash on that one.

I'll agree as well. DC has enough problems with the Flash folks, and the majority of Bat people are already seething over perceived slights having to do with their favorite BatFam members (whoever that may be). The last thing DC needed was to lob a grenade in that direction. There are still plenty of people in New York who remember what happened the last time they touched a hair on Stephanie Brown's head.

[nepenthes]

Damian was... half... Arabic?

Was never explicitly stated anywhere but can be inferred considering he's Ra's Al Ghul's grandson. Also, not exactly half, more like a 1/4, max.

[Rakiduam]

Batman: Gates of Gotham was pretty diverse. Batman was Roma, Black Bat was half Chinese, Robin was half Arabic and Red Robin was Tim.

[Penguin Truth]

Batman: Gates of Gotham was pretty diverse. Batman was Roma, Black Bat was half Chinese, Robin was half Arabic and Red Robin was Tim.

I picked that up recently. Great story.