I think it's more probable they changed his looks because in the cover of that novel where he was created he looked a lot like Bruce Lee. Having the word Dragon attached doesn't help, if DC published a comic with him looking how he look in the novel it's like saying "sue me Bruce Lee, for using your likeness". So that was the reason for the change in my opinion, not racism. We shouldn't be accusing people of being criminals like that, it looks like Seduction of the Innocent all over again.
Last edited by the COMET; 11-26-2020 at 10:27 AM.
A few problems here.
1) Being racist isn't criminal so nobody has accused anyone of "being criminals"
2) DC had a long history of not allowing non-white heroes, so it isn't a big leap to presume that this was the reasoning behind Richard Dragon's race swap when DC gave him his own title.
3) They could have easily tweaked Richard Dragon to look less like Bruce Lee without changing him into a white guy. Shang-Chi was already being published at that time and never got into legal trouble, despite frequently looking like Bruce Lee, too.
I'll start with #3 so you don't think i have something against you. Yes, i agree with that, they could have made adjustments on the character hair, body type or whatever while still keeping him chinese. But maybe even then they could be afraid of the law suit and decided for a more radical change, i don't see racism in that.
1) Racism is a crime anywhere in the world.
From wikupedia:
"A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime[1]) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or race.
Examples of such groups can include, and are almost exclusively limited to: sex, ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.[2][3][4] Non-criminal actions that are motivated by these reasons are often called "bias incidents".
"Hate crime" generally refers to criminal acts which are seen to have been motivated by bias against one or more of the social groups listed above, or by bias against their derivatives. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, mate crime or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail).[5]
A hate crime law is a law intended to deter bias-motivated violence.[6] Hate crime laws are distinct from laws against hate speech: hate crime laws enhance the penalties associated with conduct which is already criminal under other laws, while hate speech laws criminalize a category of speech.
Hate speech is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation".[1] Hate speech is "usually thought to include communications of animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, colour, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation".[2]
2) you say like there isn't characters like Cyborg, Vixen, Katana, etc. Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai on Superfriends in the 70's-80's. Race swap to POC on tv like Jimmy Olsen on Supergirl, Beast Boy and Starfire on Titans.
DC seemed to have always done something to try to include everyone. But then again, do we really need a white hero, a black hero, an asian hero, a fat hero, a blind hero, a bold hero, an allergic hero, that band together to fight crime? I don't think fantasy stories have to be about representarion, i don't feel the need to see myself or someone like myself in the stories so i can enjoy them, nor do i think it will change anything in society, like how people view me or act at me. Fantasy stories don't need to represent society, like in Greek mythology everyone is muscular, does that represented ancient greek society? Where they being racist or discriminational?
It's just art.
Last edited by the COMET; 11-26-2020 at 08:55 PM.
We're not talking about today, we're talking about actions that occurred in 1973 long before any hate crime laws were even being considered.
Again, this is 1973, at which point DC had rejected every pitch made to introduce POC superheroes with the sole exception of John Stewart as the 3rd string Green Lantern. Things would quickly change, of course, and DC would go on to introduce all the characters you mentioned. However, in 1973, DC was very likely not ready to give an Asian man a solo title.
Unfortunately, DC was very behind the ball when it came to giving non-white characters their own comics. As much as I prefer the DCU, Marvel was undeniably way ahead of DC in terms of giving solo comics to more diverse characters.
Today? Very different story. Still lots of work to be done, but DC has come a long way since the early '70s.
Did Neil ever say why Richard Dragon was changed? I find it weird he was suddenly changed white but then again I wouldn't be surprised if it was for reasons Bored pointed out.
I had no idea these characters came from novels. I wonder if DC is gonna change him back Asian. Iron Fist got a lot of flack and this movie is going to be Richard's big exposure.
I am! He's the main reason why I'm interested in the movie in the first place! I love the updated origin Ostrander gave him in his Suicide Squad comic. It can definitely be told in more detail though.
That's the same way I feel when they give Ben those claws. I don't mind them if they're like gauntlets to deflect sharp weapons like in the SS: HTP movie.
When it comes to Death and Return of Superman, I have both of the movies separately, but is it necessary to buy the edited combined movie? I've heard that it has a new special feature on the disc, Long Live Superman, but I'd hate to double dip just for one special feature.
I never saw either version (debated about trying to find that all in one edition, but there's other stuff I'm kinda more interested in getting before that). According to the internet, it's just the two movies spliced together, no extra footage or anything deleted (I'm guessing there might be some editing at the actual splice, but probably nothing major).
Doctor Strange: "You are the right person to replace Logan."
X-23: "I know there are people who disapprove... Guys on the Internet mainly."
(All-New Wolverine #4)
https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/...nimated-movie/
I thought this was funny. I saw the twitter feed that was posted in the article and wow...it is pretty much shot for shot in that scene the same as Avengers: Endgame. Come on MCU. Stay our of the DCAMU playground
I've very slowly been making my way through this list. I've enjoyed what I've seen so far ...
Total opposite of you, I didn't connect with All Star comic book, really disliked it and all the hype around it made it worse.
The animated film though totally won me over, very much enjoyed it!