Race & Comics Round-up: Around The Marvel Universe
By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
Over at Marvel, the solicitations for May listed two books starring POC characters. Perhaps the most surprising is Amadeus Cho, Prince Of Power, a mini-series starring the young Korean-American running buddy of Hercules. Amadeus, acknowledged as the eighth-smartest man on Earth, is tasked to assume Hercules’ mantle by Herc’s sister, Athena. Her reasoning is, to deal with a pending crisis, the next P.O.P should be more formidable mentally than physically.
Thankfully, Cho has been steered clear of “smart Asian” territory by his creator, writer Greg Pak. Pak has consistently played Amadeus as not just intelligent, but cocky enough to team-up or work against other other Marvel brain-boxes like Reed Richards and Henry Pym. So while this is just a limited series, it’s good to see Amadeus get more of a spotlight.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbolts series gets re-tooled yet again, this time with Marvel mainstay Luke Cage as the star. Cage has been a presence in the Marvel U. since 1972 (remember the Gold Shirt and Tiara?), and starting in Thunderbolts #144, Cage is placed in charge of a supervillain rehab program as part of the company’s much-hyped “Heroic Age” event.
It’ll be interesting to see how this isn’t presented as anything but a demotion for Cage, who was heavily featured by Brian Michael Bendis in both Daredevil and New Avengers over the past few years. (Speaking of the Avengers, what we’ve seen of the team’s new line-up looks very, uh, monochromatic.)
Finally, a note on last week’s bit of mock-outrage over Captain America taking on “The Watchdogs,” which may or may not have been inspired by the Tea Party – who want you to know, by the way, that they would never mockingly call a black man “Obama,” as happened in Captain America #602. As MightyGodKing put it:
My word, why would anybody ever associate tea partiers with racism?
While the TP’ers rallied round their latest mock-cause, Marvel apologized for what it said was a mistake in post-production, going so far as to promise to re-edit some signs in a protest scene that quoted actual signs seen at Tea Party protests, while re-affirming that it does not delve into the political world.
Except, you know, when it’s good for sales.
And, as our friends at Fantastic Fangirls pointed out, Marvel also got more than a year’s worth of stories from the Civil War miniseries. Which makes this particular apology all the more frustrating:
What makes me angriest about this whole situation, however, is how starkly it contrasts with the list of all the things Joe Quesada and Marvel writers have REFUSED to apologize for in recent years – all the people whose legitimate complaints have been brushed aside derisively in the name of art or the almighty dollar. Let’s start with Jonathan Hickman’s use of the offensive slur “retard” in a recent issue of Fantastic Four, defended in the letter column as necessary to his art because “that’s what a three-year-old would say.” Let’s talk about how editors spent months defending the Chameleon raping Peter Parker’s roommate in Spider-Man without repercussions or even acknowledgment that it had been rape. What about all the times people have brought up the sexism or racism in certain comics and been brushed aside as crazy entitled fans, as if they were banging on the doors of the Marvel offices demanding the return of Deathlok? Marvel does not make a habit of apologizing, even when it probably should.
But when Fox News starts whining, it’s time to bend over backwards to apologize and excise the material that offended a few ultra-conservative white people. Because, as we all know, it’s a FAR bigger crime to accuse someone of racism than to be racist oneself. And while offensive slurs MUST be used to preserve the realism of a preschooler’s portrayal, it’s unacceptable for a black character to call the Tea Party Movement racist. Right?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
VEe wrote:
. . . sigh. It is 2010. By 2020 Marvel and DC will still awkwardly handle gender and race. Marvel has been shooting themselves in the foot for quite a while. Some one made a comment recently that Marvel will eventually have a comic titled Agents of V.A.G.I.N.A., that’s more or less the direction they’re headed in. Most Marvel POC characters are usually demoted in some form or another. It is kind of expected. But don’t worry, there’s always that super-hero character Barack Obama and Spawn! Wait, Spawn is not from Marvel, he’s dead and completely disfigured. I’m just saying.
Let’s not mention that Marvel will still probably be stuck in the superhero genre because of their inability to create anything compelling that doesn’t cater to young, hyper American “mainstream” wink-wink boys aged 12 – 36 or 45? Video games? That’s more or less the same story.
Well fortunately I don’t have to be completely sarcastic and pessimistic because there are a number of great titles out there like Amercian Born Chinese, Aya, the hyper realistic Unknown Soldier, and hopefully more enjoyable tales from Marjane Satrapi. Hopefully there will be many more to come.
Racialicious peoples, Have a great weekend.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 10:48 am ¶
Chaoscore wrote:
Long time reader, first time poster.
The points you make in this article aren’t actually valid.
1. Amadeus Cho has always been a mainstay in Hulk Comics, he’ now getting his own miniseries. not really a big deal.
2. Luke Cage as leader of the Thunderbolts is big. it is not a demotion. at one time, Hawkeye was the Thunderbolts leader, and Thunderbolts is one of the more influential teams in Marvel Comics. I’d say it’s like Marvel’s Suicide Squad..who is led by Amanda Waller (a Black Female).
3. Spider-Man’s roommate was raped, and little was pushed in the storyline to acknowledge that fact. However, they did do something similar to a mainstay character, and incidentally Luke Cage’s wife in her own series, only in this case, they didnt attempt to “cover it up”.
4. The “women in refirigerators” phenom has been discussed many times over in the comics world, and we are starting to see some progress.
5. The Tea partier change in Captain America probably happened because Captain America is for the most part supposed to be the “boy scout” character. having any media outlet sully the Captain America brand, especially after Steve Rogers was recently brought back to life, wouldn’t fare well for the upcoming films. I can understand this “politcal pandering” on the part of Marvel. interestingly enough, no mention of the “Red White and Black” series that dealt with the original Captain America being part of the Tuskegee Airmen experiments, and the institutionalized racism of the WW II era. (the original was black!) Marvel has gone deep with portraying injustices, I just don’t think you guys are looking beyond these flash in the pan stories.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 1:28 pm ¶
Arturo wrote:
@Chaoscore
If you’ve been reading for a long time, you should know that phrases like “The points you make in this article aren’t actually valid” and “I just don’t think you guys are looking beyond these flash in the pan stories” are disrespectful to this space. But let’s talk about your points, nontheless.
1. Amadeus was only created in January 2006. The Hulk first appeared in 1962. “Always,” I think, does not mean what you think it means. And it was noted that Amadeus is getting a mini-series. Maybe it’s “not a big deal” to you, but it is a positive development, and it’s good to highlight those when they occur.
2. The Thunderbolts’ importance in the Marvel U. is certainly debatable – it’s typically not one of the company’s marquee title, and the team rose in importance over the past couple of years because 1) Warren Ellis was writing the title and 2) it fed directly into the events of Secret Invasion and Dark Reign. But Hawkeye’s involvement did not tie in to a bigger arc, and linking them to the Suicide Squad is also a stretch, considering the team barely entered government employ during the Ellis run. Furthermore, once you’re on the team most of the in-canon Marvel U. considers the top dog, there’s nowhere to go but down (unless you have an X-gene).
3. If you read the quote from FF, you’ll note that no one is excusing Marvel for what happened to Michelle Gonzales. The rape of Jessica Jones, while also vile, was different for two key reasons:
a) Her comic, Atlas, was a MAX book, so it was always intended for mature readers, unlike the Spider-Man titles.
b) In the series finale, Jessica broke free of the Purple Man’s resumed control and was portrayed as winning control and closure over her life.
4. Nobody’s talking about the Fridging of Women in any of these particular stories, so your assertion of “progress,” while nice, is not a topic here.
5. The events of Truth: Red, White & Black weren’t lost on us – but that wasn’t the topic at hand here. And regardless of Marvel’s possible tactical motive for backing down from Fox – and your suggestion is valid – FF’s point is also valid: it’s disappointing in the face of their continued defiance to reader concerns.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 2:49 pm ¶
Bagelsan wrote:
Just for future reference, Racialicious writers, if you put a picture of a cute guy rescuing a puppy from an explosion* on a post I will read it no matter what it is about.
*If the actual explanation of what he’s doing is not cooler than this one, I will fingers-in-ears “LA LA LA” it.
/derail
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 7:03 pm ¶
tg wrote:
@bagelsan
it’s a coyote!
anyway, great post. And what happened to amadeus? Last I checked (world war hulk) he was the seventh smartest person. demotion = not cool.
Also one thing thats always made me real uncomfortable about comics: kryptonian syndrome. aliens are evolved separately from humans, billions of light years away, yet they are just basically white people with horns or red eyes or some shit. Really?? Even galactus is a white dude, although maybe that’s a play on the fact that he destroys civilizations
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 7:34 pm ¶
Arturo wrote:
@tg
The demotion came about during the latest run of Mighty Avengers: while reassembling (heh) the team, Henry Pym produced a ton of new gadgets, and finally Amadeus was written to willingly move himself down to 8th. In context it’s part of the bigger plan to rebuild’s Pym character (he’s now the “Scientist Supreme”), but Cho gets to keep the original Ant-Man helmet, so we’ll call that even-steven for now.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 7:44 pm ¶
Chaoscore wrote:
@arturo
Sorry if I have broken some rules regarding proper response to blog entries. Be rest assured my intent was not to be “disrespectful”, however, I still believe alot of weight is being placed on certain comics stories here that really aren’t as big, mainly because these are things we have seen before.
1. Regarding Mr. Cho. Im glad he got a mini series. its great. But, we have already seen Marvel and DC do this before. (Didn’t DC already do “Super Young Team”, “Great Ten”, and “Big Science Action”?) Can we also consider Psylocke’s mini series a step in the same direction, what about Shang Chi? also, you are right, I didnt mean to say “always”. (lack of coffee!)
2. I mentioned Hawkeye’s involvement with the early Thunderbolts because even back then, I never considered it a demotion. To talk about true demotion, I’d start with Captain Marvel and Nextwave. (but it is a damned funny series!) Hawkeye is a major character in the Marvel U. Seeing Luke Cage run the show with the Thunderbolts will be interesting, just like it was with Hawkeye. My Suicide Squad reference is simply because for all intent and purpose, Thunderbolts IS Marvel’s Suicide Squad. If DC can make an intriguing character out of Amanda Waller, I think they can do the same with Luke Cage, considering his checkered past.
3. I think was not clear in my point about Jessica Jones. (I hadn’t had my coffee yet..). at any rate, If Marvel has shown that they have shown and acknowledged rape in comics, mainly to Mainstay characters. DC comics did the same with Dick Grayson! I think the -ism here is “Mainism” in that, in the comics world, friends, and co workers of super heroes are generally just plot devices (see Dibny, Sue). They are ALL redshirts (see Wolverine, Former Lovers of). which brings me to my next point.
4. The rape of Michelle Gonzales and Jessica Jones is all part of the “Women in Refrigerators” phenom. I think in Jessica’s case, the resolution, and later rise to importance is part of the progress. Depending on what the writers decide to do with Gonzales remains to be seen. I’ll pass judgement when (and if) there is some sort of resolution. Hopefully they wont pull a “Freedom Ring” on her.
5. The reason I brought Red, White and Black into the argument is to show that while the pandering Marvel is showing with the change to the Tea partiers looks bad, they do have a good track record in terms of approaching difficult and complex subjects(see X-Men, The Uncanny). They do screw up (see Freedom Ring), but publishing stories like “Red, White and Black”, and other stories in Captain America, like the one where he defends a gay colleague against Red Skull’s homophobia. give Marvel some credit, that’s all I’m saying. Also, we all know, if a character fails at the Box Office, a bigger fail happens in the comics. (see Castle, Frank)
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 9:19 pm ¶
Chaoscore wrote:
@tg
I thought Galactus only appeared to be what the viewer wanted him to be. This opens up a whole new world of discussion, no?
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 9:21 pm ¶
XB wrote:
Agent of Atlas is getting it’s third series (not counting all the miniseries) which stars it’s leading man ,a Secret agent, a lady killer and the most bad ass Asian dude on the planet Jimmy woo.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 9:32 pm ¶
XB wrote:
really like Jimmy Woo from Agents of Atlas. He’s a badass normal that could hang with anyone of his teammates as well being the team leader. Being non-stereotypical earns bonus points for whoever made Jimmy Woo. Amadeus Cho and Hercules was awesome. Genius kid partners with an Olympian demi-god for wacky adventures across the world. He’s like an Asian Rick Jones.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 9:48 pm ¶
Graffiti on the sun wrote:
I hadn’t really thought of Cage leaving the avengers as being a demotion. But it when you think of the fact that he is leaving the big team for a little one.
But that’s not as big of an issue when you compare it to the fact that the avengers is now an all white team. I think Cage leaving wouldn’t stand out as much if it wasn’t for that fact.
But Amadeus Cho getting his own mini series. That’s cool. There really haven’t been a lot of Asian characters in American comics that had their own title.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 10:48 pm ¶
Chaoscore wrote:
@graffiti
I thought the Avengers being “all white” was because Marvel is trying to start something called the “Heroic Age” by taking things back to the silver/golden age roots with the Avengers and/or the Marvel holy trinity of Thor/Cap/Iron man at its core.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 11:07 pm ¶
Valhallahan wrote:
Hello, first time reader, here. I enjoyed the post.
I see your point about the Avengers, but I think a case can be made for Luke Cage’s inclusion into Thunderbolts happening to boost the sales of Thunderbolts rather than an intentional demotion, what with him being one of the most popular/important Marvel U characters in recent years.
Also, Jessica Jones wasn’t actually raped in Alias, just held under Purple man’s thrwal for a long time (no light matter either). Also worth noting that the Purple Man stuff happened before Jones and Cage were an item and was never treated as something that happened to him, but her own personal grudge match.
Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 11:48 pm ¶
Elton wrote:
I thought they called themselves Teabaggers. When did this stop?
Posted 20 Feb 2010 at 1:24 am ¶
Luis wrote:
Yeah. They really want Luke Cage to lead a team, but they won’t let it be the Avengers, so the Thunderbolts is the next best place for him in terms of staying dynamic, relevant and present in the meta-plot.
Though, I still yearn for his short tenure as the de facto leader of the Secret Avengers…
Posted 21 Feb 2010 at 3:20 am ¶
Arturo wrote:
@Luis
Y’know, I was disappointed with the fact that Hawkeye – who had just come back from the dead – just got to be team leader by asking, and Luke was written to act like, “whatever.” At the very least, I thought Spider-Man or somebody should’ve pointed out that Cage had held the squad together.
Posted 23 Feb 2010 at 1:35 am ¶
fulton wrote:
Amadeus Cho is only the eighth smartest person in the Marvel universe? Tragic. If only his parents had truly tapped into their inner Asian Hard-ass Parent…
Posted 24 Feb 2010 at 10:28 pm ¶