Why are people in the Marvel Universe more upset about mutants than any other metahumans there?

On the Scifi.stackexchange someone posits a question after watching this video of the Honest Trailers series on the X-Men trilogy. His question reads:

“As CinemaSins snarkily wisely noted in “Honest Trailers – X-Men Trilogy“:

In the world where people cheer the Fantastic Four, Avengers, Spider-Man, those same people will inexplicably hate the X-Men.

Why is that so? As far as I know, all these superheroes exist in the same exact comic universe, yet X-Men seem to always be significantly more disliked.”

While the most popular answer from the Stack article answers the question from the rarefied air of intellectualism, saying

“It’s the tyranny of evolution. Sooner or later, you have a species that will have a genetic or technological advantage and that species will always conquer a species without that advantage. Carthage, the triumph of the Homo sapiens over the Neanderthal showed us that. Now what do we have? We have Homo superior versus Homo sapiens. On a level playing field, Homo superior wins every time.

That is a quote by the character Wade in season 4 of Babylon 5, explaining why he believed all telepaths in that universe needed to be either murdered or enslaved for use by “normals” (homo sapiens). The same guidelines clearly apply in the Marvel Universe.”

I posted a link so you can read the entire article at your leisure.

However, I disagreed strongly with this answer.

It is unlikely my answer will gain any traction because his is a rather easy to understand perspective but I posted my own answer by trying to look at the problem differently.

Rather than approaching it from a purely intellectual perspective, I tried to see the problem from the perspective of a person living in the Marvel Universe rather than from the viewpoint of a person looking at the Marvel Universe from the outside.

Why Fear the Mutant?

There are factors which play into the fear of mutants more than most metahumans from the perspective from a person living in the Marvel Universe.

Uncertainty

A person living in the Marvel Universe has a life very different from yours and mine. His world is an uncertain one.

• One day Mr. Average is on his way to work and there is suddenly an invasion of Kree warriors bent on battling the Avengers right on the freeway he’s driving over. The battle ties up traffic for hours, costing him money and prestige at his job. Hundreds of people are injured in the collateral damage of buildings and cars being destroyed. (See: Kree-Skrull War)

• A month later, after they managed to repair the bridge, the Mole man ventures up from his subterranean lair and battles the Fantastic Four. Mr. Average’s car is destroyed as one of the Mole Man’s monsters trudges through the city before being put down by Ben Grimm. Hundreds of people are injured or even killed. (See: Fantastic Four #1, 1962)

• Three months after that Mr. Average, riding the bus to work now, finds his bus under attack as a powerful and hidden mutant is riding the bus with him, in disguise. Mr. Average escapes with a few burns and a deep abiding fear of giant robots which randomly attack buses full of normal people to reach “dangerous” mutants. (See: Master Mold, X-men #16, 1962)

Mass Hysteria

• Every day after each attack news pundits like J. Jonah Jameson espouse about the dangers of mutants, Spider-Man and superheroes in general. But mutants catch special flack because they could be anyone. You. Your neighbors, the person on the bus next to you could be a mutant.

• Hysteria is a powerful tool in a world where uncertainty is fanned by fear-promoting pundits and the threat of attack is a regular event at least once every Marvel year, somewhere on the planet. (See: Kree-Skrull War, Galactus, Secret Invasion, Shuma Gorath, Magneto and his Acolytes, Apocalypse, etc.)

• Look how powerful hysteria is on our modern Earth when the random threat of terrorism is used to manipulate how people feel about other HUMANS. We created the Patriot Act, we dropped bombs on foreign countries for the FEAR of terrorism. The single act of the destruction of the World Trade Center over a decade ago STILL has people in the grip of fear.

• Now imagine you had events like this happening every year, some of them, not all of them are due to the mysterious mutants living among us, with fantastic powers capable of wiping out all of humanity with the blink of an eye, (so the news media sells it, no matter that it in the case of certain mutants is actually TRUE).

A Legitimate Fear of Incredible Power

As an individual without fantastic powers and a need to go to work, protect your family, pay your taxes, be a decent individual and maintain a role in society, the very fact that you may feel insignificant compared to the mutant superbeing carrying away the stadium you were hoping to watch tonight’s baseball game in undermines your self esteem, hell, your very sanity as you see the impossible being done before your very eyes.

• Imagine Mr. Average learns the person carrying away your stadium is a mutant, a being who was born this way and whose probably manifested as a teenager. He has a twelve year old daughter and a ten year old son. Could this happen to him? Is it possible that his children could have this mutant gene you hear so much misinformation about?

• What about that town that was blown off the map out there when those Young Warriors fought that criminal Nitro? Everyone was killed. Could that happen here? Should mutants and superbeings be registered? (See: Civil War)

• Maybe Strucker has the right idea. Maybe the best thing that could happen is we kill all the mutants before they take over the world. (Not knowing that it has already happened more than once and been reversed; See: House of M). Being an ordinary human in this world would be a terrifying experience akin to living in a warzone where you had no options but to run and hide whenever anything happened.

We Have Seen the Enemy…

Why do mutants have it worse than the rest of the metahuman community?

• Most of the metahuman community makes an effort to be seen as being on the same side as normal humans. At least some of them have been revealed to be normal humans (Tony Stark, Hawkeye, Black Widow) resemble normal humans (Thor) or were once normal humans (the Hulk).

• But mutants were born this way, their appearances vary wildly, along with their powers, many in learning to control their powers, harm innocents and even if they become “good” mutants have blood on their hands. When they are evil mutants, they seem to relish their powers and kill without reservation. There are reports (however unreliable) that more mutants are being born every day.

What is a normal man to do in a world where the uncertainty of his very existence depends on a very thin line of metahumans to protect him from the ever-growing menace of mutant power on an Earth in an ever-expanding hostile universe of threats? Aliens, gods, intelligent machines are terrifying but they are the Other.

Mutants? They are us. And they are everywhere. 

Un-affirmative Action: Marvel Style

IN MARVEL NEWS:

Captain America has been forcibly retired and sent to an old folks home in issue 21 of his most comic series. He will be succeeded by long time friend, former sidekick and present day Avenger, Sam Wilson, also known as the first African American superhero, The Falcon. Sam will bring his trademark wings to the role of Captain America.

In related news: Thor Odinson has been determined to be ‘unworthy’ to wield the mystic hammer Mjolnir, his constant companion and signature weapon for over a thousand years. He will be replaced by a mysterious woman who will be calling herself Thor, at least while she is using Mjolnir.

This is not news. This is hype. Hype is a specialized form of propaganda which is expected to turn into money at the box office, store front or on the sales floor. Hype does not last, most changes that take place have little to do with the history of the characters being hyped or changed and in the end, things tend to return to their status quo. In other words:

MARVEL JUST WANTS YOUR DAMN MONEY

Neither of these MINORITY characters who have experienced this recent “promotion” in social status into the roles of long established legacy heroes.

Why?

Because it isn’t about social justice. It isn’t about opportunity. It isn’t about making things more balanced. It isn’t about promoting diversity in non-diverse ranks.

It’s about money. Plain and simple.

They want you (or someone who has not been frozen in the ice for 50 years) to obsess over the idea of Captain America being a Black man.

Anthony Mackie rocked the role of the Falcon in the Winter Soldier so the boys at Marvel Marketing and Development decide to take advantage of that and make Cap Black.

Sorta like they did with Nick Fury in the Ultimate Universe. For an entire generation of readers and the general movie going audience, Nick Fury is Samuel Jackson. Except he wasn’t.

Marvel’s money grab is endemic in the nature of their promotion. But it is a fail before it has even begun because, in the typical new Marvel fashion, they have shown nothing but contempt for the characters and their underlying concepts.

In the case of the new Thor, she is a woman taking a man’s name as her Title. Yes, she is becoming the new THOR. But isn’t that the son of Odin’s actual name? Thor Odinson?

She may be acquiring Mjolnir and all of the powers that go with it, but what happened to her name and since when did being THOR become a title, not a name? When Beta-Ray Bill became Beta-Ray Thor. But note, he kept HIS name.

Her adoption of the title of Thor, replacing her name is patriarchal without ever mentioning it. She will be less than the male white character in the role because for her to be more, there would have to be a woman somewhere in the development team to address those issues.

And we already know there won’t be. THAT isn’t the Marvel way.

And more importantly she would have to do things Thor Odinson would never do, in order to be recognized as equal. Her promotion was nothing more than a gimmick, something to bring in new readers. Note the level of promotion used.

For Christ’s sake she appeared on ‘The View’. How desperate is Marvel to appear more egalitarian especially in light of so many egregious articles discussing their lack of TRUE diversity? Who were they marketing the new Thor to? I can assure you very few men are watching the View unless someone has chained them to a chair…

MARVEL HAS BLACK HEROES, AND NOW ONE WILL BE CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Yawn. Big Deal.

Yes, Marvel can claim they have Black superheroes, (and I can name ten without breaking a sweat – Falcon, Black Panther, Cage, Spectrum, Storm, Blue Marvel, Battlestar, Goliath, the Prowler, and Bishop) but none of those heroes have the notoriety, fame, accolades or active titles of some of Marvel’s longest running white heroes.

And that is Marvel’s fault for not doing the work to create characters who could bring the imagination to life. To bring the concept of Blacks as equals to the mythology that is the superhero genre. We can imagine, aliens, Negative Universe, god-like men and men like gods, but we cannot imagine a Black Superhero with Powers that can shake the world. It is more than those comic creators want to be responsible for.

To make an equal Black superhero would imply there was an imbalance in the first place. Hence, the most famous of Black superheroes often have NO POWERS AT ALL.

Which brings us to the Falcon. If in the late seventies when Cap and the Falcon were nearing their combined title together, if you had suggested that the Falcon become Captain America, it would have been a significant idea. At that point, they had been champions of justice, trained together significantly (in fact, at that point, there had been no other hero who had trained to work with Captain America as much or as often.)

The two had developed a level of teamwork that was both seamless and amazingly efficient. The Falcon was his own superhero and had earned his wings (so to speak.)

At that point, very few people had ever been Cap and he had never stepped away from the role. But today, being Captain America has been little more than a slot on a resume of superheroes. Hawkeye, Battlestar, Super-Patriot, and Bucky have all been the good Captain since the Falcon and Cap teamed up in the past.

So why now? By now, Marvel knows what both you and I already know. The Falcon is the Falcon and a Black man and Captain America is Steve Rogers. The seeds of the replacement are set in that very statement.

Every time they put someone in that Cap’s uniform, THAT PERSON IS DOOMED TO FAIL AND BE REPLACED BY THE GENUINE ARTICLE. The American Dream as embodied by the character means only Steve Rogers will ever hold that role successfully by the inherent prejudice of the character’s design.

America wasn’t ready for a half-white president. The reality caused a social schism that proved racism was not only alive, but happy living in witness protection in the flyover states.

Fans will tolerate their myth-space being overturned for a moment, for the sake of diversion. But think about the nerd-rage over Heimdall becoming Black in the Thor movies. The apoplexy over Johnny Storm being adopted and the brother to Sue Richards in the new Fantastic Four movie.

The nerd answer is always: this is the true depiction of these characters and there is no reason to change them.

Except they were written in a time when racism and exclusion were the order of the day. Don’t be fooled. The day when a Black Character can represent America will come. But it isn’t today. It isn’t the Falcon dressed in Captain America’s uniform.

The day will come when a Black Hero can step up with their own name, without wearing the legacy of a white hero paving the way for them. When the respect of the efforts of Black Men and Women who paved the way for this nation to be the potentially great thing that it is acknowledged by presenting that character with dignity, flaws and the bravery we know Black Men and Women deserve for their time and treatment in the US.

That hero was the Falcon. One of the first non-legacy Black heroes.

If Marvel wanted to do something significant, they would give Sam some superpowers besides, to quote Hawkeye, when the archer was passed over due to color quotas in the Peter Gyrich Avengers, “besides flying and rapping with birds”.

Amen, Hawkeye. It’s about time.

————————————–

As an added treat, from Avengers 181(back when comics were 35 cents: When the government decided the Avengers could no longer operate without its mandate, it appointed their first liaison, Peter Gyrich. I hated this man but by the time the Civil War came about, I remembered every word he said had come true. This is one of my favorite issues because we watch Hawkeye, a long-time Avenger get temporarily ousted from the team by Gyrich since the Avengers had to conform to governmental hiring statues, including it seemed, affirmative action. The Falcon wasn’t too pleased with this either. Sam Wilson is many things, but he was not digging the Token Negro thing one bit.

Robert Downey’s corpse scheduled to appear in Iron Man 11

Robert Downey Jr, true to his word said he would live and die in his role as Iron Man. Being paid $100 million up front in Iron Man 10: The Revenge of Obediah Stane didn’t hurt.

Unknown to most fans, Downey actually dies while filming Iron Man 10. The death scene is so authentic, it is left in the film and makes the Iron Man retread actually worth watching. When you see the aging Tony Stark breathe his last, he’s really doing it. Talk about method acting!

Is this really the end of Iron Man? No other actor was willing to touch the role since Downey has left his fingerprints, beer stains and other unmentionable fluids all over the Iron Man armor. So the possibility of Downey’s corpse making Iron Man 11 seems as high as ever!

Using new servo-mechanism technology, Downey can continue to deliver his wooden pre-recorded one-liners as the Iron Zombie in a retreaded 1990 storyline where the entire Marvel Universe becomes zombies.

After all when has Death ever kept a Marvel hero down? (Except Uncle Ben and Captain Marvel?)

–AP News, May 13, 2045

Making fun of Justin Timberlake and Robert Downey Jr. in “Suits that Fly”

Planets provides Galactus with sustenance? How?

There is no single answer as to what specific type of energy Galactus (from the canon Marvel Earth-616) is feeding upon when a world is selected by a Herald. Depending on the writer, the medium or the continuum being described, Galactus has used a variety of energy forms to survive on from nebulous and ill-defined “life-force energies” to the anti-matter energy of the Negative Zone or the background energy of the universe itself (perhaps vacuum energy), which may be just another way to describe the Power Cosmic.

Here’s what we do know:

• Galactus (as the humanoid Galan) is a survivor of the previous universe. He survives the cosmic crush of the Universe with the help of the Phoenix Force and is reborn as a fundamental/abstract being in our Universe. He is reborn from the Cosmic Egg as a brother to Eternity and Death. He is seen as a force between the two, challenging all life in the Universe.

Galactus, as he is seen in the realm of abstract entitites, a burning energy pattern without his trademark armor. Here he greets the other abstract entity, Eternity.

• Galactus does not have to completely destroy a world he has fed upon. If he is able to set up and use his Elemental Converter, he can leave a shred of life energy so that world can barely support lower level life (lichens and their ilk).
• He is able to draw the lifeforce from the world without his Elemental Converter, but if he does, the planet is often completely destroyed and unable to support life in the process. This is not his desired method since it wastes precious life-force energies.
• In a conversation/confrontation with the Phoenix, Galactus indicates both of them utilize the same energy, he using the spent remains of a civilization or barren life-bearing planet, and she the energies of life as yet unborn.

Galactus triumphs in an ironic conversation with the Phoenix Force after getting his celestial ass handed to him in a confrontation with its current host.

Even at his earliest stages, he was a power almost without equal. Discovered by one of the first most advanced races in the universe, a Watcher is horrified to discover how powerful Galactus was.

The Watcher after studying Galactus flees when he, as was the want of his people refused to destroy the potential threat he correctly perceives Galactus to eventually become. As Galactus leaves his incubation chamber, he consumes his first planet without technology leaving it a husk unable to support life, forcing its inhabitants to become the first Wanderers (beings forced from their world by Galactus).

Despite his humanoid appearance Galactus is a being who defies description, his powers are dwarfed by his physical appearance, which is now more than anything a construct perhaps in homage to his previous humanoid appearance. The Enchantress describes him: “What we normally see of Galactus is the merest tip, he’s an iceberg of cosmic dimensions. No. Worse. He HAS no dimensions. No boundaries at all.”

• He is equated on the same level of cosmic necessity as the other great conceptual powers of the Universe, including Death, The Living Tribunal, The Inbetweener, and Epoch, to name a few. Within his energy-filled body lives the destructive force of Eternity, Abraxas. Only the Other Cosmic/Abstract beings or the Celestials have proven to be his equal. In a confrontation against three Celestials however, Galactus was defeated (Fantastic Four #602, #603, #604) and rescued by a future Franklin Richards.
• The life force that Galactus feeds upon does not appear to need to be sentience, for Norrin Rad made it his duty during the time he served Galactus to find him worlds filled with the potential for life, but having no sentient life upon them. In the Marvel Universe, planets can have life-force like energies which can lead to beings such as Gaea/Jord (Earth-616) coming into existence and leading to an explosion of lifeforms over time. Perhaps it is this energy upon which he feeds.
• Galactus’ recent death and resurrection implies Galactus’ continued existence having been restored by the “beyond Omega-Level” powers of Franklin Richards and the threat of the Mad Celestials defeated. Galactus was repowered by Franklin Richards who has no known connection to the Phoenix Force. Galactus was restored to full strength and was capable of destroying a Celestial after his renewal.

SPECULATION

• Considering Galactus’ transition from the previous Universe to this one was through the interaction with the Phoenix Force, it may be he requires the re-infusion of Phoenix energy to sustain himself. The Phoenix Force is considered to be the unbridled energy of life in the Universe. Since his life was recreated by the Phoenix after the death of his Universe, he may be lacking a particular universal constant which is not available in our universe.

Taa’s civilization was one of the last still in existence. Lethal radiation caused by the “Big Crunch” this universe was experiencing was wiping out all life across the universe. Galan, a space explorer, was dispatched to travel through the cosmos to find a means of saving Taa, but he found none. The radiation eventually killed off all but a tiny fraction of the population of Taa. Knowing their deaths were inevitable, Galan proposed to the remaining survivors that they die gloriously by piloting one of their starships directly into the heart of the “Cosmic Egg.” As the starship containing Galan and his fellow survivors approached the focal point of the Big Crunch, the heat and radiation killed all the passengers except Galan, who strangely found himself filled with new energy.

At the moment Galan’s universe met its end, the Phoenix Force amassed the positive emotions of all living beings in the cosmos to preserve them from eternal damnation, enabling the Sentience of the Universe — the previous universe’s equivalent to Eternity — to meet with Galan. Within the “Cosmic Egg” the Sentience of the Universe revealed itself to Galan and informed him that though they both would die in the final moments of the universe, they would both survive through a joint heir born into the next universe. The Sentience of the Universe merged itself with the mortal Galan and thus Galactus, the devourer of worlds, was conceived. —Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Galactus Entry

• It may also be that containing the destructive element of Abraxas within his “body” may require an infusion of life energy (Phoenix Force) to maintain his prison. In the very early years, Galactus could go for extremely long periods of time without feeding. This may have been due to his primal exposure to the Phoenix Force after the Big Bang. As the Phoenix Force dissipated and possible collected with worlds, it became harder for him to harvest from the background radiation of the Universe and he was forced to seek it out.
• Noting that Galactus has complete control of all normal electromagnetic phenomenon, the energy he is seeking must be very subtle or very unique, otherwise he would simply feed from stars or other highly energetic objects in our universe. If a star cannot feed his powers, he is seeking a very rare energy indeed. Since the Phoenix Force can manifest anywhere, it is possible he is seeking planets whose potential of that energy is still in an abundance enough for him to replenish his supply.
• It is noted that Galactus can utilize energy from the EM spectrum and can harvest the power of a star to replenish his cosmic energy for combat. He has also absorbed energy from a Protector of the Universe (Gravity) completely draining him of his powers but was able to temporarily sate Galactus enough to spare the Cosmic being Epoch from Galactus’ hunger. It is possible Galactus can feed on alternative energy sources, but this varies from writer to writer just as his power level does.

SPOILERS

Galactus is now thought to be a Herald of Franklin Richards (this is implied from a statement from Nathaniel Richards, Reed Richard’s father) after a confrontation with the Mad Celestials in which Galactus appears to be defeated and potentially mortally wounded. He is resurrected and restored with the powers of Franklin Richards. Whether this is hyperbole or a statement of fact remains to be determined. It is also noted Franklin and Galactus will be aware of each other for billions of years in the future. Stand by for your moment of awesome:

Galactus being raised from the dead by Franklin Richards. Fantastic Four #604

This answer was written and appeared as MY ANSWER on the Scifi.stackexchange.com. Standing by my answer, I am posting here on my website as a potential source of information on the cosmic being known as Galactus. ‘Nuff Said!

DCnU – Looks Great, but Less Filling

Let’s get the personal stuff out of the way first. I do not work for DC Comics or any of its parent companies and while I may poke fun at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, I have great respect for the longevity and cultural force of both of these comic titans. Once upon a time, I would have given organs to work for either, but for now, my organs shall remain my own. I am not a hater of comics, no, I have twenty-five or thirty years of comics cooling in a storage locker somewhere until I can decide what to do with them. Once, my love of comics was unending and in some ways, they saved my life, gave me hope and kept me on a path of honesty and heroism that I can say I am proud to live and believe in. That said, I am often amazed at just how blind and bigoted the industry can be. I have seen the lineup of the new DC Universe (shortened on Twitter to #DCnU) and I am saddened by much of what I see. Thanks to the wonderful women of Girls Gone Geek for presenting an awesome lineup of the DCnU covers. Go look, come right back.

In order of sadness:

The Marvel Family, Captain Marvel, Billy Batson as the Wizard and Mary Marvel

1. No Marvel Family. I know in the last few years, their stories were convoluted and difficult but since we were rebooting the universe, I thought they could have found a new seat at the table. I know why they did not, though. They wanted the Superman Family to regain its seat as the mightiest family in the DCnU without question. There were too many similarities between the two groups to make their existence worthwhile to the writers and editors of the current DCnU. They caught a bad deal. Making Billy Batson take over the role of the Wizard was strange, but logical. Making Freddy, Captain Marvel was a stroke of brilliance. Letting Black Adam become a good guy for even a little while made his return to evil, even more tragic. The DCnU is less for their absence.

The Justice Society, the greatest heroes that never were…

2. No Justice Society. Though they were old heroes, they deserved better than to be shuffled off to non-existence as if their legacy did not matter at all. The funny part is their final adventures were some of the finest writing of their entire careers as characters. Yes, they had silly names, from a less serious time, but I thought they could have been renewed and given a new lease on life. There was certainly room enough for some color to have been added to the DCnU. But that is another story.

3. Does the Batman need to show up in at least five books? Batman is the hardest working mortal in the DCnU. He shows up in the Justice League, Justice League International, Batman, Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman and Robin. Adding insult to injury, his Batman family includes Batgirl, Batwoman, Nightwing, Catwoman, Batwing and the Birds of Prey. So the Batman Family takes up a full fifth of the DCnU. So much potential in these characters but I am afraid they will burn up and run out of steam quickly down the line. I think a smarter step would have been to have a collective series with rotating lineups or story arcs because I just don’t see all of these books maintaining their momentum down the line. No, I did not include any Batman related titles. I wouldn’t have any room for the rest of the article!

The latest iteration of the fashion-impaired Teen Titans

Black Aqualad caused a stir, looked great in video and now has disappeared

4. No new Aqualad in the Teen Titans. Young Justice, the television show was my absolute most favorite incarnation of both the Teen Titans and to a lesser extent the Justice League. Cocky, young Robin, annoying but cute Bart, grim overstretched Superboy, the annoying Martian Girl, Megan (who I will not miss), but my favorite member of Young Justice was Aqualad. Yes, he was black but it was more than that. The new Aqualad was such a refreshing twist from I have come to expect from black heroes in the DCU. I wept with joy each time he hit the screen. He had class, dignity, grace, charisma, and leadership ability in excess of his years. He was one of the best representations of what I have complained about for over thirty years. Make a powerful, well-developed, non-stereotypical black character and he could command the same respect as the Classics did. And of course, in the new DCU, he is nowhere to be found, his amazing powers, his class, his leadership and the dignity he could bring to black readers is gone. No, don’t tell me I have Static as a replacement. Because while I adore Static, he is not Aqualad. And this group of Teen Titans is fashion-impaired in a big way. Please tell me they will change their look because if they are the future, the future is going to be ugly.

Static, last survivor of the Milestone Universe? Another of the many electrically-charged black superheroes.

5. Static is the only survivor of the Milestone Universe. Sadness overwhelms me at the loss of the great characters who could have experienced a renaissance with the reboot of the DCnU. Here was a chance to bring color, culture, new ideas to a universe stuck on itself with white heroes. Yes, they pay the bills, but you might want to check out another article that says DC better get with the times or fall flat on its White superheroic face in less than twenty years time. We have Mr. Terrific, John Stewart, Static, Vixen, Cyborg, Batwing, one part of Firestorm and I think that is Invisible Kid I see in the Legion lineup, but I can’t be sure. Of Hispanic or Latino descent, I see the Blue Beetle. Of Asian descent I see one possible candidate whose name I do not know but might hazard a guess as Katana. Wow, is that really it? I understand that DC is run mostly by White men for almost all of its existence but you figure it might be time to consider hiring some more WOMEN, you know somewhere near the density of the population of the nation would be nice. 1% is a bloody embarrassment. While you are at it, maybe you can populate the rest of the world with some superheroes as well, otherwise your elitism is showing. “Nuff, said.” Okay maybe not, see the afterword for the rest of my sentiment in this regard.

The brilliant broker of Gotham, leader of the Birds of Prey, the wheelchair bound, Oracle

6. Taking Barbara Gordon out of her chair and returning her to the role of Batgirl. A completely stupid thing to do. Yes, I said it and deep in your hearts you will agree even if you do the politically correct thing and say we wanted her back for <insert reason here>. Oracle was an identity that had evolved from tragedy and had grown into a role of personal affirmation and power. The Birds of Prey series and line of books was one of the jewels in the crown of the DCU even if they were not aware of it. A book whose focus was on the talented and metahuman women of the DCU was both brilliant and inspired. Having them lead by Oracle was a trifecta, of mind, might, and magic. Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown were not only doing the job of Batgirl, they were doing it in their own completely different styles. Both would be headed for completely different futures and I was completely okay with that.

Stephanie Brown, daughter of Cluemaster as Batgirl

Cassandra Cain as Batgirl, in the DCnU now called Blackbat

I counted one hundred and sixteen faces from the book covers I was able to find. I counted ten faces of African or African-American descent. Close to the statistical average in America. For the first time in the DCU history I can say that without rancor. Okay a little rancor because half of the characters I don’t actually care about or care for, and I suspect others do not either. Of the ten, only two are A-listers, John Stewart and Cyborg. Mister Terrific is a B-list hero and the rest are relegated to the C-list as either little known, or poorly written or completely unknown and cannot be expected to do much at the moment. I hope I am wrong. As far as the other minority groups, which should have a higher percentage than I can see, all I can say is I hope DC is looking ahead. This would have been the perfect time to have spread the color around. And I won’t mention gay at all because I am certain they will not be addressing Apollo and Midnighter’s previously established gay relationship. If they do, I will be shocked. I suspect it will be relegated to an off-screen relationship with as little mention as possible.

Now on to the WTF pile. Okay because I try to keep my language relatively civilized in my blog, I try to avoid colorful language, but I am going to break my own rule somewhat by including the text language expression WTF. It was the only way I could express some of the dumbest ideas coming out of the comic industry in a long time. And that is really saying something. Let the WTFs begin.

Captain Atom masquerading as Dr. Manhattan

What the F*ck?

Batman is everywhere. I mentioned the one-fifth of the DCnU is Batman related books. WTF?

Dr. Manhattan masquerading as Dr. Manhattan

Theme Redux, Again? Why is Captain Atom suddenly suffering from Doctor Manhattan–itis? Do we really need to open the old chestnut of what happens when a man gets so much power, he eclipses the human experience? Was it not explored enough in the Watchmen? Or in other books like Miracleman/Marvelman where not only was it done, it is unlikely to be done better. Tell me why?  WTF?

The Ballad of Hawkman

One Hawkman to lead them all, one Hawkman to find them,
one Hawkman to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.

The Savage Hawkman. I have to say, if this guy were flying toward me, I would run!

So we take a hero who has more origin stories that the Playboy mansion has bunny slippers and try it one more time. For the love of Christ (and I say this with love, because Hawkman has been a favorite of mine for decades) can we pick an origin and stick with it! Is he a hero who finds the mysterious Nth metal and is reincarnated again and again seeking his lost love? Is he a space police officer who uses super-science, and a mixture of primitive and modern weapons in a war on crime? Is he a savage barbarian who enjoys the crushing blows of his chosen weapons of war and has some as yet undisclosed means of flight and somehow manages to NOT get shot by people with guns whenever he shows up with his thirty-foot wingspan of flapping targets. (No, you X-folk don’t get a pass with Angel either.) He better have a force field, some armor, or some damn tough wings or some other reason he does not become a bullet laden-pinata when he shows up in the day, flashing his mace, or axe or claws and no ranged weaponry. WTF?

The New Guardians, led by Kyle Rayner (formerly a Green Lantern of Earth, aka Ion). All these colored rings, I hope the book shines, too

The Guardians of the Galaxy, the Marvel Comics space super-team to beat!

The Rainbow Lanterns er…New Guardians. Are we experiencing Guardian of the Galaxy envy? Yes, do not pretend you are not reading those awesome epic space battles with what were considered heroes relegated to the dustbins of history and instead in the hands of skilled writers are now kicking ass across the galaxy as Guardians of the Galaxy. Yes, including the dusty veterans including Starlord, Rocket Racoon, Groot (I mean Groot? Who remembers that issue of Tales to Astonish #13, anyway?), Gamora, the deadliest woman in the Galaxy, the slimmed down and highly tatted, but no less deadly Destroyer and everyone’s favorite pod-transforming, multi-timeline dwelling, soul-gem-using, magic-commanding golden hero from the 1970’s Adam (Magus, Warlock, Paragon, you figure it out), Quasar, yes that guy who used to work for SHIELD and was a spastic hero for the first fifteen years of his existence, and my personal favorite, the Human Rocket, the Man called NOVA. Epic space battles against awesome enemies, where entire solar systems get reduced to dust and entire species die, sometimes by the hand of the people trying to save them? If you are, GOOD. Then maybe you will get off your asses and write some space adventures worth reading. For the record, despite the preponderance of Caucasian aliens populating the DCU, DC’s space adventures were better written and far more creative than much of the work at Marvel for many a year. With the exceptions of the Adam Warlock, Thanos and Captain Marvel, love-hate relationships, Marvel’s space adventures were an abomination with only the slight glittering of hope when Norrin Radd or the Nova Corps might flash by on their way to an emergency.

The Kree and Skrulls spent far too much time masturbating over which of them was the best and I got bored before I found out. The best thing to come out of Marvel in decades were the recent storylines of the Guardians of the Galaxy and now DC has another chance to eclipse that, IF and only IF they write stories like they mean it. To take a line from Star Trek: “Captain, if we go any faster, it’ll fly apart.”

The Red Lantern Corps, no seriously, a corps comprised of anger-management-challenged ring wielders. Wow.

To his credit Captain Sulu says “Fly it apart!” DCnU you better fly the Rainbow Green Lantern Corp like it is the SR-71 chasing a nuclear bearing Tomahawk missile bearing down on Manhattan. None of that warm fuzzy crap the Green Lantern Corp was known for. I want to see alien space, with alien ideas and adventure so awesome I want to forget how to breath until the very end. We are in space, so make me believe it! Otherwise you will get your WTF after the first issue.

Angry Lanterns…er…Red Lanterns. Really? WTF? Did we need to see a comic just like the Green Lantern Corp except they are angry all the time? Inclined to shoot first and ask questions later? Green Lanterns without Restraint? An entire collection of Sinestros, powerful, barely moral, and equipped with the ultimate weapon. Who exactly is this book for anyway? People who love the Green Lantern Corp but wish they were a bit more…um…what’s the word…bloodthirsty, yes, that’s it. The Bloodthirsty Lantern Corp. I think I will pass. At $4.00 a head, I think the Anger-Management-Challenged Lantern Corp will be a flashy, colorful, ultimately unsatisfying failure in the long run. How many angry ways can you beat up a planet anyway?

Justice League Dark. Not with almonds, not the milk chocolate variety

Justice League Dark? Was that the best you could do? Why not Justice League, Milk Chocolate? or Justice League with Almonds? And listen to this line-up:

Shade the Changing Man? Is he their heavy hitter because last time I checked his suit/vest gave him incredible powers he could barely control. And I think the last time I liked him, he was being drawn by Steve Ditko. If you know who that is, you are too damn old to still be reading comics, just like me. Madame Xanadu? You gotta be kidding me? She better be getting some bad-ass super-upgrades because her powers of precognition are nifty but won’t be stopping a menace that Justice League Classic couldn’t.

Deadman, with the power to possess the living, a one trick pony but a good trick

Deadman, a perenial favorite. His scathing wit, his devil may care attitude about his undead state has endeared him to me, even as I suspend my belief that he will be able to sustain his own book let alone work in this one. His cool but singular power of possessing the bodies of the living is well…cool, but second rate. And lest I forget, the annoying, the chain-smoking, the one-shot artifact using, knows his way around the supernatural realm, using up favors the way my cat unravels a roll of toilet paper, but never runs out of them, favorite heroes, John Constantine. Now unless he has some canned Phantom Stranger under his unwashed and likely odiferous trench coat, I cannot see how this lineup of motley, single powered, almost has-beens is going to stop ANY threat unless it is a lunch counter in danger of being over-run by septuagenarians. I will leave it to the vunderkind at DC to explain why they should not get a WTF explosion salad for this piece of feldacarb.

Iron Superman and his big boy pants

Is there any light at the end of this tunnel? Like Lemmiwinks I am desperately seeking to find the light. As a lover of the Superman line, I can assuredly say to you when I heard Superman was losing the “registration line trunks” he has worn for over thirty years for no good reason, (yes, he wore them longer, but for some of his career they did serve a purpose of helping to align printing presses as a registration marker) I cheered and eagerly awaited his new look. It turned out they did not move too far from his old look, I think the belt would have looked better gold rather than red but other than that, BRAVO. Although why the formerly invulnerable Superman is flying around in armor makes me wonder is the DCnU experiencing a bit of Iron Envy as well.

The new Birds of Prey. Katana sprung for armored pants, Black Canary still wearing stockings. Pants Please?

Now Supergirl on the other hand, is there someone there who forgot to make her legs BLUE? I heard the girls were going to get PANTS. And whatever idiot still has Black Canary running around in stockings when she might have to take a bullet in the leg, I would like you to remember Kevlar does not come in stockings. Say it with me class: Adventurers who might catch bullets want body armor and Kevlar. Not so much they can’t move, not so little, it doesn’t stop bullets. If the hero does not possess damage resistance or damage avoidance powers, THEY NEED ARMOR.

There were so many other books coming out that I was just wondering what the hell was going on at DC. Yes, I love Mr. Terrific, but plucking him out of space-time and giving him an origin bereft of the Justice Society seems wrong. I will eagerly await his appearance just the same since it has been a long time since a Black superhero got top billing and didn’t have the word Black in his name.

The Green Lantern Corps, now with considerably less anger than the Red Lantern Corps, even with Guy Gardner and the angry Black man, John Stewart. Let’s not forget perpetually-in-a-bad-mood, Kilowog

Afterword: And since we are talking about diversity and have been doing so for the last few weeks since the new Ultimate Spiderman was revived as a half black and half Latino character and since DC was revealed to have hired about 1% of their staff as females.

If we were to be judging any industry on its diversity, ethnic makeup and male to female ratios, almost none would pass muster, especially in America, where hiring is almost always done by those with the most money or influence in an industry. Almost without exception this will be White males.

So, if the comic industry has a preponderance of White males, this should be no surprise to anyone. If its hiring practices, especially those firms with longevity of thirty years or more tends to resemble organizations from those less enlightened eras, I would not be surprised.

Adding insult to injury, the very nature of the material lends itself to idolization by men and condemnation by women for the depiction of women in those works, is it any surprise, women would want less, in theory, to do with comics than men? That said, there are likely as many women who would WANT to make comics, if for no other reason, to show better depictions of women (and the same could be said for minorities, since they have exactly the same issues as women, under-representation and unequal treatment both in the industry and in the media depictions.)

Firestorm, fusion of magic and science or is it one origin over another? Who knows, he might even be Black.

What surprises me is that those firms STAY that way even now, when it has been proven that diversity is the number one factor companies who are successful today recognize as a fairly inexpensive way of gaining an advantage in our highly competitive society. A more diverse group, one reflecting society as a whole is likely to be more in touch with the needs, ideas, characterizations, lifestyles and belief systems.

This potentially allows for development of storylines in hereforto unseen ways which might engage audiences who current consider comics little more than testosterone-laden slugfests with homo-erotic, misogynistic overtones with the rampant objectification of women and the blatant disregard for minorities.

So why hasn’t the industry made a greater effort to include women and minorities in somewhere near to the proportions relevant in our society, both in producing quality depictions of characters, as well as the hiring of women and minorities on their staff to help develop effective means of storytelling, craftsmanship and quality control of those minority groups, making the work resonate better, potentially widening their readership, improving the quality of the work, and allowing for greater creativity overall in the workplace.

This would imply, 50% of most workplaces would be women, with the racial breakdowns proportionate to the society we live in. 50% White 26% Hispanic, 12% African American, 6% Other 4% Asian and 1.1% Native American/Pacific Islander. Okay, the industry’s statement is, the skills are not evenly distributed, or are not there, the connection to finding those people are not there, and the interest in hiring is not there, it is too expensive to make the effort to find these ratios, when our fan base is mostly White men, who are only too happy to join up to perpetuate what is already making us money.

Justice League – Forty years later and the lineup has almost not changed a bit. Hey, whose that black guy? Oh a Titan Graduate. Cyborg? I guess the rest got sent back to school.

It’s logical but lazy, and ultimately is slowly choking the life out of the industry. Each reboot, each reshuffle, each continuity redistribution, muddles the water, and confuses new readers. Link this to the emotional attachments readers have to characters and the fanboy lack of desire for change and each time a universe is reset, any new readers who were interested in your work, such as it was, is at risk.

Stormwatch. Either you have heard of them or you haven’t. Not necessarily heroes, they get the job done. Don’t ask what the job is. The Manhunter is their conscience. They’ll need him.

At the same time, this industry has been claiming its numbers have been less successful over the years and they cannot understand why any efforts to diversify their character base has failed to take root. The answer is two-fold: A lack of authenticity in the character base and a lack of diversity in the staff.

Writers will immediately take affront saying they can tell stories, no matter who the characters are, and as I writer I understand the idea. But I also know, that a female’s view of things will be different and having a woman to work with might improve my ability to tell that story. A woman may even tell the same story in a completely different manner, resonating with women in a way a man may not. White writers may believe they know the minds of minority heroes, but not having the minority experience, it will likely ring falsely to minority readers, hence alienating the very people they are trying to attract.

Mr. Terrific, one of the newest of the DC lineup. Fix that mask, why does the bottom look like its red? Mr. T planning on kissing someone?

The lack of diversity in their staff has ensured the stories they tell best are the ones they have always told, hence the lack of development in the industry, no matter who the writers were, who the company is, or which part of the industry the company works in, whether it be horror, relationships, science fiction, or the general superhero industry.

The real problem is not the number of women or minorities hired into the comic industry or the reasons they are not hired. We know why that is. The real question is how long before the comic industry collapses under the weight of its inability to grow, evolve, change, adapt and bring real diversity both to their product and their workforce? Will they make the transition in time or one by one, fall into obscurity as their fan-boys age out, lose interest, or experience greater competition from other media.

I think, if the industry isn’t careful, this will be known as the Final Age of Comics. Now I am going to dismantle my soapbox and go buy the few comics of the DCnU that I AM interested in (and it won’t be Batwing, a refreshed, rewritten version of Marvel’s Falcon, same technology, same skills and no superpowers. Who does a brother have to screw to get some superpowers in comic book universes?) WTF.

Thaddeus [@ebonstorm]

Superhero Diversity: Coming whether you like it or not

Newsrama.com posed the following blog that related to my topic of superheroic identity, diversity and equal treatment in the mainstream comic universes. After having it pointed out to me, I felt the need to address it just a bit more. Here is a taste of the article.

SUPERHERO DIVERSITY

By Vaneta Rogers
posted: 13 January 2011 04:23 pm ET

There’s no question the world of superhero comics is more diverse than it was 20 years ago, but the effort hasn’t been without struggle.

And despite the best effort of creators and publishers, the most popular characters continue to be a slate of white men.

The best example of the phenomenon is the upcoming Avengers film, where Black Widow will be the one white female Avenger in a team dominated by white male heroes like Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk and Captain America.

But it’s not just an Avengers problem. “If you look at all DC’s major characters, the big seven of the Justice League, they’re all white men with the exception of Wonder Woman, who’s a white gal,” said Judd Winick, who writes for DC Comics. “We don’t really have many people of color who are considered a major character.”

You can read the rest of the article here. I will wait till you get back.

How did we get here?

A young friend of mine asked me “Why are we still having this conversation?” To be honest I had not planned on answering, I felt I made my feeling clear in my earlier post. But I decided that I would try and strip out the vitriol and answer it differently today. So here goes: Why ARE we still having this conversation about diversity in Comics in the year 2011? 135 years after the end of Slavery in the South and 400 years after the arrival of the first African in chains we are still questioning the poor representation of people of color in the mythic realms of superheroes in spandex. We are still talking about it because:

It is more relevant now than ever.

That is why we are still talking about this because the mainstream comic industry is still wrestling with it. They realize their industry is still poorly reflecting an increasing colorful and diverse world. But their readership mostly comprised of white males who buy the bulk of the comics in the US today, would prefer that nothing ever changes. And the industry does not want to do anything that might jeopardize their current income stream.

The reality is this:

The industry will have to take a hit to get ahead. One step back on income while they retool their lineups and as newer readers embrace the lineup, the old guard will have to get in step or find another form of entertainment where the myth of white superiority is still happily being promoted, for the time being. Eventually even that will change, and they will have to let someone else live to the end of the movie. Will Smith has championed that cause in his own movies. We can have and do have potential motivations that are different than expected and that we can bring our own vibrant and energetic nature to the comic industry and the big screen.

BRAVE NEW <economic> WORLD

The Comic Industry is like any other business, they are looking ahead to the future and seeing India and China with their rich cultural heritages and realizing they have no boats in the water in which to move into those markets. Their parent companies are already realizing they will have to do better about embracing diversity if they want to be able to maintain their roles as trend-setters and leaders in this Brave New Economic World (BNEW).

What this really means for smaller agencies like independent writers and artists is those mainstream providers are seeking creative talent that can move interesting and powerful characters of color. But this is a moving target, so creating one’s one characters and even companies may be a great move right now, and nurturing that talent is also paramount but I suspect for a percentage of the best and brightest, an opportunity to migrate, translate or inculcate your work into the mainstream universe is nearer than you think.

Brother, you should do for self…

And before anyone attacks me with the standard litany of ‘we don’t need anything from them‘ and ‘we can do it without their help‘, I will agree with you, wholeheartedly. And I recommend we get started immediately to provide positive images of heroes for our children and people who want to see a more diverse view of heroes of color. I posit you this: The comic industry’s success has been fueled by their translation of their heroes from their books to the movie industry. And while the technology is still evolving, it has begun to be good enough to allow characters from the 1940s onward to begin their potential migration to the big screen.

In Summary:

It is in Big Comics best interest to find new talent and nurture it. They may not like it. They may not want it. They may not quite even realize it yet, but as the demographics of the nation continue to evolve, they will have to get into the myth-making business for a more diverse population, or eventually as their markets age out, or lose interest, they may find themselves becoming extinct due to a lack of a new emergent market to move into.

Where are the powerful black superheroes?

The question was posed “Where are the ‘Omega Class’ superhumans of color in the comic genre? Where is the black Superman? Why isn’t there one?”

This was posed in a debate to question why comic book creators have always claimed that black superheroes were not profitable. (What about Spawn?) They reported the heroes were’t connecting with their audiences. (Black Panther, Black Lightning and The Falcon did okay for 40 years.) Black heroes were too hard to manage economically and this was why they didn’t create a bevy of new heroes with powers capable of matching the great white heroes of comics: Superman, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, The Silver Surfer, and the Phoenix.

The real answer is complex and fraught with politically-correct terms. But the bottom line is this: in a society designed to create profitable divisions amongst peoples, designed to promote a singular point of view, mediated to ensure a secondary state for anyone not of the dominant class ruling this society, THERE WILL BE NO BLACK SUPERMEN!

The very idea goes against every media promoted stereotype of black men to be seen being and remembered as visibly heroic, becoming role models or being defined in any manner that is positive outside of their currently defined roles of minstrels, entertainers (sports, media entertainment) and servants of the Empire promoting the ultimate status quo of white superiority. This is why when you see black men in media, they are playing sports (showing off their only defined attribute, physical prowess), involved in media (making sales for their corporate masters), or protecting or promoting the interests of their owners (corporate or government leaders).

Otherwise, they are shown in handcuffs, shown in homo-erotic videos promoting money and women over good sense, employment or hard work. They are show in acts of violence against other blacks and of course, against defenseless whites, who without the draconian controls of police forces everywhere would run amok, so their slaying can be reconciled as “justifiable homicides”.

Icon – Milestone Comics’ Superman Analogue – he first appeared in Icon #1 (May 1993), and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan. The only semi-active Omega-class black superhero whose powers are clearly equal (or even perhaps superior to) Superman. After the DC Reboot of 2011, it is unknown if he and the other Milestone heroes will continue to exist.

Omega-class Superheroes
Such an important idea needs a baseline to reference. The term “Omega-class” was initially associated with mutants (beings with extraordinary physical, mental or spiritual abilities beyond the normal range of human beings) in the Marvel Universe (MU). There is no such associated term within the DC Universe (DCU). If a being’s power is being scaled in the DCU, they are usually scaled against one of its strongest active characters, Superman. There has never been an official reference system to classify superheroes in either the DC or Marvel Universe even though both tried to quantify their heroes with very limited success (anyone remember the Handbook to the Marvel Universe or the Definitive Directory to the DC UniverseSeries? Nuff Said).

A quick rule of thumb is a metahuman that can only affect one person at a time, only some of the time or with some other limitation is a Gamma. They are likely unskilled in the use of their powers or their powers are simply too weak to be a deterrent to the current level of technology. Gammas can be brought down in a variety of ways and overall are not considered a threat, except to the unaware.

If a metahuman can affect one person effectively or larger number of things or people intermittently, then they are a Beta. Betas may be more effective, but can usually be counted with a minimum of force. Most Betas who remain untrained will simply use their powers for personal gain because they are aware of their limitations in comparison to any Alphas who may exist. If no Alpha’s exist, a Beta could be a threat if they orchestrated the circumstances of the power use well.

If a metahuman can use his powers all of the time, in a variety of ways, affecting more than one person at a time, for an extended time, the he or she is likely an Alpha. If a metahuman is able to do extraordinary things completely unable to be replicated by machines or current technology, they are an Alpha. If a metahuman can create things that were never seen before they existed or conceive of things in ways, previously unknown, and do that regularly they are likely an Alpha. In a world without other Alphas, an Alpha is nearly a godlike being depending on how their powers manifest, and how they use them. In our world, Alphas would be conscripted by governments or killed by assassination details, if it was even possible to kill the Alpha. Alphas usually have one or two weaknesses they keep under wraps.

If a metahuman can their powers and effect dozens, hundreds, thousands or in the exercise of your powers affect the lives of millions, you are likely an Omega. If a metahumans powers could conceivably destroy all life on Earth and there is little or nothing that can stop them they are likely an Omega. In the MU, this is the most feared class of metahuman. The DCU is only a little less paranoid about Omega-class beings.

Descriptions of each class

Gamma: Metahumans at this level of ability usually have a single power or capability they are able to manifest. Young mutants in the Marvel Universe fall into this classification. This power may make them capable of performing at a level equal to the physical prowess of the best of the human species or they possess a single power beyond the normal range of human abilities. Often metahumans at this level may have greater abilities but they may lack perfect control or have some other limitation that prevents them from being able to be more effective with their power(s). Marvel’s Alpha Flight storylines discussed Gamma-class metahumans and trained them in their facilities. Most Gamma-class metahumans are unfortunate enough to be killed before their powers can manifest properly, either by the failure of their powers, or through interactions with more powerful beings.

Beta: Metahumans who are Beta-Class tend to have more reliable powers, more effective capabilities and potentially with the proper training or stimulus rise to being an Alpha-class metahuman. In the DCU, the Legion of Superheroes is an example of Beta-Class metahumans actively using their powers in superheroic activities. The Betas who comprise more than 50% of the Legion are in support of a limited number of Alphas and an even occasional Omega in their ranks. Legion examples include: Matter-Eater Lad (able to consume and destroy any form of matter), Dawnstar (has the ability to form a psionic lock on a single target and follow it anywhere, across any distance), Bloc (high-order invulnerability). Many of the Golden Age Heroes, might also be considered Beta Class since their powers, while extraordinary in comparison to normal humans, seem a bit outclassed and out-performed by Modern heroes. Consider the Invaders: The Original Human Torch and Toro (flight, defense aura, fireball throwing), Captain America (indestructible shield, superhuman athletic and combat abilities), Sub-Mariner (flight, superhuman strength and resistance to injury), the Whizzer (superhuman speed and reflexes).

Alpha: Metahumans in the Alpha-class range are the mainstay of Modern comics. These metahumans have a bevy of superhuman capabilities at their command, utilize various technologies, and whose powers can affect an entire city when they are at peak performance. One modern hero today can command as many powers as an entire team of Golden Age metahumans. The list is numerous and can be thought to be the norm when considering a superhuman today. Heroes from the Golden and Silver Ages, if they still operate today, are usually upgraded to Alpha-class performance and power levels (or on occasion, allowed to slip back to Beta-class as they age, showing a reduction in their power levels, compensated by their experience). Most Modern age metahumans have amongst their powers at least two of the following:

• damage resistance or damage reduction,
• some level of superhuman strength,
• advanced sensory awareness,
• flight or super-fast movement,
• energy projection or manipulation,
• increased damage output,
• increased damage resistance or outright invulnerability (basically proof against nearly all attacks; you can knock them down but never out),
• telekinesis or other form of molecular or energy base control,
• advanced mental ability such as telepathy or mental domination.

Example: The X-man codenamed Cyclops (Scott Summers) is a Silver Age, Beta-class hero who has evolved into a Modern age, Alpha-class hero. His single power, his optic blast has grown into a diverse energy power capable of being described as: Energy Projection, increased damage, extreme range, capable of deflection (using his optic blast), indirect attack (bouncing his optic blast off of other substances), precision attack (able to control its strength, duration and amplitude from flipping a coin to destroying a mountain top).

He supplements his physical vulnerability using an armored uniform, hand to hand combat training, and regular intensive combat simulations to hone his skill with his power. As a member of a team engaged in the same intense training and supportive combat systems, their group synergy enables them to be even more effective than their individual power levels would suggest.

Omega: The Omega-class metahuman is the Alpha taken to an extreme. An Omega-level mutant is one with the most powerful genetic potential of their mutant abilities. The term was first seen in the 1986 issue Uncanny X-Men #208, but was completely unexplained (beyond the obvious implication of it referring to an exceptional level of power). The term was not seen again until the 2001 limited series X-Men Forever. Some abilities depicted by mutants described as Omega-level include immortality, extreme manipulation of matter and energy, high levels of psionic ability, strong or extremely versatile telekinetic, or the potential to exist beyond the boundaries of the known physical universe.

No firm definition has been offered in comics. Mutants that have been confirmed as Omega-level include Apocalypse, Jean Grey (telekinetic; user of the Phoenix Force), Vulcan (vast superhuman physical capabilities), Rachel Summers (daughter of alternate timeline Jean Grey), Iceman (cryo-hydro-kinetic), Legion (schizophrenic personalities with vast psionic powers), Proteus (reality-altering psychopathic vampire) and Franklin Richards (reality altering powers). The Omega has either a single power whose diverse usage and extreme power level allows them to perform a variety of feats at a level beyond any single Alpha’s ability; Magneto’s control over magnetism, Charles Xavier’s mental/telepathic prowess are two examples of this type of ability.

The other type of Omega has a wide range of powers that are normally found on entire super-teams and pushed to an obscene limit. Marvel’s Gladiator or the DCU’s Superman are an example of such a metahuman. Super-strength, superhuman levels of speed and reflex time, internal life support (proof against radiation, poison, no need to eat, sleep or excrete), invulnerability, energy project powers, superior senses, and flight. What makes these two Omega-class is their virtually inexhaustible energy supplies. They are able to use their powers at full performance long after Alphas have become exhausted due to strain or fatigue.

There are the occasional non-powered or technologically assisted heroes who can move out of the ranks of the Gamma or Beta class to be considered Alpha-class material due to their preparation, quality of technology, or are simply just so bad-ass they can hold their own against superior metahumans. Bronze Tiger, Black Panther, Captain America, Batman, Green Arrow, Hawkeye, Lady Shiva, the new Batgirl are all unpowered humans whose prowess or skills allow them to interact at a higher level than would initially seem possible given their unpowered state. They will never, however, be considered Omega-class beings without outside intervention such as the introduction of the Uni-power.

Power levels of known Black Superheroes
Now to the question of Black characters with Omega-Class powers or abilities. Since we understand that comics, storytelling and mythology share a common heritage, there are very few examples of heroes of color in general in the mainstream comic universes. Considering the socio-economic and socio-political climate of the United States and media in general this should not surprise anyone. Common excuses for why there are no metahumans of color, let alone, of capability include: lack of interest in comic reading demographic, can’t sell them to distributors, no longevity in the marketplace, no mythic source material able to be exploited or adapted to comic formats.

These are simply excuses, since most heroes of the Golden Age were white because people of color were simply without significant rights during the time when comics were in their infancy (1930s and 1940’s) and likely never developed a taste for them. During the Silver Age, most heroes were adaptations from their Golden Age counterparts with only a few writers willing to risk creating heroes of other races due to the very white, very segregated comic industry of the time. As to the lack of mythic material to be used or adapted from, heroes have always taken their cues from the science or mysteries of the time. Golden Age heroes often had super-science, ancient unknown magics or Oriental mysticism as the source of their abilities.

Modern heroes ply their genetic heritage, alien origins, magical construction, extra-dimension existence or quantum-variant parallel universe origins quite proudly so that is not likely to be the issue, not to mention much of the mythic ideas being recycled today come from ancient cultural myths adapted for modern times. So the real reason is they can’t be bothered with empowering people of color in any form of media, particularly one as likely to alter the consciousness of impressionable youth. And they absolutely cannot or will not have metahumans on the same level as their classic big guns, thereby implying there is a level of parity between people of color and the myth of white superiority. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to the analysis at hand.
In keeping with the traditions of barely allowing people of color to exist in mainstream media, there have only been a few heroes of color at all. Most of them have, unless they have been very fortunate never progressed past the power levels of their origin.

BETA-CLASS EXAMPLES:
Amazing Man (DCU – I, II, III) – he had the ability to take on the characteristics of any material and later any energy. While this power lead to an awesome supervillain in the Marvel Universe (Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man, who during his 40 year stint has dared to take on the All-father Odin and to tangle with the Mighty Thor on a regular basis) the DCU has never done anything useful, interesting or unusual with the character other than kill him two different times and bring the character back with a different costume and same lame writers. He has always been a complete waste of an awesome power suite.

Black Goliath – Bill Foster (MU): presumed dead, adapted the enlarging aspects of the Pym Particles and growing to immense size and strength but lacking superior damage resistance. The power made you larger, but not invulnerable, so there was simply more of you to hit, with a paltry amount of super strength to boot (10-50 tons depending on who was writing). Not sure what made them think this was a good superpower, by the time Bill Foster got it, its creator Hank Pym (Ant-man, Goliath, Yellowjacket), had already deemed it a failure and moved on so it is a mystery what they thought they could do with it by giving it to Foster. Another case of hand-me-down powers amounting to zip.

Bronze Tiger – (DCU – Suicide Squad): non-superpowered martial artist, arguable one of the best in the DCU, ranked fourth, after Lady Shiva, Green Arrow II and Batman) all things considered, this is a step up for him as a character, but he has never been allowed to shine enough to keep a book or maintain a storyline, though I thought he was brilliant during his time with the Suicide Squad.

ALPHA-CLASS EXAMPLES
The Falcon – (MU – Avengers): Quipped by Hawkeye and never forgotten: “They chose you over me? Your only power is flying and rapping with birds.” This sums up the Falcon quite nicely. Using a flight harness of unknown design, he fights crime with Captain America after being exposed to a “cosmic cube” somewhere along the way and acquiring the power to communicate with birds. (in the beginning it was a single bird, but later someone decided that was lame and made it possible for him to utilize and communicate with other birds as well. Wow. What an upgrade.) He is ranked an Alpha only because he has become an institution in the Marvel Universe. Physically he is Beta-class at best. The trick with seeing out of the eyes of six million birds was a nice one.

His flight harness is later destroyed (mostly because it was ugly) and rebuilt by the Black Panther with some minor technology upgrades and a whole lot better looking (GPS, magnetic thrust pack for increased speed, IR vision, jamming technology, and some armor). In a world with reality-altering mutations, cosmic awareness, and godhood on demand (Crusher Creel, a criminal gained his powers from an elixir created by Loki, Norse god of Evil), someone thought it was a good idea to create the Falcon as a sidekick for Captain America back in 1969.

The Falcon is technically the first African-American superhero (Black Panther is from Africa…) He appeared three years before Luke Cage and six years before Storm and is the first black superhero who does not have the word Black in his name. He also appeared two years before John Stewart of the DCU’s Green Lantern fame. (And to be technically correct, the first black character starring in comics is Dell Comics’ Old West gunfighter, Lobo, introduced in 1965.

Black Panther (MU, Avengers): Technically, his power levels only rate him a Beta-class, but he has managed just by being “Bad-Assed” enough and arguable one of the first and likely most well known of black metahumans to make it to the Alpha team. He has just barely superhuman strength (800 pounds), preternatural agility and reflexes. He later supplemented his physical abilities with his culture’s advanced technology. It would appear he will be losing said technology and taking over Daredevil’s beat in NYC asBlack Panther: The Man without Fear in late 2010 or early 2011.

The writers giveth and the writers taketh away. Christopher Priest is credited with the recent resurgence of interest in the Black Panther, (making Wakanda awesome, giving the Panther cool tech, portraying him as scary intelligent, coldly calculating, and wonderfully brilliant). Thank you, Mr. Priest for showing the Black Panther could have always been awesome if someone had cared to do the job.

Black Lightning (DCU – JLA): With the last Crisis on Infinite Earths (the DCU way of retconning anything they do not like about their current universe, and pushing back the clock on anything that should be getting older but now isn’t), Black Lightning’s powers were internalized (he used to wear an energy belt) and he became capable of a variety of electro-magnetic feats including: flight, lightning projection, and simple electromagnetic force fields. He would be classified as an Alpha-class metahuman, if a bit uninteresting, and usually poorly written. The most interesting thing to happen to him in years is his two adult daughters, predictably called Thunder and Lightning, and the question of whether he was Static’s father. The most interesting thing I have ever seen him do was blow up an Imperiex Probe. You had to be there. I waited at least 30 years for that.

The second black superhero of the DCU, Black Lightning has had an on-again, off-again relationship in publication. His books have never done well enough to stay in print, mostly due to spotty writing and poor character development (his and his cast of characters). In recent years, he has experienced a resurgence and even become a member of the Justice League of American White Superheroes. (Don’t get it twisted, I love the JLA, JSA and all of their spin-offs, it just annoys me that 40 years after Civil Rights we still don’t have an original character of color as a member of the League that is notable, interesting or useful. John Stewart is the man, but he is the third or fourth man to be Green Lantern of Earth.) Maybe the DCU’s writers will figure out no one will care about the character until they do.

Storm (MU, X-men): The first Alpha-class African hero whose powers reflect this. Exhibiting molecular control allowing for weather manipulation and flight. Her precision with her powers allowed her to create microclimatic events inside of a room so she could water plants or create ice-storms. She is a highly skilled martial artist, security systems expert and team leader. Until recently (likely the period after she married the Black Panther), she had been a member of every iteration of the Modern X-men. For a time, she lost her powers, but none of her popularity, even when she was sporting a mohawk, wearing a leather dominatrix outfit and beating people down with her fists! Eventually she got classy again, and started wearing something akin to her early uniforms, only a bit more tasteful. For a time she acquired the power of Thor but was unwilling to stay in Asgard. (That clause obviously did not apply to Beta Ray Thor.) Marrying the Black Panther was interesting and we will wait to see what comes of it.

Triathalon aka 3D Man (MU, formerly an Avenger): A metahuman with three times the strength, speed, reflexes and agility of a normal human. He also had increased sensory acuity as well. He recently appeared in the Marvel Civil Wars and could detect the presence of shape-shifted, possessed or illusory images. I know that does not sound like much, but he was able to lift over 2 tons, had a level of agility and flexibility that could make an Olympic-level athlete blush, a reaction time that allowed him to dodge bullets, and could run at speeds of over 100 miles per hour for nearly an hour. In a group like the Avengers, he was wildly outclassed, almost mortal-seeming, but in the right hands, he could have been very interesting. Currently missing in action, presumed dead.

Luke Cage – Power Man (MU – Heroes for Hire, Avengers): Hated his origin, he gained his powers as a victim of experimentation while in prison. His power level has varied widely, but it is almost always some variant of superhuman level strength (lifting anywhere from 10 tons to 70 tons) and superhuman levels of resistance, definitely bullet-proof, sometimes more depending on whose writing him. To be honest, I did not enjoy what I call “Blackploitation” Power Man (that yellow shirt and tiara thing, really worked my nerves), the period before he worked with Iron Fist, I did enjoy him more while he and Fist worked together as Power Man and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire, and almost liked him during his stint as an Avenger. To be fair, he is one of the only other regularly working heroes of color in the Marvel Universe. As to the lack of development, well are you really surprised?

POTENTIAL OMEGAS:
Photon – (MU – formerly an Avenger) transformed in an experiment into an energy being she is capable of manipulating high-order energy fields for feats of energy projection and control, flight, and super-speed. Her powers rivaled any known in the Marvel Universe and for a time caused fear amongst its mightiest team, the Avengers, of whom she was, for a time, a card-carrying member. Her powers have been stripped back a bit from the days of her origin (technically she started off as an Omega-class being), likely to allow stories to be written about her without driving writers crazy.

Vixen – (DCU – JLA) – by using a mystic amulet, she is able to utilize the red morphegenic field to take on characteristics of any living being. She could use her powers to emulate the physical characteristics (the strength of an elephant or the ability to fly) of any animal. For a time, she was able to even replicate the metahuman characteristics of any living being such as a Kryptonian. It was later retconned, claiming the deity, Anansi, hiding in a pocket dimension within the amulet had altered her powers for his protection. Her ability to replicate superhuman powers is presumed lost.

KNOWN OMEGAS
Black Adam (DCU): Technically an Egyptian, though almost never drawn with any real color to him, he is currently depowered and presumed dead, his previous power-level rivaled Superman’s. Always portrayed as just a bit right of center, he has been one of the more dangerous beings in the DCU. As such, I do not think he will be sitting out very long. Even though he was a villain for most of his career, he did try to be a hero for s short stint, before it went terribly wrong. No surprise there.

Spawn (Image Comics): A black intelligence operative, Al Simmons, is killed and ends up in Hell. Making a deal with his universe’s devil he becomes bound to a powerful entity which gives him superhuman capabilities. Spawn’s body is quite dense and is infused with necroplasm. This gives him superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses, durability, endurance, a regenerative healing factor, jumping, ectoplasmic manipulation, etc. His necroplasm also gives him necro-magic, a variety of supernatural powers including teleportation, phasing, resurrecting the dead, necro-energy blasts and more. He becomes omnipotent after eating from the tree of Eden.

Spawn’s existence and success belies everything the industry has ever said about black superheroes. The Spawn series has spun off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch, and the Japanese manga Shadows of Spawn. Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999, and a series of action figures whose high level of detail made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry.

Blue Marvel: The Blue Marvel (what is it with black heroes being color identified?) is clearly an Omega-class metahuman. Easily able to defeat the Avengers in combat, including the Sentry, is no mean feat. He has superior superhuman levels of strength, speed, flight, resistance to injury. Physically god-like in every way. He is one of the most powerful humans ever seen in the Marvel Universe. And likely to never be seen again. (I am certain, they do not want to have him saving the Marvel Universe too often, so he will either be, depowered, psychologically depressed, killed, absorbed, transformed, transmorgrified or defanged as so to leave him unable to be a role model to anyone.

In a case of retroactively ADDING color to the relatively colorless lineup of the 1960’s, Marvel Comics created a hero recently called, The Blue Marvel. The twist? He was supposed to have stepped down from a career as a superhero to allow the Civil Rights acts to pass. The claim was he might incite race riots by using his powers in public. He is given some Presidential medal and moves quietly with his cosmic powers into a nice suburban neighborhood and stays there until a villain, linked to his origin, of course, appears to thrash the local incarnation of the Avengers. This incarnation, while lacking Thor, who is usually the heavy on the Avengers team, is boasting The Sentry, one of Marvel’s Superman analogues (they have several, The Sentry, Gladiator, and Hyperion to name three easy ones) and a bunch of other heavies, who promptly get their asses handed to them. He comes out of retirement, offers to help, gets told to get lost, watches the Avengers get thrashed, fights the Avengers and tells them to stay out of his way, knocking the Sentry into orbit, and fighting and defeating his nemesis. Did I say knocking the Sentry into orbit? If you can find this bit of retroactive chicanery, it is worth reading for those panels alone. Especially if you do not like the Sentry. (hint, hint.) And while I was doing some image hunting, I came upon some new notes for the Blue Marvel to reappear…

SuperMAN: (DCU/Tangent Universe): Clearly an Omega-class metahuman with a wide array of mental powers gained by experimentation with and experimental version of Miraclo. Harvey Dent’s powers were the equivalent of Captain Comet for a moment, super-intellect, telepathy, telekinesis, mind control, remote viewing. But they continued to expand until he could detect events before they happened, he could detect people thinking about harming him as they approached, he was able to create energy, read computer hard drives no matter where they were, and eventually capable of performing feats equal to that of the Phoenix Force. He was able to alter his physiology to give himself new powers, temporarily or permanently and eventually became the mightiest being on his world.

In a conflict with his planet’s nemesis, The Ultra-Humanite, their struggle destroyed the Moon and rendered it into parts small enough they were no threat to the Earth. While very few people have heard of the TU’s SuperMAN, during the run of the books, he was one of the most interesting of the TU’s versions of the DCU’s classic characters. So much so, when the DCU was experiencing one of its Universe altering Crisis’, the SuperMAN is involved in the establishment of the new DCU. He is easily as powerful as the Big Blue Boy Scout and unfortunately as unknown as Big Blue is known.

The SuperMAN of the Tangent Universe is a being who was conceived of as an alternative to the standard idea of Superman, where the emphasis was on the Super, not the Man. In this experiment, SuperMAN was a black police officer whose powers were triggered by a fall from an office window. Upon landing without serious injury, it was clear he had begun to evolve. His mind, thinking processes and eventually the ability to manipulate all forms of matter and energy came under his control. Not quite reality manipulation, I would call it the ultimate expression of all forms of quantum energy waveforms in his universe. If he could conceive of it, it was possible. With an intellect in the supergenius range, it was soon impossible to challenge him sufficiently. He began to consider world domination, clearly from a sense that he knew more of what would be right than anyone else. Unlike the DCU, in the Tangent Universe (TU) the existence of metahumans WOULD change all aspects of worldly life. In the TU, SuperMAN came to rule the world and considered moving his dominion to other parallel worlds.

The question was asked where are the Omega-class black superheroes? This was not meant to be an all inclusive list of metahumans of color. This was simply an exploration what has happened in the industry and to question why an industry that has several thousand heroes, across half a dozen well known companies, can count less than fifty well-recognized, well-respected or even well-developed heroes of color. The mission of my post was to talk about the very nature of the question, why they barely exist, why the industry speaks with two tongues, the successes and failures of some black heroes, mostly due to poor handling and a lack of interest in doing it right at all. I believe the black heroes of the future will belong to us when we stop stereotyping ourselves and allowing them to define what a hero is to us and our children. I believe we can create believable ideals that speak to our core values (or speak to values we would like to incorporate into our lifestyles) and create mythic beings that can resonate with out children, promoting new ways of thinking, believing, working, growing, having families, living well, leaving legacies and dying gracefully. No one should have a monopoly on those things. Neither should any particular group of mythic heroes. To quote the famous heromaker himself, Stan “the Man” Lee, “we can all make heroes, we can all be heroes, all we have to do is want to.” So let’s get to creating.