Lack of Helmet Safety

[FromBeneathYou]

Although I am not sure that this is the right venue for this, I think that it should be brought to your attention that on the cover to Black Canary #1 neither Dinah or Sin are wearing a helmet. While this may seem like a trivial complaint, as someone who lost a young friend to a bike accident that could have been prevented with a helmet, I believe that helmet safety is a legitimate concern. Since comics remain a medium marketed towards children, comic book writers and publishers needs to take the responsibility they have to promote safety seriously. Thank you.

~Mark Jenssen

[Tony Bedard]

I don't find this trivial at all. In fact, in the interior pages, Dinah puts a helmet on Sin before they take off on the bike. Unfortunately, she doesn't wear one herself. And this brings us to the artistic reason that neither wears one on the cover: so they can be recognized. In fact, that cover more of a symbolic image, but it does appear to suggest that you don't need to wear a helmet.

Personally, I'd NEVER get on a bike without one. We don't require helmets in Florida, where I live, but it always strikes me as reckless when I see folks ride without one.

So...I guess I don't have a good answer for ya. You raise a valid point,and I did call for a helmet on Sin in the story, but not for Dinah. I'll be more careful about it from now on. :o

[FromBeneathYou]

Thank you for taking the time to respond and acknowledge the significance of helmet safety. Although I understand the importance of character recognition on covers, the fact remains that the average comic store customer will not see the interior of Black Canary in which Dinah puts a helmet on Sin. While I appreciate your commitment to be more careful in the future--as you pointed out--the cover suggests helmets are unnecessary, reinforcing an incredibly detrimental cultural stereotype.

I’m sorry if I appear overly adamant about this issue, but it is important for me to do anything I can to raise awareness in an attempt to prevent people from losing someone as I have. Again, thank you for responding, and I hope that you will talk with fellow creators about helmet safety in order to increase recognition of the issue.