What Powers Does the Black Kid Have?

[Ian Pressman]

How can Eliesu be straight-shamed when we have no idea what their orientation is? Think before you post, Daesim

Well, I just took it on the chin and am just going to mosey on out of here.

I'll go into the rodeo, where cowboys love to be,
And breath that in all that country air,
and be glad that I'm free!
Oh, them city boys,
they don't know what they'll miss
A starry night, a big git-tar,
Does it get better than this?

In the rodeo!
Where a spade's a spade!
A man knows how to live his life,
and all debts are repaid!

In the rodeo!
Where life is surely grand!
Where men can wrestle grizzly bears,
and joy is in demand!

Oh, the rodeo...

[aja_christopher]

Straight men should not exist as a category for which inclusion can be advocated.

I'd have to disagree with that, given the fact that there are no representations of straight black males as prominent heroic characters in the X-Books.

Why should there be any less advocation for "straight" black males (or males of color in general) then there is for males of color of diverse sexuality?

The bottom line is that for the most part -- whether black, white, straght, gay, transgender, asian, young, old, etc -- we all want to see characters like ourselves represented in popular media. It is no accident, for instance, that Liu focuses quite a bit on Asian female characters in her X-Men run. Naturally, "Christopher"'s introduction likewise has many black people (like myself) hoping that he is representative of what they feel a black male hero should be.

Again -- this is to be expected. But the only real solution here is to have more men of color in these books so that said "representation" is no longer an issue.

This isn't a problem for white male characters because they are pretty adequately represented, and ultimately it should be the same for non-white males as well.

[aja_christopher]

And you don't see how advocating this aspect is the problem? Particularly when you're projecting straightness and normative masculinity into these men?

I'm not promoting anything -- I've never once claimed that Christopher should be straight.

My only hope is that he remains alive, relevant, and heroic.

[remydat]

That isn't coherent at all.

A writer or reader is not any more undermined by a deep seated fear that Luke Cage will burst out of the books and deep dick whoever the writer/reader is seeing than they are by their discomfort at identifying with a guy who's sucking cock or a woman who is clearly displacing a man. You're centralising a singe oppression and that never works.

If I am a white heterosexual kid then when I pick up the comic I want to see the white guy that looks like me get the girl. I don't care whether that girl is white, black, or purple and I don't care if there is some other guy there who isn't competing for the girl. I don't think a kid reading a comic cares if the women is strong and powerful so long as she dresses like Emma Frost. I don't think a kid cares if a guy is gay because it won't stop his favorite character from getting the girl. You are interjecting these heavy concepts onto a group of people that I don't think really cares about them. All they care about is whether my guy is going to get the girl and whether he is going to look badass doing it.

There is no entitlement to be concerned if the majority identity (straightness, dudeness, whiteness or whatever) is not represented; it's only 'fighting' over scraps because you're uncomfortable with the notion of someone coming from a walk of life where they express more than one oppression since being queer, being a woman and being a person of colour are certainly not mutually exclusive categories.

I am not uncomfortable with anything. I am telling you that trying to tell people they shouldn't have the preferences they have when it comes to fictional characters is silly. We all should want all minorities to have access to jobs, housing and the other real world shit that impacts their lives. Comics doesn't. Marvel will cater to its audience and it's audience is largely white heterosexual males. As a black male sure I would like to see more black male characters but I really don't care if I don't. And I have no obligation to care about seeing women characters, sexual minorities or anyone else. It's comics. If you are so upset about a group being under represented in a fictional universe then stop buying comics, write a letter to marvel, or figure out a way to encourage more minorities to become writers.

The point is you are entitled to being treated equally when applying for a job or buying a house. You are not entitled to having what you consider to be sufficient representation in a comic book.

[skyvolt2000]

How else would you describe him?

How about instead of asking just about him-ask what new powers do you think the new kids in the book would have. That way you are not singling out anyone. It becomes a race issue when it’s asked about one black male in question.

The point AJA has been trying to make is can we see a black male in any Marvel appear in a book without fan complaints or being the things he posted.

Think about your favorite character. What made you attracted to that character in the first place? What was that one story that made you enjoy the character?

The request is write black characters with the same respect one would give to Peter Parker, Steve Rogers and any other nonblack male or female-no matter the sexual orientation.

If Christopher has the same powers as Elixir-SO WHAT??? They don’t have the same story or background.

If we went by that mindset we would not have Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2099, Johnny Storm, US Agent, Falcon, Venom, Spider-Woman, She Hulk, Superboy, Static, Living Lighting, Tim Drake, Barry Allen, Ted Kord, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Wally West, Donna Troy, Supergirl, Power Girl, Jaime Reyes, various gay heroes, Damian Wayne and so many others because if we already have one guy with those powers.

It does not matter if they have the same powers-what matters is the story!

Now to the question about black males in comics-

It has become a point of Marvel & DC having to justify using a black male for ANYTHING.

Because some people won’t stop complaining about them being used in books and attacking folks who ask about them being MIA in books.

You want proof-look at this thread! 30+ pages and all we have seen from him is the cover and being carried off by Cyclops. Where are the threads for the others? What about the girl like someone asked?

Would I like to see more diversity in comics-YES!!!!!! Will I see it? I highly doubt it. Is that stopping me buying comics? NO. I just got to the point where why bother these books when I know can get them free from the public library? Or they end up in my school library? Or wait until 50 days at a certain book store?