Native American Comic Book Writers

[SatanBigsby]

Hey guys,

I'm writing a paper on Native Americans in comic books, and was wondering if you would be able to provide some writers or popular books that I should look into.

I'm checking out Scalped, and plan on going into a little bit about Thunderbird, Forge, and Warpath from the X-men, but could use a few more examples to work with. A guy at my LCS mentioned an old ALan Moore Swamp Thing issue, but he didn't know which issue or anything.

If there are any Native American writers you know off hand, I'd love to take a look at their stuff, or if you just know of any particular storylines or issues that deal with Natives, whether the representation is layered or stereotypical, it would help me out a lot to hear some suggestions!!

I found CBR's feature on Native Americans in comic books which is helpful, and I'm aware of Sheyahshes's book as well.

Thanks for any help!

[DonC]

Tim Truman's Scout starred a Native American, but it was a post-apocalypse story.

[T Hedge Coke]

Arigon Starr's got Super Indian, over here.

And, my friend and yours, the awesome Steve Judd does comics stuff, including parodies of established characters and some whole-cloth stuff.



Be aware Scalped doesn't resemble the region it takes place in (fictionalized as it is, but it is meant to remind us of Rosebud/Pine Ridge and if you've been there, that ain't it) despite its other qualities; it's not a (particularly sound) ethnography by any stretch. The rez in Batman Inc may be the most accurate I've seen in a mainstream comic, really, outside of the previous time(s) Morrison wrote about reservations (The Invisibles comes to mind, which also had indigenous-to-the-Americas and Brazilian national Lord Fanny as a major character).

And, because Jack Kirby is that damned awesome, his Wyatt Wingfoot in early Fantastic Four is probably the first Native character to be treated like a genuine, normal, intelligent and contemporary human being.

[dupont2005]

Stumptown has a lot of Native American characters. The first volume revolves around them. I haven't read the second or third issues of the second volume yet but it looks like the tribe may play a big role with the plot again.

[T Hedge Coke]

Blue Corn Comics is a thing, but it's fronted by a purely white guy who's secondary career is playing identity police and having fits when anyone's too pretty to be really Indian in his eyes. Some of the past and present staff are Native/Native-descent, though.

[dupersuper]

There's also Shaman and his daughter in Alpha Flight, Dawnstar (kinda'/sorta') in Legion of Super Heroes, Apache Chief in Super Friends (they made a comic), Fire Wolf in an old Ordway Superman issue (40 something, I think), the 4th Black Condor in Freedom Fighters...

[StoneGold]

Arigon Starr's got Super Indian, over here.

And, my friend and yours, the awesome Steve Judd does comics stuff, including parodies of established characters and some whole-cloth stuff.



Be aware Scalped doesn't resemble the region it takes place in (fictionalized as it is, but it is meant to remind us of Rosebud/Pine Ridge and if you've been there, that ain't it) despite its other qualities; it's not a (particularly sound) ethnography by any stretch. The rez in Batman Inc may be the most accurate I've seen in a mainstream comic, really, outside of the previous time(s) Morrison wrote about reservations (The Invisibles comes to mind, which also had indigenous-to-the-Americas and Brazilian national Lord Fanny as a major character).

And, because Jack Kirby is that damned awesome, his Wyatt Wingfoot in early Fantastic Four is probably the first Native character to be treated like a genuine, normal, intelligent and contemporary human being.

At least until they got to the reservation and fought giant alien totem poles.

[DarkBlade]

Dani Moonstar (codenames: Mirage/Psyche/Moonstar) is Cheyenne and originally appeared in New Mutants as a founding member . She was depowered in House of M, but is still kicking butt and even became a Valkyrie again. Check her wikipedia entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Moonstar For a few notes specifically on the Native American angle, you can see this blog: http://girl-wonder.org/dimestoredame...onstar-mirage/

Her representation has occasionally been stereotypical, or at least had expected elements, but some OF those elements are spot on. Her fringe boots, for example, are indeed typical of Cheyenne high moccasins. I haven't noticed any male items that she shouldn't be wearing in the artwork over the years, but I've missed some of the more recent ones. There's been a generally impressive level of work for not having Great Lakes, Eastern Woodland, or Pacific Northwest items show up in her things or clothing by artists just because "it's Indian." Some of this may come down to luck--Cheyenne have some things in common with other Plains tribes, which are the most common representations found in media, but I think SOME effort at research must have been made since you don't see men's war bonnets on her, either. There are usually at least some layers, though some teams have been better at it than others.

[dupersuper]

I forgot Manitou Raven and Manitou Dawn.

[T Hedge Coke]

At least until they got to the reservation and fought giant alien totem poles.

As a character, though, as a person. Prior to that, they'd been purely caricatures and usually trapped in the past even when living in the present day. Obsessed with honor and scalping. Wyatt was much more human, and more rounded, as the lazy college roommate who sometimes leapt to action.

[FanboyStranger]

Tim Truman's Scout is definitely something you should check out. Its lead character, Emelio Santana, is Native American, and it deftly combines sci-fi and Native American mysticism. A great series all around.

[Shellhead]

During the Killraven run in Amazing Adventures, one of the main characters was a native american guy who called himself Hawk. He always seemed angry.

[bipolar danger girl]

Rainmaker from Gen13. That's my nerd contribution for the day.

[Jamal]

Sam Humphries "Sacrifice," more Aztec than Northern Native American but worth checking out, only three issues so far.

http://samhumphries.com/sacrifice-comic-book/