Diversity in The New DCU

DC has repeatedly mentioned that one of the hallmarks of the new DCU is more diversity. Comics have gotten a little better at this over the years, but do still have a ways to go, and I am glad DC is moving in that direction.

In talking about diversity in comics, I'll start off with what diversity is not - diversity is not tokenism. DC should not have a checklist - "Do we have an Asian, a black, a Latino, a homosexual, etc..." That isn't what diversity is about. Part of the issue with tokenism is that characters often become stereotypes of the "niche" they fill in these cases. True diversity will come from creators working to make the books look more like the real world around them, as far as makeup goes.

But there are also challenges in this. Since this isn't truly a reboot, but rather a relaunch, drastic changes such as these cannot really be made to A-list characters. Superman cannot suddenly be black, or gay, or what have you. That gets away from being the iconic version of the character that everyone knows.

I am glad to see many of the existing characters who help with this back: Apollo and the Midnighter, a gay couple who have a lot of character beyond their sexuality. Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, Hispanic teenager turned superhero. Jason Rusch, black teenager and part of the composite superhero called Firestorm. Cyborg, now a member of the Justice League. Mister Terrific, the third-smartest man in the world getting his own series. Batwing, a black hero based out of somewhere in Africa as well. I'll be honest, I am not sure of Voodoo's ethic background, but she frequently looks to be drawn a little duskier than the average white heroine. Static, a black teenager who is still around from the defunct Milestone comics. And of course, Batwoman is back, a lesbian character who has always been written well, and not used for salaciousness.

I'm also hoping to see some of the DCU's more popular team books have the presence of LGBT characters, and characters of color, and perhaps some who are both. DC has a fair number of existing characters to choose from. Kurt Busiek introduced Skyrocket in 2002, and she featured prominently in his Power Company series, which I thought was a good read, but then I have always like Busiek's writing. If you haven't read his Astro City, do yourself a favor and pick up some of the trades. Skyrocket is an interesting character - military background as a Navy Aviator, but having challenges in that field due to being a black woman. She is smart, but doesn't have the kind of money she needs to keep her gear running. She ended up with the Power Company, let by Josiah Power, the mind and money behind the concept of the Power Company, which is like a corporate version of Marvel's Heroes for Hire. Power is a gay black lawyer who doesn't like to use his powers, but is supposedly among the most powerful metas alive when he does. Skyrocket's Argo Harness allows her to absorb, redirect and store for later use all kinds of energies. She has made several appearances in the DCU since Power Company ended. She'd make a great addition to the Justice League, or even to Justice League International, if they could handle another American.

The other option, of course, is to create new characters who fill these roles. New characters tend to fail in comics, so this has to be handled carefully. Even with the best of intentions, it can be hard to do this well, without it feeling gimmicky. As an example, Steve Englehart, who has written some amazing things in his career, including some pretty iconic takes on Batman and the Joker, wrote a book called the New Guardians for DC for 12 issues. This book featured Extraño, a flamboyantly gay Peruvian man although the standards of the time prevented anyone from actually saying he was gay. Gloss, a Chinese woman who could draw power from the Dragon Lines of the Earth. Jet, a black woman from England who few and fired blasts of energy, as well as having magnetic powers. Betty Clawman, an aboriginal Australian who became a disembodied cosmic force. Ram, a Japanese man who could communicate with electronic devices over great distances, and was durable. Add in the Floronic Man and Harbinger, and you have yourself a team. Unfortunately, they came off much more as cliches or stereotypes. Of course, maybe in 1988, having even cliches out there was a step forward for comics (and to be fair, Jet was maybe not as much of a cliche as the others). But not today. Today, new superheroes created need to be deeper than that.

But the fact remains - as creators work on new characters, they should be challenging themselves to think about why a certain character must be white, or straight, or male. Can there be a female villainous mastermind who doesn't use her sex appeal as part of her shtick? How about a Native American hero whose powers are not necessarily tied to his heritage directly? Which is also not to say that there should be a moratorium on the creation of new white male characters - just that we may have reached a time where that should no longer be the default state.

By the way... unrelated, but worth knowing. In issue #2 of The New Guardians, in a story called "Jungle Snow," The New Guardians faced one of the most unusual villains I have ever seen. He was called Snow-Flame, and his greatest line in the story was "I am Snow-Flame! Every cell of my being burns with white-hot ecstasy. Cocaine is my God-- and I am the human instrument of its will!" And this series also had a vampire called Hemo-Goblin who bit several of the characters and possibly infected them with AIDS. Clearly, Englehart was taking on social issues as well as a comic in the late 80's published by one of the big 2 would let him. Unfortunately, it may have been an idea whose time had not yet come.