Comics Betty Brant's ethnic background

[Fantasyartist]

Not that it really matters, but I'm just curious. Idly flipping though Wikipedia, I found an article claiming that J.Jonah Jameson's long time(and long suffering) secretary, Betty Brant was of German descent. As there are other character s not just in "Spider Man" but the whole Marvel Universe whose ethnicity is so pronounced as to hover on stereotype(1e. "Dum-Dum" Dugan and scientist Curt Connors who of course are Irish-Americans, or Moon Knight, Shadowcat, Doc Samson or The Thing who of course are Jewish), I was faintly surprised to discover this. Please confirm or deny this( not that there's anything wrong with being an American of German descent- I just thought of Betty as being a WASP)

Terry

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

What is it about Curt Conners that you find stereotypical?

 

[USMC]

He has green scaly skin and a tail and a long tongue... god, he screams stereotypical Lizard.



t:

 

[Franklin Richards]

I find it startling that it took until FF. Vol.3 Number 56 from 2002 for the reader to hear what we already knew. Ben was all Jack Kirby but it took over 40 years for the reader to find out.


Here it is for your enjoyment.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

I find it startling that it took until FF. Vol.3 Number 56 from 2002 for the reader to hear what we already knew. Ben was all Jack Kirby but it took over 40 years for the reader to find out.


Here it is for your enjoyment.

Actually, Ben kind of resembles the Golem...a creature from Hebrew mythology. Roberto Sacasa touched on that in one of the FF: Marvel Knights issues.

Anyway; back to Spidey....

 

[Fantasyartist]

What is it about Curt Conners that you find stereotypical?

I dunno, but he seems so well, happy-go-lucky the way the Irish are supposed to be( I KNOW what I'm saying comes periliously close to not just stereotyping but traditional anti-Irish prejudice, sort of like saying that blacks may not be very bright, but they sho' got rhythm- I MYSELF am black incidentally-but it's just the way he seems) even when he rarely or never alludes to his own ethnic origins.

Mind you there are some Marvel characters such as Nightcrawler (German), Frank Castle/The Punisher (Italian American), Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic (WASP) who seem almost stereotypical themselves!


Terry

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

I dunno, but he seems so well, happy-go-lucky the way the Irish are supposed to be( I KNOW what I'm saying comes periliously close to not just stereotyping but traditional anti-Irish prejudice, sort of like saying that blacks may not be very bright, but they sho' got rhythm- I MYSELF am black incidentally-but it's just the way he seems) even when he rarely or never alludes to his own ethnic origins.

Mind you there are some Marvel characters such as Nightcrawler (German), Frank Castle/The Punisher (Italian American), Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic (WASP) who seem almost stereotypical themselves!


Terry

Wow, i've never thought of Curt Conners as "Happy Go Lucky"....

You sure you're reading SPIDER-Man?

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I find it startling that it took until FF. Vol.3 Number 56 from 2002 for the reader to hear what we already knew. Ben was all Jack Kirby but it took over 40 years for the reader to find out.


Here it is for your enjoyment.

I'm Jewish and as a kid I was always sad there weren't more Jewish superheroes. Kind of ironic too, since most of the Marvel people from the 1940's to the 1960's who created all those iconic characters were Jewish themselves.

I was glad to see the Thing was Jewish. I also heard Moon-Knight is, but I haven't read that for myself, so I'm not sure. There was also an Israeli superhero in the 80's who was part of a team, but he's long faded into obscurity. And I guess Magneto is sort of an antihero depending on your perspective (and who's writing him). Can anyone think of any others?

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I dunno, but he seems so well, happy-go-lucky the way the Irish are supposed to be

Wow. If you think Curt Conners is "happy-go-lucky" I urge you to pick up the Spec Spider-Man arc he was in near the end of the clone-saga, by Dezago and Sal Buscema (I think). It's the one where he's on the run from the second Lizard after Peter gets his powers back. In one of the issues, he basically has a whole inner monologue where he decides there's no hope for humanity and he seems very jaded and bitter. He doesn't seem very happy-go-lucky AT ALL.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

I'm Jewish and as a kid I was always sad there weren't more Jewish superheroes. Kind of ironic too, since most of the Marvel people from the 1940's to the 1960's who created all those iconic characters were Jewish themselves.

I was glad to see the Thing was Jewish. I also heard Moon-Knight is, but I haven't read that for myself, so I'm not sure. There was also an Israeli superhero in the 80's who was part of a team, but he's long faded into obscurity. And I guess Magneto is sort of an antihero depending on your perspective (and who's writing him). Can anyone think of any others?

Sabra and Doc Samson....

 

[arachnid-guy]

Agreed, Curt is HARDLY the happy-go-lucky type.

He rationalises a lot of situations into pseudo-positive outcomes, sure, but considering his dilemma can't ever be completely ''cured''- and his constant struggle against the other persona- well, it seems he doesn't really have anything to be happy about.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Sabra and Doc Samson....

Kitty Pryde is Jewish too.

 

[Hobgoblin]

The third Mysterio is Jewish too. As for the other characters:

-Jameson, Reilly, Beck and Brock is are Irish names (Brock means "badger")
-Osborn and Parker are English names
-Watson is Scottish
-Smerdyakov is Russian (many of the Kraven characters are actually named after characters from the Russian novel "The Brothers Karamozov.")
-Octavius is made up

 

[Farren]

The third Mysterio is Jewish too. As for the other characters:

-Jameson, Reilly, Beck and Brock is are Irish names (Brock means "badger")
-Osborn and Parker are English names
-Watson is Scottish
-Smerdyakov is Russian (many of the Kraven characters are actually named after characters from the Russian novel "The Brothers Karamozov.")
-Octavius is made up

I've always thought Osborn was Irish.

 

[Hobgoblin]

Nope. English.

http://www.babynames.com/name/OSBORN

 

[Farren]

Nope. English.

http://www.babynames.com/name/OSBORN

Good to know. Thank you.