Marvel's Black & Minority Characters: Roundtable Discussion

[terry78]

They always killing us off. I'm surprised Uhura will be surviving at the end of the new ST film, seeing as how she's a chick AND black. Double whammy.

 

[Varient]

What the hell is your problem with slimy evil ****s bent on world domination? I should eStab you for that.

Just something psycotic(sp) about a woman wo will dry hump your leg,.. then kill you.

Gays (yeah not much there)

Meh,.. Gays are loved in the comics,.. their relationships are CAKE while male female pairings either try to kill each other or make deals with the devil.

 

[moraldeficiency]

Just something psycotic(sp) about a woman wo will dry hump your leg,.. then kill you.

Now your eStabbing will be doubly violent.

Meh,.. Gays are loved in the comics,.. their relationships are CAKE while male female pairings either try to kill each other or make deals with the devil.

for the one gay couple that's here beyond that they all die. And I'm pretty sure they aren't going to work out either.

 

[DarKush]

I must disagree regarding the Blue Marvel mini for a few reasons.

First, it loses all point and is pretty pathetic storytelling when you have an amazing superpowerful character more powerful than everyone, and then a little later introduce someone who is so superful amazing more powerful than anyone who beats the last guy. What does that honestly accomplish other than steal the thunder of the first guy? Ie. They've been establishing over and over that Sentry is as poweful as it gets, but suddenly a new guy, a flash-in-the-pan obviously, shows up, and just to try and get him a little buzz they decide he'll knock Sentry around. A pathetic attempt, and one that I'm glad failed.

Second, as far as having the alienated black superhero from the past, it was done better in a DC superhero series (can't recall the title offhand unfortunately) just a couple years ago.

The whole blue marvel mini was just a bunch of rehashed ideas. Worse yet, they were ideas that had just recently been done anyway, and done better.


*my two cents

Though I think the similar American Way, by John Ridley was better than the Blue Marvel miniseries, I still thought it was well written and adequately drawn (the later issues anyway), and the covers were always good.

However, I don't think it should be pinged for using rehashed ideas. What comic book doesn't? Besides, the idea of the Blue Marvel hadn't quite been shown in the Marvel Universe, so in a way it was new to that universe, a black man with that type of power.

I liked the main adversary, though I thought his costume was over the top. I also liked how they tied Blue Marvel's origins to the 1960s, and the response of the JFK administration was pretty good. JFK was trying to slow down the Civil Rights Movement/Freedom Riders and I can see him and people in his administration going nuts over the emergence of a guy like Blue Marvel.

I didn't care for Blue Marvel agreeing to Kennedy's proposal, nor for him sitting on the sidelines for decades, but nonetheless it was an interesting story and an interesting character. Hopefully they'll get another miniseries to fill in the backstory. Surely in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, after Luke Cage, Falcon, Storm, etc., Blue Marvel might not have caused such panic.

Blue Marvel was more of a true blue hero than Ridley's New American. Though I think Ridley's social commentary was a bit more incisive. In any event, I recommend both Blue Marvel and The American Way.

 

[RockSP]

I didn't care for Blue Marvel agreeing to Kennedy's proposal, nor for him sitting on the sidelines for decades, but nonetheless it was an interesting story and an interesting character. Hopefully they'll get another miniseries to fill in the backstory. Surely in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, after Luke Cage, Falcon, Storm, etc., Blue Marvel might not have caused such panic.

Yeah, Grevioux has said that if they do a second mini it will show what heroics he was doing behind the scenes.

 

[T'Jai]

Anybody readin' Kirkman's Destroyer?

I'm feelin' Turret

 

[Dread]

I am. Turret's cool.

I also read AMERICAN WAY and ADAM: LEGEND OF THE BLUE MARVEL. I believe at the time I called Blue Marvel, "Sentry done right". He's far more interesting than Sentry is and I wouldn't mind seeing more of him. I didn't mind that Adam wasn't eager to spark conflicts and was loyal to his country to a fault; I thought that made him different from many "angry black man" stereotypes. The only thing I thought wasn't needed was killing his wife off. He'd just learned she originally met him as a federal spy and they both were trying to work past it. There was a lot of story fodder for them; instead she's blasted. Oh well.

 

[Shockdingo]

Man, that is a shame. :\ Well what can you do? Death is such a common way to spark drama and plot now adays. Personally I don't think killing a loved one off is always the best way to evoke drama, but that's just me and I'm getting off topic.

 

[Dread]

I mean she was Grevioux's character so if anyone has a right to axe her for a finale, it's him. Lord knows Robert Kirkman almost never flinches at killing one of his own. I just feel that the finale didn't need quite that blunt of a point and there was story beyond it. The mini sold very poorly, though, so unless Grevioux hops on another property or there is some editorial support it may be a while until we see Blue Marvel again.

Personally I thought the fact that many in the 60's assumed that Marvel would become some vengeful "god" character over racism and in fact he was usually too level headed for that sort of thing added to the tragedy of it all. There also was the lessor subplot that many in the black community hated Blue Marvel for being "too passive" so he was almost as rejected with them as he was with "the man". It would have been interesting if he passed the First Line, John Bryne's retconned heroes of the 60's-late 80's. I won't lie and say his introduction mini was flawless. But I thought it gave us a character with much more potential than Sentry. Even the origin is better. Paul Jenkins for his time made Sentry MUCH more of a "Mary Sue" than Grevioux did with Adam; Adam was pals with Namor and Watcher; Sentry was pals with EVERYONE. The only hiccup was that technically Namor was a bum with amnesia due to a mind-wipe from Paul "Destiny" Destine by the 60's, but whatever.

Sentry is a guy who drank a "serum" that somehow made him the strongest being on Earth with all these weird psychic powers and a split persona added to the might. His fall from retcon grace involved all sorts of wonky stuff, and today he's more of a punchline for Zoloft than a proper character. Adam was a scientist who was empowered by a laboratory accident involving an energy machine or something. He was incredibly mighty but had none of the wonky psychic or psychological issues. Rather than falling from grace due to a psychosis or some bizarre super-villain plot, it was society racism at the dawn of the civil rights era that did it. That's a relatable, real world reason. A soldier and a former college athlete, Adam was a "true American" who sadly was in the wrong time in his prime. Still, he handled the situation with more dignity than many of those who forced his retirement. That's what I liked; you couldn't easily just pigeon-hole him into "angry black man" stuff. He did have a temper when riled but it didn't fuel him. And ironically, his enemy "Anti-Man" was much more vengeful about avenging race issues, wanting to blow up nearly everything. Part of me figures that if Blue Marvel returned, if under a proper writer in a proper team book, he could really take off. A conversation between Blue Marvel and YA's Patriot almost writes itself, doesn't it?

Might be fun if Brubaker gave him a mention in THE MARVELS PROJECT, like at the end, since that series covers the late 30's into the 40's.

 

[Shockdingo]

Wow, yet again, well said Dread, well said.

A conversation between Blue Marvel and YA's Patriot almost writes itself, doesn't it?

Might be fun if Brubaker gave him a mention in THE MARVELS PROJECT, like at the end, since that series covers the late 30's into the 40's.

Those ideas are good, I'd like to see the guy around more whether it's on a team in the forefront or in a somewhat passive role. Soooo much potential in that guy.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

They always killing us off. I'm surprised Uhura will be surviving at the end of the new ST film, seeing as how she's a chick AND black. Double whammy.

You think so? Seems to me that the black-guy-early-death thing hasn't been as present in movies of late.

As far as Uhura...I disagree. I think the latest ST film treated her with a lot of dignity. Besides, she's sleeping with Spock who is whiter-than-white AND alien. Talk about breaking down barriers of all kinds.

 

[Kitsune]

You think so? Seems to me that the black-guy-early-death thing hasn't been as present in movies of late.

As far as Uhura...I disagree. I think the latest ST film treated her with a lot of dignity. Besides, she's sleeping with Spock who is whiter-than-white AND alien. Talk about breaking down barriers of all kinds.

Spock is Jewish

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Heh.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Ah...it looks like we're still here and in one piece.

 

[T'Jai]

what did I miss?

 

[Varient]

Probably the yearly purge,...

 

[T'Jai]

ah... dead threads got the axe and this one squeaked by got it...

 

[Manic]

Well, this thread is hardly up to 10,000 posts.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Well, this thread is hardly up to 10,000 posts.

And it is protected by me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

WTF???

You dare wag your finger at me? Don't make me pull rank.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

 

[Shockdingo]

Whooo hoo! We're aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive *opening credits start, instantly killed off* urk! No....but...but...eh...ehhhh.....eeeeeeeh./ Canadian death cry

 

[Cosmic]

There's a new creative team on Black Panther, and they're doing great work. If you're a fan of the character who has dropped the book because of Hudlin, then now is the time to come back.

 

[Greg]

There's a new creative team on Black Panther, and they're doing great work. If you're a fan of the character who has dropped the book because of Hudlin, then now is the time to come back.

Most seconded, yes!