Q.Why are there NO( or very few) Marvel heroes who are albinos?

[DBM]

But he wasn't born one.He fell in to a toxic chemical liquid which turned him albino

Does Shriek count also?

No. Tombstone was born albino.

 

[Silver Sable]

But I saw in the 90's cartoon that he fell in the toxic liquid?

 

[Brian Braddock]

No. Tombstone was born albino.

Yeah, Tomestone was born Albino in the comics.

I can't beleive they changed it for the cartoon, going by what SS said.

Maybe they thought kids wouldnt understand what an Albino was?


And toxic liquid? lol.

 

[Vanguard07]

Flash Thompson was as close as you will ever get.

LoL Touche darth. welcome back to my good books.

 

[deemar325]

Question: what do Nekra, Tombstone, Omega Red , Blackout and Seraph( Defenders ally) all have in common?Answer: all are marvel characters- and all but the last clearly villains as well as being albinos.

This post was inspired by protests by an albino rights support group over the film "The Da Vinci Code" which featured a murderous albino monk(played by Paul Bettany) and the statement from it that there were very few if any positive role models for albinos in popular culture).
I find it odd to say the least that Marvel that has pioneered heroes /heroines of every ethnicity and nationality, African American, Latino, native American, Jewish, Russian and German (and even some of gay sexuality such as Northstar of Alpha Flight) can treat a minority group like albinos so poorly. All right I'm not an albino myself but if I were, i would be very unhappy at the media portrayal( even in comic books) of people with my trait.
Do any other people share my view? About the only Marvel character who both an albino and unambiguously a heroine is the aforementioned Seraph( who hasn't been heard of since New Defenders# 151)

Okay so there aren't THAT many albinos around but since when does numbers determine how a group is to be treated?

Terry

One day it'll happen.

But ya got to admit albinos are creepy.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

No clue.

Okay how does a clearly 90 lb little man somewhere in his genetic line give produce an offspring who is clearly naturally about 300 lbs of raw muscle and over 6 feet tall.

 

[Elijya]

um... he has sex with a 400 pound woman?

 

[Tarnish]

You know, I've never looked at any of the villains mentioned and gone "That guy is an Albino, AND a villain. Ergo, Albinos must be evil!" I'm more likely to go "Crud, Tombstone just tried to kill Robbie... not a nice guy!"

It's the actions, not the appearance of a character that determine if they are good or bad. Tombstone would not be any less a jerk if he were bright purple, and She Hulk would still be a heroine if her skin were blue.

Trying to make a concept just on looks alone can be problematic. It's a gimmick, one that if that's ALL there is to a character, usually causes that character to flop. If there is more to it, it can enhance or at least initially catch the eye. Still, stating how things are unequal because not every birth condition is represented in a glowing and warm light strikes me as taking political correctness too far. There are many who suffer from Hairlips at birth, or have Psoriasis... they shouldn't be judged on that, but I don't expect many characters in comics to suddenly develop (or new characters to come in with them) these conditions just to give more respresentation for them.

Then there's the ugly bottom line. Marvel has to ask, what sells? Beauty sells. Ugly superheroines don't do as well, Fat and blobby superheroes don't sell as well. Is that fair? No, but it does make sense when you consider that comics are often escapist fantasy and comic book companies, be they big or little, would prefer to make money by selling what appeals to their audiance (though yeah, sometimes it seems they haven't a clue).

If a new superhero who happens to be an Albino comes out with neat powers, a really cool back story, and an engaging personality, I'll say more power to him. It would be interesting to see him deal with the often overlooked consequences of the condition (I mean, did Tombstone really avoid the Sun that much? I don't remember ) from time to time, but I'd be more interested in his motivation in fighting crime and the strange abilities or powers he might have that were totally unrelated to it.

But maybe that's just me.

 

[Darthphere]

LoL Touche darth. welcome back to my good books.

I was in your bad books?

 

[Vanguard07]

not really. You just were out of the good ones for a while. I have three books

 

[DBM]

But I saw in the 90's cartoon that he fell in the toxic liquid?

As SUPERBENITEZ said, the cartoon changed things. I would think it obvious that the cartoon wasn't exactly like the comics considering practically no villain's origins were the same as the comics, i.e. Venom, Hobgoblin, Tombstone, etc.