#diversityincomics

Recently in the world of comics, there have been comic book creators that have shifted their focus from writing good stories and honing their craft, to spreading their agenda and using comics as a platform for bashing their political enemies.

The passion one has for politics can be strong, understandably, but when it is overdone and overused, like anything, it can be tiring. There are many creators out there who despise the president, and many of us understand why. But it is beucase of this understanding that these creators need to ease up on making comics strictly about politics.

The president has embarrassed himself and said idiotic and hateful things on television—The Television—the instant gratification machine that has in its own way become a god to us. Everyone can see what he is on the television, in the newspapers, and in all forms of media, especially the internet, so there is no reason that companies like Marvel, DC, Image, and other Independent companies should oversaturate their products with political propaganda that doesn’t sell books.

When your focus is on the agenda, the work suffers. If you have a message to send to the world, then wrap it in a great story so it will stick to the readers when they finish it. When you put agenda first and story second, the work suffers. And when someone criticizes the work, and all of the sudden they are “bigots”, “trump supporters”, “homophobes”, transphobes”, the work suffers. This is not the case, however, not always. It does not bother anyone that a character is gay, a rights activist, a feminist, none of that bothers most people who read comics. What is bothersome is that the bad guy has just blown a building full of people to smitherines, and the main character is too concerned with their political or personal view to go and arrest or beat up the bad guy who just killed a bunch of innnocents. Just because someone didn’t like the story, that doesn’t make them a bigot. The work suffers from lack of compelling story and characterization.

If you want people to accept your view or character, then you have to make that characters view or sexual orientation, etc, no different than the clothes they are wearing or the city they were born in. You yourself have to treat it like it’s normal, like it’s just something that IS because it’s reality. It doesn’t matter if the main character is a lesbian, she will be accepted as a hero if she performs the acts of a hero. Please refer to the current Batwoman Rebirth series from DC comics. It is not in our face, but it is there, and people do not bash that comic because they accept the character as a hero and compelling character.

Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, a Muslim and a woman from Honduras, are accepted as the main Green Lanterns (Rebirth) because, even though they are from ethnic backgrounds that people seemingly hate today, they are heroes, who are written and handled professionally. Simon Baz was racially profiled by the Justice League, and the story was handled so well that he is now one of the main Green Lanterns protecting the Earth, and no one has a problem with it. Over at DC Comics, the work does not suffer.

Diversity in the comic book word is not only something that is needed, it is something that is welcomed. But if it is done lazily, with anger hidden behind it, then the work will suffer, and no one will ever accept it. Please, I understand that these creators have a platform to tell the world what they believe is right, and the message is a good one, but you must send that message in a bottle that is crafted from a fine story that sticks to the hearts and minds if it’s readers.