Greetings and Salutations!
Welcome to the first Comic Shop of 2014! I'm going to start off today with just a couple news items and then move on to the heart of today's topic.
First....
From the horse's mouth and multiple media outlets we have word that Box Office Mega Star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took a meeting with the folks over at DC/WB. I could do fantasy casting speculation, but suffice to say as long as he is anything other than a talking tree or raccoon I will be happy. What we are witnessing right now are essentially 4 studios making a mad dash to grab talent for superhero franchises. Marvel/Disney, Fox, Sony, & DC/WB are trying to swallow up as much acting talent as they can for their cinematic universes. There are a lot of opinions out there but I'd say grabbing one of the best Director/Actor/Legit Leading men & negotiating for the reigning box office king will be a coup for DC/WB.
Second...
Comicbookresources and other media outlets have let loose that there is a Marvel one-shot attached to the release of Thor: The Dark World on home video next month. Speculation of now is that Tom Hiddleston will star in a Loki-centric short. It will be interesting to see how this pans out, and be sure to check back with the Comic Shop for more updates as they become available.
On to the column.....
Race, gender, and gender identity have become a sort of hot-button issue in comics especially in the last few years. Whether it is publisher's deciding that Alan Scott should be gay, Ms. Marvel should be a Muslim, or Fox casting Michael B. Jordan to be Johnny Storm in an upcoming Fantastic Four reboot (or producers of The Flash Tv Show casting an african american woman as Iris West) it seems that not a decision goes by without being second guessed and criticized.
I have two distinct feelings on these matters and I will try to explain them to the best of my ability.
To start I feel that comics are a grand form of escapism. I feel that included in this escapism is inclusion of the highest sense. People from all walks of life read comics. If one were to be a fly on the wall in a local comic shop on a given day there would be people of all walks of life come through the doors. Business men and women read comics, kids read comics, alt. rockers, country crooners, professional wrestlers, and librarians read comics.
At the end of the day no matter how dark Gotham, Metropolis, or New York may be comics predominantly represent hope to people from all backgrounds. Spider-man (Peter, Otto, or Miles) would sling a web for any person in trouble whether gay, straight, transgendered, black, heavy-set, old, or young. I do not say these things to be glib, but it is important to remember that the comic industry casts a very large net in the types of customers they try to solicit. Changes to characters might not be something we agree with as a whole, but if making a homosexual Green Lantern makes some kid feel better about being different and being an outcast then I find that to be the best kind of change that we could hope for.
With movie casting I can understand the trepidation for having traditionally white or male characters played by a different race or gender. Lawrence Fishburn as Perry White and the introduction of Jenny Olsen in Man of Steel rubbed some people the wrong way. I can completely understand that, but I also think that if we want great films we need these producers and directors to get the best people possible for the roles. Also we need to find ways to make characters that have become parodies of themselves to have a new angle. Michael B. Jordan is a fantastic actor and he was amazing in "Chronicle". There are a lot of ways to explain story-wise why Johnny and Sue are mixed raced siblings without spending more than 5 minutes of screen time. What it comes down to at the end of the day is that these are fictional characters I think I would have less of an issue with Jamie Foxx as Batman than I would with Tyler Perry as Abraham Lincoln.
My second feeling about race & gender issues is slightly counter to my first, but not in a huge way. I feel that if we are going to makes changes or introduce new characters to reach this broader base they need to be well written, and done so in such a way that makes them an awesome character that happens to be part of a societal subset. When I think of Green Lantern John Stewart I think of a former Marine, a guy who makes a lot of gun constructs, and he happens to be black. People love Miles Morales Spider-man and are excited to see him come over to the Marvel 616. Initially Marvel caught some flack for killing off Peter Parker in the Ulitmate Universe and replacing him with Miles; however, to Brian Michael Bendis' credit he created a fun, engaging, kid-character, that happened to be of a mixed race background. I have seen things from more than one Marvel fan that said Miles made Spider-man fun again, and some have even suggesting adding him to the Sony Spider-man franchise if Andrew Garfield decides to step away after ASM 3.
As with all things I don't expect everybody to agree with me. I just wanted to put my point of view out there so that I could contribute to the discussion. If you feel the way that I do, or if you don't, vote with your dollars for what you want to see in comics in the future. I for one will be looking to invest in some Miles Morales ASAP.
That's all he wrote....see you next time....same Comic Shop Blog.....same Comic Shop Website.
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