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Really... they make Spiderman 2099 half-Hispanic and no one notices... then they make Ultimate Spiderman half-black, and suddenly it's newsworthy... whuzzat?
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/spider-man-spins-a-new-secret-identity/
I've often complained against the necrophilic exploitation of dead characters and old franchises... while this, on the face of it... is actually a well-meaning attempt to make Spiderman all current, yo... it begs the question: Why?
Why make Nick Fury black? Why make Catwoman black? Why make Spiderman black? Why not create a new franchise, a new hero, who is? Push that?
Is it simply because the audience is entrenched, and they figure they'll have no choice but to continue buying the comic, even with the change? We've seen many new heroes launch over the past few decades, and few have been as successful as the old franchises... but as we can see with the X-Men, you can have a relatively new multi-cultural team work for this audience.
X-Men doesn't push diversity just for the sake of diversity... but simply because it's part of the story... they're the dregs of society... the outcasts. The same could be said of the Doom Patrol and the Outsiders, who not only have minority characters, but also handicapped ones, as well.
Just as long as you don't do it for the sake of doing a minority character. Don't try to force hipness or relevance and fall back on stereotypes (as with Static (DC), Katana (DC, Outsiders), Black Panther (Marvel) or Sunfire (X-Men))...
Maybe they'll write this in in a good way... but I don't know... it was never really an issue in Spiderman 2099 because that was simply a different Spiderman.
Here, we're replacing The Spiderman with a new one. But why just one? Why not a number of Spidermen, as happened with the "Death" of Superman? Because, realistically... that's what would happen. Though personally, I thought Superman should have stayed dead.
I really don't know how I feel about this. I can dig a black/latino/asian/whatever superhero. But I can't dig a "replacement" Spidey. Once the man is dead, retire his number. That's it. Finis. Thoughts?
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/spider-man-spins-a-new-secret-identity/
I've often complained against the necrophilic exploitation of dead characters and old franchises... while this, on the face of it... is actually a well-meaning attempt to make Spiderman all current, yo... it begs the question: Why?
Why make Nick Fury black? Why make Catwoman black? Why make Spiderman black? Why not create a new franchise, a new hero, who is? Push that?
Is it simply because the audience is entrenched, and they figure they'll have no choice but to continue buying the comic, even with the change? We've seen many new heroes launch over the past few decades, and few have been as successful as the old franchises... but as we can see with the X-Men, you can have a relatively new multi-cultural team work for this audience.
X-Men doesn't push diversity just for the sake of diversity... but simply because it's part of the story... they're the dregs of society... the outcasts. The same could be said of the Doom Patrol and the Outsiders, who not only have minority characters, but also handicapped ones, as well.
Just as long as you don't do it for the sake of doing a minority character. Don't try to force hipness or relevance and fall back on stereotypes (as with Static (DC), Katana (DC, Outsiders), Black Panther (Marvel) or Sunfire (X-Men))...
Maybe they'll write this in in a good way... but I don't know... it was never really an issue in Spiderman 2099 because that was simply a different Spiderman.
Here, we're replacing The Spiderman with a new one. But why just one? Why not a number of Spidermen, as happened with the "Death" of Superman? Because, realistically... that's what would happen. Though personally, I thought Superman should have stayed dead.
I really don't know how I feel about this. I can dig a black/latino/asian/whatever superhero. But I can't dig a "replacement" Spidey. Once the man is dead, retire his number. That's it. Finis. Thoughts?
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That really is funny. 👍
