Ethnic Super Heroes

[huedell]

I dunno what you are really saying here... it's a bit eairly for me.
But you quoted me, and I think I get the Jist of what you are saying.
I have never been all Giddy like a school girl when it comes to nostalgic stuff ..., outside of Super power's and 8inch WGSH Mego's. I will also watch some Hanna Barbara toons here and there as well. I can barely make it threw an Episode of Super Friends these days ..., and have a bunch on DVD for the Boy, well now Kids. I recently saw an Episode with this El Dorado guy in it ..., and He is probably the most Horrible Super Hero Ever ..., and it's a lot more than Seriousness of a Script. Everything that Roled outta the Dudes Mouth was Beyond Stupid, and ALL his scene's have got to be the worst in Super Friends History .

Well, I wouldn't call myself "giddy" ( a bit too extreme sounding for me---ha!)
but I can get into the nostalgia of many of these HB characters...as I'm
sure many others my age do as well....despite their "lameness".
It's simply a matter of taste, proclivity, etc.
I respect that you hate the El Dorado character...but, I was just trying
to talk about what I've seen happen to these characters over time and how some of the "lame but loved" characterrs have been reinvented.
To note, I'm not even sure if anything "tribute-like" or otherwise "new"
has been done with El Dorado himself actually.
(On a side note, I visted Cabo recently and there appears to be a resort
of that name there---ha)

[PNGwynne]

I've always really liked Apache Chief & Samurai. Black Vulcan was a rip-off and El Dorado just lame.

I liked the diversity as a kid--and where I live is not diverse. It didn't seem forced to me, any more than the "diversity" of classic Star Trek...

As to characterization: come on, really none of the Superfriends had very distinct characters--they were all just heroic.

[Earth 2 Chris]

True, SF dialog was interchangeable, which is probably why sometimes Batman's voice would come out of Aquaman's mouth.

In that aspect, SF was a lot like Gardner Fox's JLA run, but with much simpler plots.

Chris

[kryptosmaster]

For Samurai, I'm not sure of that Japanese Superboy foe whose name escapes me was around back then....was it Rising Sun?

Sunburst
Oddly I just happened to have (NAo) Superboy #46 sitting right on top of a pile of comics I need to upgrade. Has a tape pull on the cover.

Rich

[jds1911a1]

I guess my point is that every time these heroes are discussed, they are referred to as, or thought of as, the "ethnic" super heroes. BUT, we NEVER think of Storm or Thunderbird or Colossus as the "ethnic" superheroes.

Why? Why is that "stigma" not also on Marvel's attempt at diversity and only on HB?

PS and don't tell me PC or quotas were not alive and well in the 1970s. Go look at Avengers 181 (1978) when they paired down to 7 members and made sure the Falcon was included because the US Government demanded "diversity".

I think a big part of that is the medium. HB's Samuai and Apache cheif wear clothes that are obviouosly ethnic costume, have streotypical accents and powers driven by their "native language". The voice actor for black vulcan was used for many african amercian characters in the 70's and 80's (including Doc in Gijoe). With that stigma I think you can't avoid the ethnic heroe.
the marvel characters (excluding Luke Cage) were oftne not written with ethnic dialog (in a comic the kid hears every voice in his own dialect unless that character has some voice from another medium) unless the comic text shows some ethnic accent (r's as L for asians or pigoen english liek Bizarro speak)

[david_b]

My favorite ethnic super heroes are still the Falcon, Black Panther and John Stewart (GL).

And also Mantis from the Avengers..

[ctc]

>have streotypical accents and powers driven by their "native language"

Some of that comes from the sharpening effect too. For example: if you want a Japanese character how do you denote them as Japanese? (Especially if you're working with more simplified designs.) A modern Japanese guy isn't going to be all that different from anyone else.... so you shorthand it. Give him an accent (even if it's a vague one; ie: halting speech) and a sort-of historical outfit.

>marvel characters (excluding Luke Cage) were oftne not written with ethnic dialog

Yeah; Cage is an odd example. Marvel (and DC) have a habit of “borrowing” from other media a lot; and Cage comes of that tradition. Back in the day he sort of spoke a weird pidgin “blacksploitation.” No doubt an homage to Shaft and his ilk, complicated by the inability for an above-ground comic to use actual swearing. (Hence the baffling, and wholly unique epithets.)

Luke cage is an interesting example of a company “not quite getting it,” and of how the idea behind superheroes was changing at the time: they appropriated ideas from another genre that weren’t appropriate for the generally accepted superhero crowd. (IE: kids.)

Don C.