Creating Black Comic Book Characters
*sigh*
It’s sort of a given that “good” Black characters in comic books are few and far between. Most tend to be lame, ethnic cliches or just filling the role of a White character in some weird ass Affirmative Action initiative to add a little color to some team lineup.
It’s really not that complicated though.
Choosing a character’s ethnicity can determine how they will behave in a story but it does not have to be the sum of their existence and shouldn’t take a lot of thought unless their race is an important part of the plot.
Skin color is not always a determiner of any sort of behavior, so it doesn’t really matter when you create a character what their ethnicity is. Again, you can add that to the story if you wish but honestly it is all fiction, so you can make up whatever you want. A good creator will just make their fiction believable.
The same can be applied to gender and sexuality; it doesn’t have to be pandering, forced or hyperbolic, just entertaining.
Futurist with a black belt in storytelling, ePub, SMO & heuristic GUIs used to Kung Fu content strategy & intuitive user experiences. I ❤ comics, hats & bacon.
