Longform 

Multiversity 101: Vicarious Visions

By | September 19th, 2011
Posted in Longform | % Comments

This past week, comic fans were up in arms about a change a creator made to a beloved character (I know, that’s NEVER happened before, but these are exciting times). All cattiness aside, this situation actually was fairly unique at least as far as I’ve been aware of things as a comic fan/pseudo-“journalist”: in the debut issue of the new Suicide Squad by Adam Glass, readers were re-introduced to Amanda “The Wall” Waller in her new, post-relaunch incarnation; that of a relatively petite, younger woman rather than the more robust version DC readers have been treated to over the last twenty five years. People were outraged, how dare DC slim down their universe’s most notable BBW? However, I saw this outrage and it only served to make me think about how often comic book fans are publicly upset by their favorite funny books not reflecting their own livesg. It’s a phenomenon to be sure, and I’m not quite sure its a healthy one yet.

Click on down as I explore a topic that many of the people about whom I will write will insist I “just don’t get”.

I just want to make something abundantly clear before I begin: there are SO many more things wrong with Suicide Squad #1 that Amanda Waller’s new physique (Harley Quinn with new domestic abuse crying action and Deadshot’s overuse of the word “business” primary amongst them). However, I feel that Adam Glass had a point when he responded to critiques saying that he won’t be writing Waller any differently and that ultimately her strength of character will remain intact in this younger version of the character. Obviously this is a matter of perspective, but I feel like this is a reasonable mindset for him to have.

Thus ends the only part of this article that I will seem absolutely sure about.

Before I really dive into the more “controversial” subject matter, I have to admit a few things about myself: I am a Straight, Jewish Canadian living in the United States that has, over the course of my life, advocated for equal opportunities in both society and education for peoples of various colors, sexual preferences, nationalities and physiques. I have been an open ally of the Queer community since I was 17. I voted for the environmentally conscious Green Party in Canada four years in a row and were I able to vote in the US, I would probably vote for some third party that doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning here too. I generally despise law enforcement and have been a vegetarian for over two years now. In other words, I am (proudly) the furthest thing from the kind of intolerant, ignorant, biased lump of flesh that passes for a human being in some parts of this country. I say this only to provide the proper context for what I am about to say and to better clarify that what I am about to say does not come from a place of ideological hatred.

That said, I do NOT care that Amanda Waller is skinny now. Just like I did NOT care that Barbara Gordon got out of that chair, did NOT care that Black Goliath was the one to die during the Civil War and did NOT care that Ryan Choi was the Atom to get stabbed through the gut. Not one bit. On the flip side, I love that Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man and was in full support of Shatterstar and Rictor sucking faces over in X-Factor. Because every single one of those things was done in service to the larger story, it just so happens that those first four stories just weren’t all that great. Ultimately, I don’t have a sense of propriety over the comics I read. Do I like it when I can read a story about a Jewish character and be able to more personally relate to my books? Of course! Do I like that Animal Man has become a counter cultural icon? Absolutely! But the key specification is that I do not expect that things like this will happen. I believe that my personal beliefs should have absolutely no bearing on how the comics I read are created.

Continued below

In my mind, the only personal experience that should factor into the creation of a comic is that of the creators themselves. Their opinions and beliefs, like them or not, should be the primary motivating factors that should go into the creation of a comic. As a long time creatively inclined person myself, I will be the first to admit that any time someone tries to build a piece of art to comply with another person’s beliefs or to make someone else happy, it just won’t work because the sincerity and honest workmanship that comes from creating something based in your own experience is impossible to imitate and incredibly easy to spot a lack of. Stories are written the way the author sees fit and by virtue of that fact, should not be read if you disagree with their view point. What you should not do is act like you, as a reader, have any sense of entitlement over comic books in sum.

While I will be the very first to admit that comics can be a very engrossing hobby, its important to remember that they are still a hobby. Comics are something you read with, engage with friends about and, if you’re lucky enough, create. The point when comics become who you are is the point that, in my opinion, a problem begins to form. There needs to be a distinction between reading comics and existing with comics within the readership. The fact that this distinction is largely not made is how people end up attacking creators because their own personal attributes and beliefs are not well enough present in the books they read. And let’s be honest here, characters that are inserted into comics only for the sake of diversity by creators that do not understand the attributes that should make that character unique end up being horrible characters that will just anger the people that requested them even more.

Ultimately though, I do have to admit that there is a time and a place for advocating for diversity in comics. The easiest way I can say this is that while the opinions and the life experiences of a creator are incredibly important for the creation of comics in general. However, a truly talented creator can and should craft a story that parallels their own existence in a larger world. In other words, our world is an immensely diverse one, and comics should make some effort to have their characters exist in a diverse world. However, there are a literally thousands of ways to do this effectively and not every one will agree with every fan.

This is what makes this such a tricky topic to really take a stance on. Because on the one hand the industry should be held accountable for a lack of diversity, but on the other hand demanding it as a means to live vicariously through fictional characters is also counter productive. I’m sure many people would argue that the ends would justify the means in some way, but I honestly believe that feeling entitled to a sense of propriety over a fictional medium is counter productive no matter which way you slice it.

Ultimately though, the one consistent thought that has come to my head as I wrote and re-wrote this piece brings some stunning real world logic into the mix. Much like it is unilaterally inappropriate to define a person by their race, religion, sexual preference or physique, why the hell should it be okay to do so to a comic book character? Why is Ray Palmer a lesser Atom because he’s white? Is Amanda Waller a better leader or more of a hard ass as a larger woman? By letting, or even demanding, that our characters be defined by their physical attributes or preferences, are we really that much better than the moldy blobs of hate I mentioned above? It’s a tricky question, one that I certainly can’t answer with any certainty. However what I can say is this: it’s not the characters, but what the story does with them that matters. Black or white, gay or straight, large or skinny, the good stories will still be good and the bad stories will still be bad. I feel like articles like this one would be much less necessary if we could just remember that.

But hey, that’s just me, and I am fully aware that I could be completely wrong with this. So I’d like to conclude this article with a bit of a discussion question that you can keep in mind as you rip me a new one in the comments section: if a character in a comic book exhibits similar religious, physical, sexual, etc preferences as you, are you REALLY going to be more inclined to read them even if the story makes you want to gouge your eyes out and/or forget how to read? Let me know!


//TAGS | Multiversity 101

Joshua Mocle

Joshua Mocle is an educator, writer, audio spelunker and general enthusiast of things loud and fast. He is also a devout Canadian. He can often be found thinking about comics too much, pretending to know things about baseball and trying to convince the masses that pop-punk is still a legitimate genre. Stalk him out on twitter and thought grenade.

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