Youth In Revolt

For the last ten days, I've been posting about the issue of diversity in Marvel Comics; events at the weekend took a new turn with the X-Men Gold controversy. Suffice it to say that an Indonesian artist placed anti-Semitic and anti-Christian references in the artwork of the premiere issue of a new X-Men series - a comic which has inclusion as its core message. Marvel announced that they were disciplining the artist, who seemed to take a rather flippant stance before announcing that his career was is over. Ultimately, this reminds us of the political nature of superhero comics so, today, a few ore words on the successes of diversity in super-hero comics.

As you will have gathered if you've read my posts this month, I think it's vital that young people see themselves and their culture reflected in the heroes of the Marvel universe- if for no other reason than growing the audience and the medium. I visited Paisley's Comic Con on Saturday in the splendour of the town hall and was delighted by the displays of superheroes created by visiting children. I'm pleased that comics are not simply the province of middle-aged people like me. 

The most successful of  Marvel's racially diverse superheroes, the Miles Morales Spider-Man (now firmly installed in the mainstream MU) and Ms. Marvel are teenagers and recently served as All-New, All-Different Avengers. Events-driven marketing has seen them splinter off as a new incarnation of the Champions beside the Latino Nova, ( relaunched in his latest series with a cartoony flair) and the Korean-American Hulk.

Kamala Khan has dealt with the importance of voting and the blackmail of a LGBTI teen in her own series. Gripping and touching storylines continue in Champions, exploring human trafficking, racial hatred and a story inspired by Malala Yousafzai. These are hugely important comics about politics both on a local and global level that entertain rather than preach.

A number of other diverse characters make appearances  in Marvel monthlies. I've blogged before about the sweet and funny Moon Girl, who recently had to deal with an unwelcome crush from a young Kree boy in a story about parental expectation. Lunella has also teamed up with the Unstoppable Wasp, an inspirational all-ages title which promotes young women's careers in science and engineering.

A third Marvel heroine to launch in her own title is America Chavez: the self-styled "queer brown girl" who serves as the Universe's paramedic in the psychedelic Ultimates2. Her debut series sees her attending university when not punching Hitler and has something of the flavour of DC's Young Animal imprint. I intend to move to "trade-waiting" this year, for reasons of economy and space but I'm interested and hopeful to see if these series can grow an audience.

Next time: Doctor Fate

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