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Thursday, August 04, 2011 

Ultimate Peter Parker was sacrificed for sake of multiculturalism

It's been revealed now why Marvel decided to kill off their Ultimate take on Peter Parker as Spider-Man: so they could introduce a new protagonist who's half-black, half-Latino:
Revealed in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Fallout Issue 4, out Wednesday, the new Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe is a half-black, half-Hispanic teen named Miles Morales. He takes over the gig held by Peter Parker, who was killed in Ultimate Spider-Man Issue 160 in June.

In his first appearance, he simply breaks up a fight. But readers will learn the true origin of Morales and how he became the new Spider-Man when Ultimate Spider-Man relaunches in September with a new No. 1 issue.

"The theme is the same: With great power comes great responsibility," says writer Brian Michael Bendis. "He's going to learn that. Then he has to figure out what that means."
Sounds awfully confusing to me, suggesting Bendis won't exactly ever develop him, and he might remain nearly as stagnant as Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern of the 1990s (who's half-Asian, if memory serves), did.

At least they're doing it in the Ultimate universe, and not in the 616 mainline, so we don't have to be concerned. But after all these years, this really isn't very novel.
Morales' journey will be a similar vehicle for today's fans, says Marvel's editor in chief, Axel Alonso.

"What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who's reflective of our culture and diversity. We think that readers will fall in love with Miles Morales the same way they fell in love with Peter Parker."
Really, is their any emphasis on if the new guy's got, say, Ghanian or Columbian heritage? Or is his background going to be superficial at best? If it's the latter, then that's one more reason why I don't see how this is something new to herald.
Italian artist Sara Pichelli, who was integral in designing the new Spider-Man's look, says, "Maybe sooner or later a black or gay — or both — hero will be considered something absolutely normal."
Oh just look at that, she's blurring the differences between race and sexual orientation. Let us be clear, when it comes to people of black descent, it's been considered normal for years, and should be. On the other hand, it's sad how these leftists will try to normalize homosexuality, no doubt encouraged further by New York legalization of gay marriages. But the part where Pichelli makes it sound as though black heroes, in and of themselves, aren't considered something normal, is definitely insulting.

The horrid American Prospect says:
New York City's black and Latino residents comprise the majority of the population, and it is, after all, the blurring of those two regional cultures that produced the most important artistic movement in popular culture of the past 30 years. Yet despite the proliferation of New York superheroes, that culture has been largely absent from comics. There's something fitting about the new Spider-Man being the kind of kid who has to worry about hiding his web-shooters from the odd stop-and-frisk search.
Excuse me? There have been plenty of black and Latino protagonists over the years in Marvel and DC's publications alike. Luke Cage, Black Panther, Black Lightning, Firebird, Misty Knight, Robbie Robertson and his family, Cyborg, Vixen, Sunspot, Lucius Fox and Silverclaw. And not only are they of black and Latino descent, those who are superheroes were even introduced plausibly, as their own roles, without destroying the white protagonists in the process, and without making it seem as though we should care more about the costume then who's wearing it. I think though, that what's really lacking, are supporting casts of different races and nationalities. Indeed, it would seem as though the big two are more concerned today with introducing new minority members as superheroes than as supporting cast members. No wonder there's no convincing realism.

Labels: , ,

when American Prospect said
"that culture has been largely absent from comics. "
what they mean is "Flaming Homosexual"

I think if Marvel was really interested in showcasing minority characters, they might not have killed off Bill Foster for shock value back in Civil War.

This is nothing but a desperate grab for media attention and approval from a dying book that's part of an almost entirely dead line.

Guy's I'm afraid I have to disagree with the homosexuality part especially since it's been taken off the list of mental disorders.

I do however, like the idea of finding out what Hispanic/African ethnic groups the new Spider Man's ancestor's are.

However I'm still deeply cynical since if he doesn't turn out to be popular they'll just kill him rather than let him step off the stage gracefully.

Good rant, Avi, but you'll definitely be called racist or homophobe on this one. Heh.

Technically, one universe has White Spidey and the other has non-White Spidey, so everyone more or less wins, right?

As long as Miles is a decent character, he'll be fine. Doing a race lift is fine, but if the character is a bad one, nothing will save him or her, regardless of race. And with all the publicity, isn't Marvel emphasizing his race rather than what Pichelli is trying to achieve (treating such an event as a normal occurrance)?

Although, I now want Misty Knight in the Spidey-verse. If Black Cat can be in Heroes For Hire, Misty can crossover. Oh, hey, what about Menace, or Harry's ex-girlfriend? We could use more of her, like in American Son. Just a thought.

(Wait, I thought Kyle was half-Mexican. Oops?)

Isn't Spidey 2099 a Latino?

There's a lot of black superheroes, dunno why it would be considered abnormal.

Now, this whole gay angle just pisses me off on so many levels. I'm so damned sick of people equating behavior with race, nationality, culture. May as well start an adulterers' or petty thieves' movement.

Pure, craven political correctness on the part of the APA. It's a matter of biology- reproduction and such. Being attracted to another guy's rear is just plain whack. It doesn't do anything for the propagation of the species, which is what these things have developed for over the course of evolution. Crude, but that's the reality of things.

Damn APA hypocrites; they still consider other sexual disfunctions to be abberrant. Soon as the political tides shift, they'll be all for that stuff too. Nothing to do with science. They'd normalize schizophrenia if they had a powerful enough lobby.

A lot of freaks run around claiming that mental illness doesn't even exist, and many phony 'scholars' actually take them seriously! Quackery and agenda-driven science are the order of the day. Yippee, to hell with reason. Screw common sense. Welcome to Obamaland.

Ultimate Spider-Man wasn't any good even before this event so what do I care.

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About me

  • I'm Avi Green
  • From Jerusalem, Israel
  • I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.
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