GREG PAK
As a half-Korean, half-Caucasian writer and filmmaker, I’ve always had a special interest in seeing different faces on the big screen and on the comic book page. For those interested in exploring the history and potential of diverse casting in comics, here’s a list of some of the greatest characters to get you started.
1 The Sub-Mariner, a.k.a. Namor McKenzie, created by Bill Everett (Marvel Comics #1, 1939). I include Namor because he’s half Atlantean and because his first story in Marvel Comics #1 ends with the words, “And so Namor dives into the ocean again—on his way to further adventures in his crusade against white men!” In 1939. And he’s the hero of the story.
2 Joseph “Robbie” Robertson, created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. (Amazing Spider-Man #51, 1967). As a kid, I was strongly impressed by Robbie Robertson, the even-keeled and warmhearted managing editor of the Daily Bugle. Robertson was one of the first nonstereotypical African American men I saw in any media, and the unspoken but undeniable reality that he was a nonwhite man working in a position of authority in a largely white world seized my interest. Robertson’s understated, everyday kindness and bravery felt real to me. He provided some valuable food for thought and coping lessons for this particular kid of color. (Thanks, Stan and John!)
3 Storm, a.k.a. Ororo Munroe, created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum (Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1975). Arguably the most famous of all nonwhite superheroes, Ororo Munroe is an African American orphan turned Cairo street thief who ends up worshipped as a rain goddess in the Serengeti before joining the X-Men. I love Storm for her epically huge backstory, her indomitable strength of character, and all her contrasts.
4 The cast of Love and Rockets, created by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets #1, 1981). For thirty years, the Hernandez brothers have triumphed in one of the greatest world-building endeavors in comics history, telling stories ranging from quirky sci-fi to punk rock melodrama to magical realism, featuring a massive cast of diverse characters. Their success is proof that creators telling great stories featuring compelling nonwhite characters can win international acclaim and legendary status. (Side note: it helps that the Hernandezes are geniuses.)
5 Marlys, created by Lynda Barry (Ernie Pook’s Comeek, 1987). Eisner Award–winning cartoonist Lynda Barry is a quarter Filipina, as is her most famous creation, a girl named Marlys. Marlys’s awkward, funny, scary, beautiful life is depicted in the hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek. Marlys provides great support for the Spike Lee adage that the more specific something is, the more universal it becomes.
6 Static, a.k.a. Virgil Ovid Hawkins, created by Dwayne McDuffie and John Paul Leon (Static #1, 1993). While working as an editor at Marvel in 1989, Static cocreator Dwayne McDuffie infamously wrote a staff memo in the form of a fake pitch for “Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers,” a book that would feature a group of “teen-aged negroes” with “cosmic-powered skateboards,” “a smart white friend,” circa 1974 hair and clothes, and “bizarre speech patterns, unrecognizable by any member of any culture on the planet.” A few years later, McDuffie and the other creators behind Milestone Media put everything on the line by creating the Dakotaverse, a comic book universe featuring nonwhite superheroes, including Static, who went on to star in the Static Shock television show for four seasons. McDuffie, who tragically passed away in February 2011, remains an inspiration to anyone interested in diversity in comics and proof that individual creators can make a huge difference.
7 Alex Wilder, created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona (Runaways #1, 2003). As the brilliant leader and then betrayer of the young heroes known as the Runaways, Alex Wilder represents a broadening of opportunity for nonwhite characters. Back in the day, Robbie Robertson blew me away because he was the kind of human being I wanted to be. But Alex Wilder blows me away for a different reason: he is brilliant and funny and multidimensional—and a villain.
8 Chin-Kee, created by Gene Yang (American Born Chinese, 2006). I’ve described Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese as possibly the greatest Asian American male coming-of-age story in any medium, and the character of Chin-Kee is critical to the book’s success. As a deeply painful (and sometimes hilarious) combination of every horrific stereotype about Asian men, Chin-Kee represents Yang’s willingness to directly grapple with stereotypes rather than just present alternatives.
9 Miles Morales, a.k.a. Spider-Man (Ultimate Universe), created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli (Ultimate Fallout #4, 2011). I’ll admit it—I haven’t yet read Ultimate Spider-Man #1, the first issue of Miles Morales’s starring vehicle, because it hasn’t hit stores as I write this. But already Miles Morales has become one of the most important nonwhite characters in comics. Brian Michael Bendis, the biggest writer in mainstream comics, has just put a half-black, half-Latino kid into the costume of Marvel’s most recognizable character. Plenty of comic fans have expressed reasonable opinions both for and against the move. But a shocking number of flat-out racists came out of the woodwork on the mainstream media sites when the news debuted, which is strong evidence that the world still desperately needs exactly this kind of storytelling. As a half-Korean kid, I had no trouble identifying with Peter Parker. Kids of all backgrounds will have no trouble identifying with Miles Morales. And in a small but real way, the world will be a little bit better of a place for us all to live.
And the interestingly diverse white guy?
Magneto, a.k.a. Erik Lensherr, a.k.a. Max Eisenhardt, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (X-Men #1, 1963). Okay, yes, Magneto is white. But he’s also a mutant, which many readers of Marvel comic books have interpreted as a stand-in for anyone discriminated against for race, ethnicity, or sexual preference. Even more interestingly, in the 1980s legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont gave Magneto a backstory as a Holocaust survivor, and suddenly a fun villain became one of the greatest characters in comics, inspiring unending discussions about the thin line between hero and monster. (Full disclosure: I wrote the Magneto Testament miniseries in 2007, which tells Magneto’s origin story as a German Jewish boy struggling to save his family from the rise of the Nazis and the Final Solution.)
Greg Pak is a filmmaker and comic book writer best known for directing the award-winning feature film Robot Stories, writing the epic “Planet Hulk” and “World War Hulk” comic book storylines, and cowriting (with Fred Van Lente) the fan favorite Incredible Hercules series for Marvel Comics. He currently writes Herc (with Van Lente) and Astonishing X-Men.