Race in comics

[Drugsmugglingcartoonist]

From my experience, one of the side effects of the globalization is that cultural differences are less, and as it has been said, it should not be a main theme of the personality.

I think this is reflected most in the media whose makers like to see the world that way. But I do think it's less interesting and perhaps an easier and lazier way of doing things

[Cuendolin]

From my experience, one of the side effects of the globalization is that cultural differences are less, and as it has been said, it should not be a main theme of the personality.

I think this is reflected most in the media whose makers like to see the world that way. But I do think it's less interesting and perhaps an easier and lazier way of doing things

When I was younger, there wasn't any big shopping malls near my home, but now, there are 2 or 3, where teenagers like to hang out.
Yes, The food is different, we like to do things this way, we celebrate this festivity ,... but It depends on the place. Cultures are always changing and so the society.
It's a difficult topic, I like to see how people deal with it, depending on their experience.

[Darkflying]

Most of the characters in our comic are English, because of backstory that is hinted at but will probably never be revealed/written. Then there's Tilde/Damian (who is Spanish), Miu (who is Ancient Egyptian), Ina (who may possibly be Scottish), Hang (who is French), and lastly Brent, who is Australian. And Jacob might be American. We're not really sure on most of those, the characters don't seem to like backstory.

We didn't really try to make it culturally diverse. That's just how it wound up.

[Td501]

Lotsa aliens with the Rebels, but the Empire's pretty much all British.

[Joel Fagin]

Lotsa aliens with the Rebels, but the Empire's pretty much all British.

Star Wars had one Australian Officer of the Empire who said two lines and was shot.

- Joel Fagin

[Risky]

My comic has one male and one female main character from each of 7 races, because each one is a representative of their nation, and the 7 nations only recently discovered each other. Those 7 races aren't entirely "pure" within each nation, but they are entirely distinct from the other 7 races. It's fantasy, so I can use that as an excuse, but because of the mix, any idiosyncrasy of any character might be taken as a racial characteristic, whether or not that's the intent. It begs a rewrite. :/

In a general way I think that wanting a character of a certain race because you want a character with certain qualities is always a sign that you are falling victim to tokenism. If the story needs a new character and you choose the character's qualities based on a d20 table, with no intentional correlations between race and any particular characteristic, you're doing better but possibly over thinking things. If you are creating a comic with best faith intentions, then you can ignore what people say about it being "stereotypical".

[Boozeathon4billion]

This is a really cool/interesting thread. It's neat to see how globalization via the internet is changing the boundaries between cultures and societies. My anthropology class a few years talked about this a lot. So its really cool that even people behind webcomics are thinking about this and trying to address it in a responsible way.

But my comic doesn't have to deal with that because its a one frame, random comic. However, I do try to represent different races in the comic as much as possible.

[Hereville]

I think it's important to include non-white characters in all comics where an all-white cast isn't required by the situation.

I have to admit that my own comic, which is set in an isolated Ashkenazi Jewish community, has an entirely white cast (so far). My political cartoons frequently include characters of color, however.

One thing that's important to do is to decide that you're just going to do it: You're going to depict a world in which people of color are no less central, important or interesting than the white characters.

Here's some questions you might want to ask yourself:

1) Do I have multiple non-white characters?

2) Do my non-white characters have goals, desires and plotlines that don't have to do with race?

3) Do I ever show my non-white characters talking with each other about something other than race? (The "with each other" part is important; one sign of tokenism is if the non-white characters only appear as extensions of white characters, rather than seeming to have an existence apart from being the white characters' non-white friend).

4) Are my non-white characters just as likely to be taking actions and having plotlines as my white characters?

5) Have I avoided obvious racial stereotypes in my characters (i.e., having a Black character be a hip-hop fanatic with pants falling off, having an Asian character be a math whiz, having a Jewish character be a neurotic Woody Allen type, etc)?

6) Am I including my non-white characters consistently and frequently, rather than just pulling them out of the prop closet now and then so I can reassure myself that I'm not writing an all-white comic?

If you can say "yes" to all these questions, then you're probably doing a good job. If your answer is "no" to some or all of these questions, then maybe these are things you can begin working on.

There's a lot you can do to add more depth; race does matter to a lot of people (and not only people of color), and you might want your writing to reflect that. One way to approach this is to do your homework: Read fiction featuring non-white characters by non-white authors. Read internet discussions of race in fiction by non-white critics, and learn what offends and -- just as importantly -- what is liked and appreciated. You can't go wrong by doing lots of research. This is especially important if your comic's subject matter touches on issues of race.

So the six questions aren't a be-all and end-all. But they're a good place to start, imo.

***

Here's a couple of links I found. This is about fanfic, not comics, so not all of it is applicable to us. Still, these posts might be worth reading. Some advice from Witchqueen:

The next thing you should remember is that writing about a CoC doesn't necessarily mean writing about their difference. Probably you are writing about them falling in love with some other person on your show. Maybe you are writing about them solving a murder or plotting a caper or saving the world one more time. But if your story isn't about family and it isn't about politics, chances are good it's not about race and ethnicity. It may touch on cultural issues at the intersections of food, music, and religion, but remember, your CoC is probably interacting with a white character, and will be making allowance for your white character's cultural ignorance.

Willow points out that the belief that white creators cannot write non-white characters for fear of giving offense is, itself, offensive.

From EHow:

Discard stereotypes. Using stereotypes about African Americans is problematic on a number of levels, not the least of which is that it makes a character into a caricature, robbing it of all humanity and authenticity. Your character can speak, dress or behave in a certain way, but the choices must be based on genuine people, and not some unsubstantiated idea you have about African-Americans. Do not base your choices on something you've seen in a film since you might be repeating a stereotype by another writer.

[Rhenny]

Hey guys, yet another topic from me!

So I have a issue I think others might have too. I love multiculturalism in comics, when done right. In fact I'm going to have my comic translated into as many languages as posible when it gets a bit longer. My main cast itself is comprised of (if they were human) people of Europian, African, and Hispanic descent.

My question to you is how do you portray people that are not of your race or culture. Its hard enough having two central characters be african american and not be able to give them the same features as my other characters ( becuase of mintral style mockeries, lips and big eyes on african characters, even in the slightest, can be a big no- no) Also, my friend from Puerto Rico is helping me out with my Hispanic characters. I never would have wrote thier part in the way she has instructed me, which clues me in to just how culturally clueless I can be.

So how do you all deal with it?

There are bio-physical differences, but I see that as a challenge. The Mayor of my city is based after Scatman Crothers, I loved that guys voice! I think for me it is a touch harder to do racial differences in black and white comics. primarily you are working with variants of two colors after all. But for me, I portray them as their voice seems to intend in the back of my head, I do more of a farce comic, but never a racially charged one.

[Killbert-Robby]

When it comes to race in comics, my logic's this - There are billions of white people, billions of black, et cetera. So, take a character, make him whoever you want him to be, and whatever color. All black people will not act the same, neither will all white people. Its not about stereotypes, its about the laws of nature. If someone then emails you and says "EH, no Puerto Rican wears a white jacket and works in a science lab", you tell him to step off, because he's being the racist one, not you.
Racism is making a clear distinction between races. If you treat all your characters the same, its just not racist, no matter how you look at it.

Of course, nobody's ever happy. If your Asian gets punched in the face by a white guy, you support hate crime. If the Asian punches the white guy, it means you think Asians are aggressive, and so on.

[Parables]

One of the nice things about science fiction is that you get to neatly sidestep issues like these while simultaenously addressing them subversively. Star Trek is the perfect example: a multi-racial cast that's completely integrated under a common goal, in such a way that you seem like you're not addressing race, that it's now a non-issue, that everyone gets along, and they more or less maintain their cultural identities. (This was not always done particularly well, but that's the idea.)

Then you get to turn around and introduce a slew of alien peoples with invented languages and cultures, and start making comments about how issues of race are handled on present-day Earth.

As far as my own comic, all of my characters are robots, so race is not an obvious issue. Since many of them resemble humans, I have made attempts to make them resemble people of different races. The real race issues come into play in how the robots view organic people; I'll be touching on xenophobia, prejudice, slavery, and racism quite a bit.

Of course, nobody's ever happy. If your Asian gets punched in the face by a white guy, you support hate crime. If the Asian punches the white guy, it means you think Asians are aggressive, and so on.

And if a robot punches a human, it's a robot punching a human. If a human punches a robot, it's a human punching a robot. It may invoke a response, but it won't directly be considered racism.

[Perk_daddy]

Here's some questions you might want to ask yourself

I thought this was a good exercise, Hereville. I took a look at my comic and came up with these:

1) Do I have multiple non-white characters?
Sir, yes, sir.

2) Do my non-white characters have goals, desires and plotlines that don't have to do with race?
Not many, but yes. I'll have to keep this one in mind...

3) Do I ever show my non-white characters talking with each other about something other than race? (The "with each other" part is important; one sign of tokenism is if the non-white characters only appear as extensions of white characters, rather than seeming to have an existence apart from being the white characters' non-white friend).
Yup (The "diversity" in the context of this strip has to do with age, not race).

4) Are my non-white characters just as likely to be taking actions and having plotlines as my white characters?
Kind of the same question as #2

5) Have I avoided obvious racial stereotypes in my characters (i.e., having a Black character be a hip-hop fanatic with pants falling off, having an Asian character be a math whiz, having a Jewish character be a neurotic Woody Allen type, etc)?
My #1 goal in creating my characters was to avoid stereotyping. It makes your characters completely uninteresting.

6) Am I including my non-white characters consistently and frequently, rather than just pulling them out of the prop closet now and then so I can reassure myself that I'm not writing an all-white comic?
Every member of my main cast has (or will have) an integral role in the plot of my still-running first storyline. So yeah.

I've also, tried to keep myself aware of avoiding tokenism by making fun of it, turning it around, or by making fun of the political correctness that can accompany it.

And I am totally dittoing Killbert on what he said.

[Dark Spider]

I pretty much tackle the issue of race from a purely storytelling standpoint...

-Some races come packaged with preconeived stereotypes, issues, views, appearances, etc. Is there a way you could utilize these things to create fresh characters and conflict in your story? Be aware of race, but don't rely on it...use it to your advantage to create a good story.

-To avoid stereotypes, make your characters 3 dimensional. Give reasons why your characters act a certain way, based on (for example) their upbringing, their environment, or their physical features. That way, the characters are more human than stereotype. This will also make the story seem more real too, by having real characters.

-White is pretty much the default race for comics and other entertainment media here in America. When readers see white characters, their race isn't a factor until its made a factor. But when other races are displayed, readers intuitively notice their different race. The author pretty much has 2 choices: either downplay the racial aspect of the character, or use it in the story. But beware, readers sort of expect a reason for the use of different races, especially really "exotic" ones (for lack of a better word). It could be as simple as a punchline, or having a different ethnicity will make the character stand out more. But the readers have to see that reason in the story (no matter how subtle it is), unless its just a minor throwaway character.

My own webcomic has black and biracial main characters. The uncle character is black because I made the decision to base him off of me, and I'm black. His nieces are biracial because I thought they would stand out more and be inherently more interesting if they were mixed. I also saw future storyline opportunities by having them mixed race. They could, for example, suffer from identity issues by not belonging to one sole race. Or at the very least, I could get a few jokes off the situation since it IS supposed to be a comedy.

[Rhenny]

Lotsa aliens with the Rebels, but the Empire's pretty much all British.

So much so in "Star Wars" Leia for that brief moment before Alderaan got trashed had a British accent!

[Tentoumushi]

Those questions are great, so I'm going to take a shot at answering them (honestly) and if i run into parts I'm doing wring my comic is young enough so that I may fix them ^^.

---


1) Do I have multiple non-white characters?

Yes, actually 3 of the 5 main cast members are ethnic (2 "black" and 1 "hispanic")

2) Do my non-white characters have goals, desires and plotlines that don't have to do with race?

Not with human races, no. But Mushian races, 2 of the 3 non whites have issues becuase they are spiders, the most hated of the Mushian races (becuase they were once a predatory race that was revolted against). The hispanic guy is gay, and most of his plot lines have to do with him sticking up for himself and making real changes in his life, rather than letting others dictate his decisions. Note that not all spiders are "black people" all races of human can be any of the Races of Mushian (there can be black spiders, butterflies, ladybugs, flies, etc)

3) Do I ever show my non-white characters talking with each other about something other than race? (The "with each other" part is important; one sign of tokenism is if the non-white characters only appear as extensions of white characters, rather than seeming to have an existence apart from being the white characters' non-white friend).

Actually, right now, both black characters have the biggest story lines. My white characters are sort of in the background at the moment. In the end, one member of each race will play a hugely important role in the finally.

4) Are my non-white characters just as likely to be taking actions and having plotlines as my white characters?

Actually right now they're in charge of the story and driving it forward where as my white characters are pretty much just information givers.

5) Have I avoided obvious racial stereotypes in my characters (i.e., having a Black character be a hip-hop fanatic with pants falling off, having an Asian character be a math whiz, having a Jewish character be a neurotic Woody Allen type, etc)?

Pretty much. my one character who's black idolized Jimmy Hendrix and wants to be a rock star. The other black character is getting her master's in astrological mapping and Mathmatics. My hispanic guy is pretty gay though xD.

6) Am I including my non-white characters consistently and frequently, rather than just pulling them out of the prop closet now and then so I can reassure myself that I'm not writing an all-white comic?

Yup, as I said 3 of the main 5 are not white and they have the biggest, most serious story plots at the moment.

[Deathbringer]

As somebody who's always been largely indifferent to race, it hasnt been much of an influence in my comics, apart from in the sickeningly politcally correct first version of Felney where the black corner shop owner was dragged out to be the victim of racism, though he in himself wasn't a "stereotype", but then again i was never good at characterisation, everybody who wasn't a 'generic bad guy' was basically me.

In my more recent efforts, "Agent Smoke", aka DI Sarah Millman, is black and lives in 'the gay homeland', which is mostly made up of immigrants from all over the world. However the country is fascist (early Italian fascism, not Nazism) so everybody is forced to be part of the same cultur through what is effectively brainwashing. The gay homeland is also atheist fundamentalist, so concentrates entirely on scientific explanations for everything and they make the point of saying that you can't call people different races based on the amount of melanin they happen to be carrying around, and that you might as well divide them up by height or something.
Another comic i'm doing (offline only) is called Tigers of Punjab, and is set in India in 1947, with the battles and massacres that took place during the creation of Pakistan. Its in black and white though so everybody looks white, my art isnt that great either . It's also "boys own" so makes minimal references to the 'complexities' of culture-clash, but simply put there's people who just want to move to thier new homes, and others who are 'bandits' that prey on them. In the first real episode it's muslim fundamentalists who go around going "slay the infidels", though in later episodes some ordinary muslims will be trapped in a burning mosque by sikh fundamentalists, and then some hindus will revive the thugee sect but decide to use lee-enfield's rather than rope to 'off' thier victims... and so on.

I toyed with the idea of making absolutly every character a sort of averaged out coffee brown when I was planing my sci-fi comic. It makes sense that the human race would be homogenised - especially on a colony world as this was

Aaand in an upcomic sci-fi comic set in the 2170's there will be a lot of "generic coffee coloured" people in Britain, where the main character will come from. Others will be from China (still chinese looking), India (averaged out from the various people there) and Brazil (same as Britian ). Further into the future (the 23-somethings) everybody will be 'a bit brown' with slightly oriental eyes that are mostly black. Thoguh there will be the odd people at certian extremes depending on where they come from, there will also be space nazis who are white people that have taken over a planet of thier own and wear nazi uniforms, love the fuhrer and and commit piracy . The main character of that comic will also be cross-bred with a Nirisonian, who are human-like but green or blue

[McDuffies]

I think it's important to include non-white characters in all comics where an all-white cast isn't required by the situation.

Eh, dunno, I don't like the idea of author forcing something upon himself for the sake of social consciousness which might not have anything to do with theme of the comic. I believe that one's writing should be deeply inspired by his surrounding (as oposed to, say, being deeply inspired by pop culture he's been fed with) so if your surrounding is racially mixed, then writing in various races would come naturally to you. There are comics made in India with all-Indian cast and comics made in Africa with all-black cast... and I think that if we get impression that comics are being dominated by caucasian type, that might be just our market being dominated by American-made comics.

Btw, nice comic, I used to read it.

[Levi-chan]

I'm guessing the old rule of write of what you know of applies. Racial diversity shouldn't be forced into creations as the above poster said; unless it has thematic purposes or the setting mirrors the culture - and if that was the case, the racial assignments would come along naturally.

[Jesusabdullah]

Not that I actually draw comics much these days anymore, but when I did, I didn't (and don't) include non-white characters in general, mostly because, well, most people here are white, with some natives. Further, all my friends (I, erm, don't have many friends) are white.

If I ever do anything interesting with comics, maybe I should include a native character, mostly because I know I could write one better than most people...though probably still stereotyped and stuff. :/ Yeah, maybe I should just stick with what I'm doing.

[Phact0rri]

Not that I actually draw comics much these days anymore, but when I did, I didn't (and don't) include non-white characters in general, mostly because, well, most people here are white, with some natives. Further, all my friends (I, erm, don't have many friends) are white.

If I ever do anything interesting with comics, maybe I should include a native character, mostly because I know I could write one better than most people...though probably still stereotyped and stuff. :/ Yeah, maybe I should just stick with what I'm doing.

intuits have an amazing culture, I'd totally read it.