Marvel has created an alternate universe in which Spiderman is a half-black, half-Latino teenager. Some people are angry.
Atlanta Post (“Backlash To Black-Latino Spiderman Indicates We’re Not A Post-Racial Society“):
Yesterday, USA Today released a story that Marvel Comics Ultimate Spider-Man would take its web-slinging hero in a new direction. Although, Peter Parker has played the Spider-Man character since its creation decades ago – the revamping of the Marvel comic is to attract a new generation of comic book readers, in response to its static past. So, it wasn’t really that surprising that Marvel decided to kill the character off around two months ago.
Unlike the comics’ overwhelmingly Caucasian days of yore – when it came to passing on the infamous red and blue suit – Marvel decided to push the envelope. Instead of embodying the usual stereotype for superheroes, the decision was made to pass the torch to a half-black, half-Hispanic teenager named Miles Morales.
Brian Michael Bendis, the writer behind Parker’s death and Miles arrival told the newspaper that it was long overdue, even in the more ‘diverse’ Marvel universe. ”Even though there’s some amazing African-American and minority characters bouncing around in all the superhero universes, it’s still crazy lopsided,” Bendis admitted.
However, not everyone agrees with Bendis’ assessment, a quick glance through the comments of the USA Today article reveals that even if Marvel wants to be more contemporary that doesn’t give them the right to rewrite comic book history. Of course, it should be of no surprise that some white comic fans feel that iconic comic characters should be left unchallenged by today’s more political correct society – especially when it comes to a biracial teenager becoming the newest incarnation of one of their most beloved superheroes.
Over on the website Bleeding Cool, they decided to publish some of the more “enlightening” comments from the USA Today story in one of their Tuesday posts. The comments ranged from bashing the need to always be politically correct, to complaints over the comic books direction and the rage over the killing of the white Peter Parker so that Morales could replace him.
CBS New York (“New ‘Spider-Man’ Swinging Into Comic Book Shops Following Death Of Peter Parker“):
New Yorkers take their fictional heroes seriously, so it may come as a shock to some that Peter Parker, the Queens native whose destiny was forever altered by a radioactive/genetically altered spider, has been killed off in the “Ultimates” imprint of Marvel Comics. The Ultimate series is different fromMarvel’s standard line, in which Peter Parker is still happily toiling away as everybody’s favorite hard-luck hero.
No, in the Ultimates series, Peter Parker gets killed at the hands of his nemesis the Green Goblin. But, being a comic book series, no hero stays dead for long. While Peter Parker may be gone, a new kid is stepping into the tights: Miles Morales.
Miles Morales is a half-black, half-Hispanic super-powered teen who gets into the hero game after being inspired by Parker’s death.
“He’s younger than Peter Parker, he’s coming from a completely different background, a completely different world view,” writer Brian Michael Bendis told the Associated Press. Bendis, who has been writing Ultimate Spider-Man (and many other) comics for Marvel since 2000, is enthusiastic about the change. “I’m now sitting with a pile of legitimately new Spider-Man stories to tell and that is the best news a writer could have.”
Christian Post (“Spiderman Now to be Half Black, Half Latino, and Gay?“):
The Spiderman outfit will no longer be sported by its longtime creator Peter Parker in Marvel’s “Ultimate Spiderman” comic. Instead, Miles Morales, a half black and half Latino teen, will now take over the role of your friendly neighborhood wall crawler.
The creators of “Ultimate Spiderman” have also shocked fans by saying everyone may find out that Morales is gay in future storylines, according to the Daily Mail.
Color Lines (“Marvel Overcomes Its Fear of a Black Spider-Man. Will White Fans Follow?“):
Today’s a big day, both for comic-book nerds and for media-justice geeks. Marvel Comics’ “Ultimate Fallout #4” hits the stands today, and in it, we get our first glimpse at the “Ultimate” storyline’s new Spidey, a half-African American half-Latino kid named Miles Morales. The Spider-Man alter-ego belonged solely to fictional working-class white dude Peter Parker (and to the white actors who’ve portrayed him) for five solid decades. So this is a big move for Marvel—and, of course, one that’s already being met with a racist backlash.
Peter Parker’s not really gone, of course; Morales is taking on the Spider-mantle only in the offshoot in which Parker got killed back in June, so storylines featuring each Spidey will sit side-by-side on shelves. That’s not to say this editorial decision shouldn’t be applauded. Every time the comics industry has attempted to fix its politics, it’s gotten pushback, whether it’s casually racist anger at an Angolan Muslim as the Batman of Paris, or real-deal white supremacists protesting Idris Elba’s role in the Thor movie.
I could understand annoyance at this if Marvel were replacing Peter Parker, who has been Spider-Man since 1963, with a new kid. That sort of thing has been done so many times as to be cliche, but it still evinces emotional reactions. Here, though, we just have an “alternate reality” storyline.
Beyond that, this is hardly the first time that a major white comic book character has had a black man step into his costume.
Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams had John Stewart take over the Green Lantern suit way back in 1971* — four decades ago! Jim Rhodes donned the Iron Man armor in 1979. And Sam Wilson (who became the first African-American superhero, the Falcon, in 1969) briefly assumed the Captain America identify in 1999. I’m sure I’m missing some examples.
It’s bizarre that this is even mildly controversial at this stage of the game.
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Issue 87, January 1972, which would have been published in October or November of 1971.
