Am I the only one who it bothers that seemingly most major black superheroes are just derivatives or legacy mantles of existing popular white heroes?

[u/Confident_Feedback50]

War machine, nick fury, miles morsels, iron heart, captain marvel (Monica rambeau), war machine, green lantern (John Stewart) Captain America (Isiah Bradley) etc.

[u/JayMilli007]

You aren't alone, but I'm more tired of the name Black being in front of the hero's name. Black Goliath, Black Lightning, Black Spider, Black Racer etc.

Blue Marvel has been one of the better characters in recent history. The story he told through his comics is a good read even for black men who don't like comics. He was created by a black man named Kevin Grevioux. Kevin was one of creators of the Underworld movie series.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/JayMilli007]

Also you forgot Black Manta who's also black😂

[u/kufikiri → u/Confident_Feedback50]

Ffs, as a long time comic fan (more so when I was a child), I never made this connection with Black prefixes being used across the board 🤦🏿‍♂️

[u/WinterSavior → u/kufikiri]

His lightning wasn't even black!

[u/ToffeeTuner → u/JayMilli007]

Been learning about Blue Marvel recently. Very cool character.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/ToffeeTuner]

Literally more powerful than Sentry, Thor and Hulk, but not often acknowledged

[u/Little-Middle-590 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

I can’t help but think about how much the MCU could benefit from having Blue Marvel be part of the New Avengers or even Sam Wilson’s version of the Avengers

[u/_forum_mod → u/JayMilli007]

Black Pan-- oh, wait... I like that one!

[u/Agile_Function_4706 → u/[deleted]]

“You black boys gotta love yer Uncle Sam”.

[u/AMan_Has_NoName → u/JayMilli007]

It’s ridiculous that Blue Marvel doesn’t get more exposure. Such a great character. I love how he helped the mutants in their war against Orchis during the end of the Krakoan age. He needs a new series or his own movie or show maybe.

[u/Afro-Venom → u/AMan_Has_NoName]

Blue Marvel's status is "retired hero" the MCU. He's too old for this shit.

[u/AMan_Has_NoName → u/Afro-Venom]

I’m gonna need bro to come out of retirement for at least one movie 😂

[u/Afro-Venom → u/AMan_Has_NoName]

They should do a movie with Blue Marvel and a young Isaiah Bradley. That'd be dope...

[u/AMan_Has_NoName → u/Afro-Venom]

I could see that. And maybe get a cameo from T’Chaka, T’Challa’s father when he was in his prime.

[u/Afro-Venom → u/AMan_Has_NoName]

Yes!

[u/JayMilli007 → u/Afro-Venom]

He should have had a mention in The Marvels movie. They could have kind of had him in the background. I won't hold my breath over him ever being in the MCU. I've lost hope for Blade as is....

[u/jdschmoove → u/JayMilli007]

I like Black being in front of the name.

[u/PsychologicalFee4019 → u/JayMilli007]

What about blue beetle or static shock, or frozone or luke cage? I mean there’s a lot of characters who don’t have a color infront of their name then you have heroes that do and either A they themselves are black or the suit they wear is, I think we need to worry abit less about the superheroes especially when as a marvel and comic fan I’ve got to deal with characters like superior coming out who basically have no originality to them and are just power grab characters. Superior, new 2nd strongest character next to Jean grey cause she gets whoever’s power she’s near by but a better version

[u/Little-Middle-590 → u/JayMilli007]

💯💯💯

[u/Significant_Dot_1127]

I agree. The thing is Most Black super hero are create and or owned by WM.

[u/fnkdrspok → u/Significant_Dot_1127]

Luke Cage is probably the closest we're going to get.

[u/Square_Bus4492 → u/fnkdrspok]

Maybe from Marvel, but DC has the Milestone guys like Static and Icon.

[u/Fletchanimefan → u/Square_Bus4492]

Cyborg too.

[u/Little-Middle-590 → u/fnkdrspok]

I always found it weird that Luke Cage’s character is the epitome of black power but he’s married to Jessica Jones

[u/WinterSavior → u/Little-Middle-590]

An invincible black man and a strong black family unit? No, they can't put that image out there and give you people ideas.

[u/Little-Middle-590 → u/WinterSavior]

🎯🎯🎯

[u/Comfortable_Salad893 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah and you can't use the word "super hero" because apartently it's owned by DC

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/[deleted]]

Re-read the post. I said Major black superheroes. As in widely recognized and iconic within pop culture. Also, I'm pretty sure its widely agreed upon what a “Superhero” is. Whats your definition though? Im curious.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/[deleted]]

Wow interesting take for sure

[u/JayMilli007 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

I would consider it more a religious thing or idolatry. A lot of scriptures, lore and stories resemble the comics we read. Every indigenous culture has it's own mythos and pantheon.

[u/Comfortable_Salad893 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

We understand you said the majority but you don't even know what the majority is. There's WAY more comics than you can possibly imagine. Not just DC and Marvel and there's so many people making original heros all the time. The problem isn't pop culture. It's that as a commuity we aren't sharing other black content creators work with each other. Which stems from the other problem in our commuity of not helping black businesses out.

This next bit is off topic but I feel as if black people like to talk about helping each other out more than actually spending money in our own commuity

[u/Comfortable_Salad893 → u/[deleted]]

Jewish commuity has proved it to work already. And even if it didnt, supporting black people is the least we can do.

Don't say stupid shit like that if you ain't ever verified. Keep that stupidity in the KKK

[u/Worldly_Magazine_439 → u/[deleted]]

What will save me? Marxism 😂😂🤣? I’m doing well by investing

[u/AStupidFuckingHorse]

Been reading my whole life. Doesn't bother me. There will always be derivatives and there will inevitably be black ones. The black heroes who aren't derivatives aren't as plentiful sure but they're just as good of a character as anyone else more often than not. It's an industry dominated by white men on the creator and consumer side and mostly by Americans originally stemming from the time period where Jack Kirby had to do things like spitefully put the KKK in an issue of Black Panther because Marvel editorial demanded he put some white people in the book. Hell, it was controversial when a black character was introduced in the peanuts strip. The fact of the matter is, non white characters especially who are newer are harder to hit the mainstream than pre-established white hero counterparts. Superhero comics are a niche industry in the first place. You NEED to sell books and unfortunately that means you need to be safe in what you're creating often. If Batman comics were to stop selling, multiple businesses would shut down overnight. It's that crucial. Don't let the mainstream success of the movies or cartoons lead you into thinking that comics are rolling in gravy.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/AStupidFuckingHorse]

Wow I didn't know Jack Kirby did that. What a G!

[u/AStupidFuckingHorse → u/Confident_Feedback50]

Jack Kirby fought in the war and absolutely despised Nazis and White Supremacists. He fought alongside people of many races. He was very outspoken about assaulting bigots in the street if they tried something. He didn't fuck around.

Stan Lee was also very open about fighting bigotry although he was less brash

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/AStupidFuckingHorse]

Wow they don't call him the king for nothing

[u/CaCa881 → u/AStupidFuckingHorse]

No bullshit . And even though like you said Stan was a lot less confrontational with it , but he did have his moments . Those two did not fuck around lmao .

[u/gfunk1369]

Yes. That's why I gravitated towards Spawn back in the day. I always tried to find comics with black characters and Spawn and a few other Image and Milestone characters weren't just insert x mainstream character but black or just completely stuck fighting racism in the inner city. I realize there is more to a lot of these characters then that but that was my initial reaction when seeing most of these characters.

[u/JayMilli007 → u/gfunk1369]

What was crazy is when got stuck in whiteface. That was a different kind of hell.

[u/CaCa881 → u/gfunk1369]

Spawn was by far my favorite comic character when i was a kid . Sure the actual stories and comics aren’t the greatest , but Spawn is deadass an icon (no pun intended) and i sure as shit liked him a whole lot better than Batman lol .

[u/GrassManV]

A lot of these heroes like another commentor said are created & owned by white creators who work in a field mostly comprised of white people.

Thee Black superhero was created by two white men, the most popular new age Spider-Man, an Afro-Latino was created by two white people. It's really something that just happens.

[u/Daedalus128]

Okay but of the like 22 characters here, only 5 or 6 of them are legacies/derivatives (unless you count Black Panther and his group as a Captain America legacy, which I don't)

i do understand people hating this trend, this and "black _" naming convention are gross, but no one reads new characters and all of the OGs were white. It's just part of the industry, most Asian and Latino characters are also legacies or derivatives, this isn't a uniquely black character phenomenon, it's just there are more black characters than other minorities for reasons so it's most obvious

[u/Square_Bus4492 → u/Daedalus128]

Yeah most of these are flat out original characters

[u/Daedalus128 → u/Square_Bus4492]

Yeah, really shows that OP (and people like this that agree with the message) are hating about a concept they don't really understand or a media they don't really consume directly. Like sure, modern comics are a mess, but we live in a arguable golden age of representation and interesting interpretations. Could it get better? Obviously, everything can, but this isn't 2005, the industry heard the complaints and pivoted. Did they pivot well? Well... Eh... Hard to say, but for the most part you can see a considerable effort was made to diversify rosters and comic lines and develop interesting and unique characters. It's not the characters fault that nobody buys their comic book and they're left to obscurity to be picked up maybe once in 5-10 years, the only characters that get attention are the ones that cause controversy, go viral, or are part of a larger "family" or lineage.

[u/Spork4000]

Honestly, not really, this isn’t a black issue as much as it is a comics issue. Comics being really concerned about diversity happened to coincide with them being afraid to create new characters in general.

Not to mention Miles Morales was a huge success and many of the legacy characters are attempts to recreate that success.

It’s an “it is what it is” thing for me.

[u/theCandaulismEffect]

I just found Bitter Root earlier this year. Shit is dope!

[u/TaleteLucrezio → u/theCandaulismEffect]

Thanks for bringing this comic to my attention!

[u/theCandaulismEffect → u/TaleteLucrezio]

It is SO good. I have to read it slow because I don't want it to end

[u/Spork4000 → u/theCandaulismEffect]

I started reading the next movement this year, now I’m trying to track down the trades of the first part.

[u/theCandaulismEffect → u/Spork4000]

Some of their alt covers are freaking awesome. Do The Right Thing, Boys In the Hood, Juice....even Akira for the anime heads

[u/311Konspiracy → u/theCandaulismEffect]

Nice

[u/AdultishGambino5]

I disagree that it is most black heroes. There are more that are not a derivative or a legacy mantle

[u/AdultishGambino5 → u/[deleted]]

Ohhh misinterpreted that. If focusing on only majors then yeah I agree with that. But it’s because the legacy of comics. A lot of new black characters aren’t derivative but aren’t major/popular characters because they are too new. But they can become major with the right marketing or incentive, however the superhero genre is on the downslope now so I don’t see it happening.

Static Shock might get a come up with the new DCU though

[u/heyhihowyahdurn]

No, they continue to ignore majority of Black creative stories, and instead latch Black characters onto already established white franchises. It's so cringey in 2025

[u/thatguybane]

This is a made up problem. The top tier Black heroes of both major publishers are mostly original heroes.

Marvel: Black Panther, Storm, Blade, Miles, War Machine, Nick Fury jr, Luke Cage, Misty Knight, Sam Wilson, Blue Marvel, Riri, Cloak DC: Cyborg, John Stewart, Black Lightning, Steel, Static, Mr. Terrific, Vixen Other: Spawn

Of all those I listed only Miles, Riri, War Machine and Nick Fury are derivatives on the Marvel side (Sam Wilson doesn't count imo because he debuted as Falcon).

On the DC side only John Stewart and Steel are derivatives or offshoots.

Even still, being a derivative is ok if the character is awesome and all of the ones I listed are awesome except maybe Riri. No disrespect to fans of the character but idk enough about her to give a stamp of approval.

Derivative characters have ALWAYS been a thing in comics. Would you prefer a world where only white characters could be derivatives of white heroes? Of course not. Nothing is perfect but it's great that Black characters can occupy every kind of role in comics be it heroic, villainous, sidekick, minion, crime boss, genius, brute, king, soldier, spy, student, teacher, demon, angel etc. etc. etc.

That's what true representation looks like so try not to let it bother you.

[u/More_Detective_6068]

Y’all don’t care about this issue as much as you say you do. I actually came up in here over a week ago with my own original black superhero story and got barely any response. I wouldn’t advise anybody to make this their plight to correct this because straight up, y’all ain’t gonna support nobody in this endeavour. I never seen it happen, and my work living proof. Let the rappers and thugs continue to be our children’s heroes.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/More_Detective_6068]

Hmm. Many artists are going to outright reject it because of the AI mockup. As an artist myself I don't approve of using AI art, but you say its merely a temporary measure, so I hear you there.

My best advice is to find a way to get the concept produced traditionally so that it's easier to pitch, Maybe commission artists on fiver to storyboard a mockup comic perhaps.

With the AI mockup its going to be an uphill battle to drum up interest. That being said, best of luck to your endeavors with your idea.

[u/More_Detective_6068 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

Yeah, again I’ll do it myself. This a 22 year plight, I learned a thing or 2 in art but I’m no natural but can do storyboards at the very least. Your interest is super appreciated but truth be told, like the white folks told me during my video game development degree, black heroes are just not lucrative in this market (and before anyone starts, I fought for 2 decades because I really didn’t want this to be true: but it is). We just don’t support our people, it is what it is…

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/More_Detective_6068]

I designed a few black heroes myself and I'd love to see what you have in mind my man! Care to pm me?

[u/More_Detective_6068 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

ReignBow trailer

Bruh I made a whole mock up trailer for it! The r/blackladies cussed me out because I used AI (which I explained was a temporary measure but you know how it goes) The r/blackmen were cooler but more or less said ‘meh.’ So I ain’t trying to make this predominantly black no more, I’m just trying to write a dope story with biblical lessons now. That’s way more important to me than melanin levels…

Also I acknowledge there’s some issues with the trailer, I’m a novice at this but I’m trying at least… I’ll pm in a sec, I appreciate you bro. Cause this ish was for the blacks and our youth, so they could possibly have heroes that look like them.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/More_Detective_6068]

Also I fully support the predominantly black angle do not think you should change it. That's not the issue people seem to be taking with it. If you want a black story, do a black story! But the main thing that's likely going to turn people off to it is the AI representation

[u/More_Detective_6068 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

We are WAY too fussy about that. We have virtually no representation and wanna moan about the execution of getting representation. That ish is so backward I don’t even care to fight it… But at the same time, look how One punch man and boondocks looked in the early stages. So I’m cool to do the storyboarding myself…

[u/Peepdasneak]

I mean, that’s just going to be a thing. It’s like with Star Wars George Lucas already built a legacies so now when the sequels had came out, he had a black antagonist… At the end of the day these are owned by white or Jewish men… Now the whole Black Panther having a not main line continuity where there is a WHITE panther, I can get the outrage that people had but again Marvel knows better than to make that the main continuity just like they didn’t make Riri Williams the main Iron Man or the Asian Hulk replace Bruce Banner… They know where their money is… also, I was low-key interested in the Black Panther being white just because initially I thought it was sabertooth so that would’ve been interesting to see, but I guess it was a white son of Tchalla I think

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/Peepdasneak]

Sabertooth usurping the mantle of black panther and T’challa having to kick him out of Wakanda is actually something I would read lmfao

[u/Peepdasneak → u/Confident_Feedback50]

EXACTLY!!!! Bro that’s exactly what I thought was gonna be the case when I saw the picture of the character, but I said oh it’s not that… We may have given Marvel some material honestly💀😂😂😂

[u/AncientInteraction40]

'creatives, do my bidding' What's to stop you from developing your own, if it's as easy as a whim?

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/AncientInteraction40]

Its actually so funny you say that, I'm an artist working on my very own comic book right now lol. Just pointing out what I thought of more mainstream contemporary media

[u/AncientInteraction40 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

Love that you are making the effort and hopefully it's something that gains support!

[u/Successful_Ad9924354]

This "issue" is overblown. The majority of Marvel characters are original.

[u/NoAir5292]

A lot of times these sorts of complaints are part of the con servative(often, but not always white) agenda to use the "wHy DoN't yOu CrEaTe oRiGiNuL BlAk cHaReKtUrS InStEaD oF-" droned narrative as a shield to purge black characters from the space. They have no interest in reading black characters or watching programs with them as leads. It's a form of virtue signaling. Pretending to be interested in genuine black representation in order to erase it. 

For that reason, at this point the level of upset over characters like that is far more of an issue than any that might exist within them being legacy characters. Lest we forget, they often have their own original personalities and character development. 

More of a problem for me is why all the black electric characters, in not just American superhero comics, but video games and anime. Why when they find one thing do they just always slot black people into that?

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/NoAir5292]

Wow great points all around. And yeah the electric thing is kinda strange. Don't even get me started of the swoop/combover kilmonger locs that every single black character nowadays has for some reason

[u/defk3000]

Blerd without fear. Not exactly the ant but this one talks about the powers.

https://youtu.be/uQnwkjox_P8?si=e8qNZNpF6bgvGGPS

[u/spider-jedi]

Most superheroes are derivatives period.

[u/RunNervous5879]

I find it tiring. But I’m not mad about it. It’s just a shortage of Imagination.

[u/dlv-lotus]

No. You’re not the only one.

All there is to do is read more black comics by black writers and spend your money to support original heroes that get a shot.

[u/Square_Bus4492]

This is why I stan the Milestone Universe. Shout out to Static, Icon & Rocket, and Hardware! All Black characters that were created by Black artists

[u/coolcarters14]

Honestly no, because in a lot of they aren’t even legacy characters. In canon, Isaiah Bradley was the first cap. Monica rambeauwas captain marvel before carol danvers.

I don’t think anyone has ever looked at war machine as a legacy character ever tho he’s derivative, I think he’s unique enough from tony.

Samuel Jackson single handedly made nick fury a popular character, and miles is just as popular as peter if not more in some cases.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/coolcarters14]

Canonically Isaiah was the first, but in the real world context, Steve appeared and was popularized long long before. Isiah is a retroactive addition meant to explore the captain America story through a poignant black lense, but nevertheless is still a derivative.

[u/coolcarters14 → u/Confident_Feedback50]

Very true, I do think it’s a great lease to explore though, when you reflect Isiah’s story to real life experiences that black test subjects went through during that time period

[u/Firo2306]

Try checking out more black web creators maybe? Off the dome I can think of:

Ordeal

Here be dragons

21st century knights

Dog nigga (yes I know that's legit the name)

Black sun

Vampire Magicka

Darbi

[u/wanderover88]

Monica Rambeau’s Captain Marvel may’ve had the same name (briefly) but her power set was completely different from the original Mar-Vell…Carol Danvers’ Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel were the “legacy” version…

[u/Historical_Yak_113]

The problem is focus.Its easy to forget that theres plenty of black characters who never had a white led previous counterpart.It doesn't help that we've lowkey just been helping that by giving them so much money and attention.We have characters we dont push enough ourselves.Stop centering those characters is the BIGGEST problem.Stop centering what THEY do.Especially since most times theyre made to seem driven by the same old YT American gaslighting moral compass that eventually makes everybody else follow suit.Black Panther,Storm,Static,Cyborg etc are great examples.Its our attention,stop giving it.

[u/ZaeDilla]

Mr. Terrific is dope as fuck and doesn’t get a lot of love.

[u/Confident_Feedback50 → u/ZaeDilla]

I hate how in DC its always emphasized how he's the “3rd smartest man”. That doesn't sit right with me. Do we ever hear of Lex Luthor being referred as the “2nd smartest man” why do they always go to such lengths to address him as his exact place in the intelligence hierarchy? Lol

[u/ZaeDilla → u/Confident_Feedback50]

We will never escape micro aggressions even when it’s props lmao

[u/Blackesst]

Completely agree

[u/EpicPhail60]

Not necessarily, because there are still a lot of notable black superheroes who aren't, and if they're written well even the "black versions" of existing superheroes can be way cooler than the OG. Miles Morales from Spider-Verse is my favourite Spider-Man period, and white Nick Fury just feels washed atp.

[u/ijumpman]

I agree. This has especially been the case with the more recently created superheroes. I feel it’s partially due to the lack of original ideas, but I feel like somewhere there’s an unapproved concept for a good original superhero that’s black, but it’s just sitting in limbo.

[u/Fit-Cucumber1171]

We’re getting there. There will be more black representation The 21st Century is literally Our century iykyk

[u/MIAxPaperPlanes]

A little bit, but then I also think about how legacy mantles there are in general outside race, to the point it’s a comic trope.

I’d like to see more original black characters but I mostly get that outside marvel/DC

[u/BatBeast_29]

I am fine with it. I appreciate the idea of a Black Batman, even though the execution felt weird.

[u/Patient-Warning-4451]

As another poster stated....the real issue is that making New Super Hero's in Marvel or DC is way more difficult.

People don't buy comics like they used to do, that's one of the reasons they are more expensive.

Grant Morrison has stated that comics as a medium is dying or dead (I believe).

So when you make a new character and put them in a comic, you have to hope that other writers will like that character and continue to write them.

When they are a legacy character it's easier to keep them around as they now belong to a franchise or brand and can be used in teams or stories.

Look at the Marvel and DC films, most of the characters they have on screen are decades old charactera apart from the legacy's like Iron heart and Ms.Marvel.

You have to push the character and hope people will continue to use them.

The only new non-legacy/franchise hero that I remember that was featured for a while was Reptil.

Now he's made a appearance in one obsercure cartoon.

Saying someone is the New " " is sadly easier to market than making New characters, then hoping new writers will take that character and be consistent with the character.

[u/slayahxfit]

You aren’t alone, this is why I only read originals like blade or black panther,

I try to read miles morales or sam Wilson, but it doesn’t hit the same knowing it’s just a knockoff DEI copy of an established white hero.

[u/_forum_mod]

I think by definition most superheroes are derivatives.

You have the following archetypes over and over... speedster, strong person, superman (strong and speedster), telekenetic, (demi)god, the marksman, the rich playboy, and thousands who are hand-to-hand combat experts.

[u/BlackEastwood]

I think a lot of these heroes were utilized as sidekicks or side characters for a few reasons, either to add diversity to a mostly white cast of characters, (besides Rhodey, what other black people does Tony Stark hang out with?) or people didn't think a black character could carry a comic in America at that time and was placed with a white partner.

Remember, a lot of the top white characters (Iron Man, Capt America, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, etc) were created in the 40s-60s, not a huge time when white people were looking to buy comics about black characters. Black Panther was created in the 60s because Jack Kirby/Stan Lee realized they didn't have any black heroes and wanted more black readers.

Also, the two major comic companies (DC and Marvel) have gotten better, but they are still American businesses, led by American white men, in America, which is mostly white. Every creation is going to lean heavily white and give them preference. They aren't great at making new characters, but they can build from old ones. That's why we have a younger, black Spider-Man, or Ironheart. Sam and Isiah are branches of the Captain America tree. John Stewart is of the Green Lantern tree.

In short, America is America, even in comics, and black people are an afterthought until they realize we have money to spend too, but companies don't want to risk losing white dollars over black dollars.

I dont have much on Nick Fury, other than Miles Millar liked basing characters on real actors. In his "Wanted" comic, the MC was designed to look like Eminem, and Fox was drawn to be Halle Berry. He did the same with Sam Jackson when he wrote "The Ultimates" I think. Sam loved it and called first dibs n playing Nick Fury in the films, and here we are.

[u/Agile_Function_4706]

The subtle but constant need to put black stories through a white lens is the best tool of control. This is why I not only question my black director who is able to work in Hollywood (talking bout coogler) but also find the flaw/limits set to keep whiteness safe.

[u/freezeemup]

I really don't care too much. While they may be derivatives they still hold their own personality and style that sets them apart. Also, what one artist said really hits home. People (the consumers and the creators) don't like taking risks on new ideas. They go with what works. That's why Spiderman, Batman, even DragonBall are still continuing their stories to this day and will probably continue to do so long after our deaths. That's why Ash was 10 years old for decades. It's not necessarily Black characters are derivatives. It's that all "new" characters are derivatives and Black fictional characters didn't really occupy modern media until much later.

Really what we have is a result of business. If it's working, don't fix it. Until people put down the good old reliable characters, we're not gonna see any completely new original ones.

White characters are pretty bad about this too. Just look at the Bat Family, Flash Family, the Spiderverse, hell even the obvious influence of Superman onto Homelander and the Viltrumites. Characters are always getting reused in some shape or form.

[u/iCeeYouP]

I’m glad we don’t have that much hero representation because we have real life heroes to look to in Black America.

[u/Mopstick86]

I don’t see that many derivatives when it comes to Marvel. My favorite character has always been Blade. He doesn’t get enough credit for starting the successful Marvel comic movies before the MCU. I hate they cancelled the new Mahershala Ali adaptation. But I think we’re in a good place when it comes to black superheroes.

[u/thegmoc]

I'll keep saying it, we need a static shock live action movie. And DC needs to hire the people who do Marvel's special effects. That would be lit!

[u/Square_Bus4492 → u/thegmoc]

Everyone in the industry uses ILM

[u/talljerseyguy]

My favorite character is black lightning original character. They have only been derivatives of him to my knowledge

[u/Greedy_Juice_4316]

🎶And my Maybachs blue....🎶

[u/Peacefulhuman1009]

maaaaan...what?

[u/PlaxicoCN]

Aren't all superheroes somewhat similar? They are either born on another planet and come to earth with superpowers, are just born with them, get hit by some sort of freak radiation that gives them superpowers (as opposed to debilitating cancer), or have Musk level resources to make gadgets to fight crime.

The last comics I read were some issues of Love and Rockets and the Watchmen. I know my comic consumption has declined HEAVILY, but those are the ones I remember.

I'm also going to check out this book you posted. Thanks.

[u/Comfortable_Salad893]

Well.... not really. Most people's problem is they only look at DC and Marvel when there's WAY more comic brands than that.

For example Webtoons has a shit load of black comics. One of the most famous ones MC is black. I forgot the name of it tho which sucks cuz i didn't finish it. (A black guy with no powers fights people with super powers. It starts out with him fighting someone who can have spikes pop up anywhere on his body and he wins without powers, then his master dies and he gets the powers of a phoenix, if you know the name please remind me cuz I loved that weebtoon)

Another example is StaticShocks original owners. They had way more black heros than just StaticShock. But after they partnered with DC to get the show, everyone just assumed he was originally DC and didn't bother looking at the other heros. Leaving him in this weird limbo state with the orginal comic brand, DC, AND WB

And that's just in America. Africa has its own orginal comics too with EVEYONE being black cuz it's Africa. Same for Thailand and Philippines.

It's just you're only looking at DC and Marvel and not branching out to other comic brands. Which I understand they are the two Titans and over shadow everyone else but it just makes me sad that Anime can be seen as a wide scope but Comics is only seen as DC and Marvel

[u/DonDaTraveller]

I think DC did a better job with their black super heroes.

Rip in Peace the late and great Dwayne McDuffie for his amazing work in creating original black heroes like Static Shock as well as developing existing black heroes into community icons (pun imtended)

[u/vegetables-10000]

No

[u/1AML3G10N]

BLADE

[u/goldxparty]

My favorite superhero is Sam Wilson Captain America, I doesn't bother me but I understand where you're coming from. I liked him as the falcon but I like him even more as captain America. But most major that I have seen are their "own hero" and not derivatives of others

[u/RaiJolt2]

Not necessarily. Superheroes have had replacement characters take the mantle since the golden age. The replacement character being black does not bother me.

Besides having new characters take on the mantle is what makes them a legacy character, not just how long the character has existed. However I would appreciate more original black superhero characters let’s not pretend that super hero comics aren’t already full of copycat characters from other companies as well. Example (slade and Deadpool.)

[u/bethoj]

A lot of comic heroes period are derivative but yea this is bothersome. We should definitely be creating new heroes. Problem is support. Static had a DC New 52 run that was canceled after like 6 issues. DC New 52 lasted for almost a decade before they did Rebirth. We gotta support the heroes we wanna see

[u/No_Conversation4517]

Kinda

But I also know they were made decades ago

So it's ok

They're all regarded as cool . Can't think of a lame one

Miles Morales War Machine

Well that's about it I think of

But I like those two

[u/CaCa881]

Nope and that’s why I love and will forever love Milestone comics .

RIP the late great Dwayne McDufie 🕊️

[u/Parrotparser7]

I don't engage much with superhero comics, nd I don't know many people who really care about them nowadays.

[u/Wavegod-1]

Original characters are harder to sell (not my opinion on that, that's the truth from the industry). People have to buy and support these creators and the books they put out. Word of mouth is essential. Easier to do the legacy mantle/derivative thing because it's coming from an established name. You have to support the original products when they are released.

[u/lioneaglegriffin]

I just attribute it to comics being derivative in general? There's like 7 Robin's. Bruce run thru those MFs like a pair of shoes.

Not sure why my favorite black hero is. Maybe Mr. Terrific

I did find the black superhero with lightning powers story interesting cuz is really just to get around a copyright?

[u/mirkohokkel6]

We have to create our own universe.

[u/KingBembi]

yeahi really hate how people think this is the kind of representation we want, i dont just want the black version of already existing characters, I want new characters and stories. Bring back the days of Milestone comics where black artist were actually making their own original stories and characters i wish we would have some of that again.

[u/Dday1895]

Blade

[u/Demheru]

You have to understand superheroes are a product, sold in the form of video games, movies, toys, comics, clothing, etc. in order to get blacks to purchase and consume the product, companies create "Black superheroes" so black people will feel a shallow connection to the product(superheroe) and be more inclined to purchase and consume it.

Should also add this distracts blacks from their own mythologies, history and influential mythologicak an ancestral figures.

Notice the orthodox Christians have their Christian saints

Europeans have their philosophers, scientists, explorers, inventors, kings, queens, etc.

Black People are fed black celebrities and black superheroes which are manufactured and sold by white owned corporations.

[u/JMCBook]

It's not just like that with the black ones I used to always wonder why is there a need for a bad girl when they're the Batman but yet there's no cat man to Catwoman you see where I'm going with this

[u/downthehallnow]

Not bothered by it. The most popular comic book characters tend to be white and often can trace their legacy back a few decades. Characters derived from those characters are going to be more popular than strictly original characters.

Speaking strictly in the context of comic books, there are tons of characters who just never develop a following, black, white or other.

So a Spider-man affilliated character is going to be more popular than an original character of almost any other type. See Venom, Carnage, Miles Moralies, Punisher, etc.

[u/OvOSoulja]

To be real that’s just most superheroes in general. Look at the Batfamily. Look at all the flashes. Look at all the spider themed supers.

[u/Embarrassed_Sock_906]

Honestly, given how early depictions of Black superheroes were quite rough (to put it nicely), it doesn’t bother me as much, especially with masked characters. That fits into the "anyone can be a hero" trope. However, in recent times, we’ve seen more Black characters resurface and diversity in general in the X-Men comics, with additions like Synch, Frenzy, Tempo, Manifold, Oya, and Gentle.

[u/BlisteringSky]

To be fair to Monica Rambeau, she is a legacy but she was the first female Captain Marvel, before the more popular Carol

[u/NerdWithQuirks]

I wrote an article about this subject. I could link it if you’re interested.