Introduction To New 52:
The New 52 has made many drastic changes in the DC Universe. Many unpopular amongst the die hard DC fanbase. It has set about cosmetically transitioning the DC Universe from an epic tale of Modern Gods, (from Prometheus to Batman and Lex Luthor, and from Hercules to Superman and Wonder Woman) to the dark and gloomy world of fallen angsty deities who supposedly fit the sensibilities of a more cynical age.
However many of our generation feel the changes unnecessary and even counterproductive. In an age so cynical, in recession, with constant wars on terror, and economic collapse only a heartbeat away, some feel now, more than any time our superheroes should inspire hope and be an escape from said dreariness. Or atleast, tackle the issues of the day as they always have in past. The times when comics have transcended the medium and become art, have been when these fantastic characters have been unshackled from their restraints and been allowed to tackle global issues, such as the Cold War (Watchmen, Red Son) Reaganism (Dark Knight Returns) or even deconstructing the medium and what it means to us (Kingdom Come) etc.
I suppose this is something that should be taken up in another article, but comics today, have simultaneously taken on the darkness and cynicism our age, while completely divorcing themselves from the reality of what makes our current world inspire such cynicism and foreboding. Never once will you hear the word recession mentioned within the pages of New 52 Titles, the way you would hear World War 2 or The New Deal mentioned in the pages of Golden Age comics, or, The Bronze Age and Modern Age which tackled issues such as the Cold War, or McCarthyism, racism or drug abuse.
This was an age of creativity in comics that spoke headon to the generation of consumers and the everyday problems they faced. It is ironic then, that the writers of the New 52 were children of Silver Age of comics which timidly spiraled out of an era of extreme self-censorship in the comic book industry thanks to the 1954 Comic Code Of Authority, which prohibited even the slightest sedicious or siubversive material from fear of corrupting their young readers. The tone of New 52 books can then be seen as an act of reversing the principles of Silver Age by creating a holy dark yet moot and equally detached world of superheroes. The editorial mantra seeming to be if it isn´t dark and gritty, its not getting in, even when that tone does not necessarily fit the characters they are portraying. In a word, that is either celebrated or dreaded the whole DC world is becoming Nolanised. The problem however is a lot of the time, many of the progressive elements of the modern-age have been dropped, simply to make characters grittier, but nonetheless with little or no substance.
Geoff Johns who most recently has taken on writing duties on the Justice League, is a self-proclaimed silver age fan. As such in the reboot of JL in The New 52 he rewound the clock, changing JL N52 back to their first roster, which included Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman (as secretary), Aquaman, The Flash and Green Lantern. It is in this context, that we can understand that a man who grew-up reading Wonder Woman as a secretary in the Justice League has now turned her into a love interest for Superman, clearly needing a stronger man to guide her.
However Johns had a problem when reversing back to the silver age members of The Justice League, primarily the lack of black and brown faces to be found amongst the founding members which was likely to be upsetting to a generation of progressive comic book fans who grew up on the animated series. In the JL animated series, Hal Jordan was replaced in his duties as Green Lantern by fellow corps member John Stewart, and, of course there was the ever mysterious strangely African sounding green alien The Martian Manhunter.
You only have to look at fan casts for the character as well as his Television debut on Smallville, to see, it was obvious that many inexplicably began to presume that Martian Manhunter was black.
It soon became almost cannon for his civilian disguise to be depicted as either a black man or sometimes even Asian. This assumption about Martian Manhunter was all the more puzzling, when we think that in his original publication his secret identity was that of Detective John Jones, a hard boiled and notably very Caucasian, Gotham PD detective who solved crime using his array of amazing Martian abilities. Not only did he resonate with ethnic minorities, he became a fan favorite for them as widely recognized for being a very interesting and tragic character in his own right. Much more so than John Stewart. But why? It is this question as well as whether Cyborg is a good replacement for Martian Manhunter that I will discuss in this article.
The Geoff John´s Problem:
Geoff Johns has been one of my favorite and yet frustrating comic book writers in recent years for me. On one side I absolutely revere his talent. More than any other DC writer on staff, Geoff has been able to take the classic stories of some of my favorite heroes and modernize them, without corrupting the original concept that made them and their villains unique. He has found great voices for an assortment of previously underused and undervalued comic characters, lost in the shuffle of DC´s Batman and Superman love fest. One just has to look at the accolade he´s received for his update of such characters as Shazam (a comic I can´t wait to get in trade, as I´ve enjoyed his take so much), his work on Green Lantern and Aquaman has brought the two characters a new generation of hardcore fans almost rivaling the passion of Batman fanboys. I personally have highly anticipated the sequel to his brilliant Batman: Earth One, in which, once again he has given fresh eyes to the character and some of his most neglected foes, while staying true to the mythos. That is what Geoff is so brilliant at, he always takes the underdog characters, those who have flown under the radar and he shows just how cool they can be. As a Wonder Woman fan, I was also pleased that he brought Cheetah back to the limelight in the pages of Justice League.
However, there is also a dark side to Geoff Johns; his reverence for certain characters, his purism and unwavering attachment to certain periods of comic book history, has sometimes come at the expense of other fan favorites and quite frankly sensible storytelling.
When one reads Geoff Johns, it is like reading the work of an extremely bias comic book nerd. It becomes so obvious when he´s enamored by a character and when he has a distaste for another.
It is also clear that he formed these extreme biases in childhood, during his love affair with the silver age of comics. This has become somewhat of a frustration to those who grew up on JL the animated series or reading the modern age pre-new 52 JL comics. So many changes have been made to the dynamic of the group by taking away colorful characters such as Wally West; or once again bringing back Hal Jordan (who when in the hands of Geoff Johns clearly doesn´t play well with others and may well be best suited to his own title) by his clear issue with writing strong female characters, therefore relegating Wonder Woman to her silver age status (once secretary, now mere love interest). However one of the most significant changes came in the form of ousting Martian Manhunter from the core team. Because of his faithfulness to the original JL team his revamp has been more a retred reversing the lineup to the original team.
However a problem arose. If he were to stay true to the silver age lineup he would have to omit any characters of ethnic origin, something I´m sure editors at DC were very nervous about. It may well have occurred to Geoff that maybe he could use Martian Manhunter to fill that quota since he was part of the original team. The animated show covered its back, because although MMH was clearly perceived as black in the show, just in case they had John Stewart Green Lantern.
Obviously Johns was passionate about putting the silver age roster back together, and wanted his man Hal on the team, so John Stewart was a no go. However on the other side of that was the fact John Stewart was just a counter part or sidekick to the main hero who was originally a white male, something that comics and movies have often come under attack for, by Lesbian and Gay, Ethnic as well as Feminist critics. One only has to think Supergirl and Batwoman, or, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, or Green Hornet and Kato to see where they´re coming from. Most superheroes who are women, or Ethnic or Lesbian or Gay in the DC universe have been mere counterparts to an original white hero and therefore have never really had their own story. Which in many ways reflects the whole narrative of Occidental history, where the narrative of all other races are a mere footnote in the chronicles of western conquest and colonial adventures.
In an age where equality and racial diversity is outwardly championed by most industries, especially the entertainment industry, DC could not afford for The New 52 Justice League to seem like a white boys and girl club. It was in this light that I believe DC thought having MMH as the seventh member may well have been read wrong and seen as offensive to minorities. “So we´re green aliens now, are we?” is probably the reaction DC expected from ethnic minorities if Jónn was presented as the minority member of the group. Something even as a black male myself I understand. Think about the reaction by Star Wars fans toward Ja Ja Binks.
The palpable sense of paranoia young straight, white males have of offending gays, ethnic minorities or women, is felt everywhere. The Workplace, in bars, on streets, in movies and TV and so on. So in a comic industry where 99% of the writers, editors and artists are white, a lot of care has to be given to not offending said groups. Hence Cyborg, a former Teen Titan became the seventh member of The Justice League.
Why? Simply put, he ticked off all the right boxes DC were looking for in a black character. He´s powerful and very useful to the team, so he won´t seem as second tier to the core group. He´s smart, not just muscle, which, presents Ethnic minorities in a better light as intelligent and capable. He has his own story and originally started off an African American, so he´s not just a counterpart to an actually white superhero. For all these reasons Cyborg seemed like the perfect fit to transport from the pages of teen titans to Justice League. But was this the right decision?
Cyborg And Martian Manhunter: Brief Overview
Cyborg
Cyborg was a character created by Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez. He first appeared in1980 in a special addition of DC Comics Presents.
Cyborg
Victor Stone is the son of Silas and Elinore Stone, a pair of scientists who decide to use him as a test subject for various intelligence enhancement projects. However, while these treatments work and Victor's IQ grows to genius-levels, he begins to resent this treatment and strikes up a friendship with Ron Evers, a young miscreant who leads him into trouble with the law. This is the beginning of a struggle where Victor strives for his own life engaging in pursuits of which his parents disapprove, such as athletics and slacking off in class. In addition, Victor still keeps bad company that leads him into incidents such as when he is talked into participating in a street gang fight in which he is wounded. For the most part, however, Victor still has a largely normal life under the circumstances where he also refuses to follow Evers' grandiose plans of racially motivated terrorism.
When he visits his parents at work at S.T.A.R. Labs, an experiment in dimensional travel goes horribly wrong when a massive gelatinous monster crosses over an experimental portal and kills Elinore. The creature then turns on Victor and severely mutilates him before Silas manages to force the creature back through the portal.[1]
To save his son, Silas outfits him with experimental prosthetics of his own design. However, the equipment can not be worn inconspicuously, thus horrifying Victor to see much of his body and part of his face replaced with sheer metallic limbs and implants. Although Victor wants to die at this shock, he eventually adjusts enough through his resulting physical therapy to control his implants with suitable skill.[1]
It is the result of these prosthetics that gives Cyborg a manifold of abilities including and not limited to technopathy. In the New 52, his origin is slightly reshuffled and Johns takes away any gang or criminal affiliation. He´s just a football jock whose father is scientist. His father being a scientist disapproves of Victors desired career as a football player and wants him to pursue academics. As such they get into a heated argument in his fathers lab about Silas not attending an important game his son´s team won. It is at this point a terrible accident happens in the lab, killing all the scientists and seriously disfiguring Victor. His father as the story goes rebuilds him using Cybernetic implants, thus turning victor into a modern day Frankenstein.
Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter made his debut in August 1953 Batman 78 “The Manhunter From Mars.”
At first MMH´s origin story was convoluted in some place and straight up bizarre in others. The story began when brilliant scientist Dr. Erdel created what he thought was a communication device that allowed him to communicate with civilisations from the past or future as the case may be. Infact, it turned out that the device he created actually could teleport things from the past to present day, thus, when a green skinned humanoid creature appears in Dr. Erdels lab after he switches the device on, both Dr. Erdel and the Green skinned alien are utterly shocked. So it turns out that the alien is actually from an advanced race of Martians who have powers far beyond that of mortal men, including the ability to morph into anything they see.
Unfortunately the shock of the encounter is too much for Dr. Erdel´s weak heart and he has a heart attack, but obviously is alive long enough for Jónn Jónnz to tell him his story. Jónn becomes stranded on Earth waiting for his peoples technology to advance to a point where they can once again retrieve him from his adoptive planet. On Mars Jónn served as a Manhunter, loosely translated from “martian” as police man, so naturally he´s attracted to law enforcement, disguising himself as Detective John Jones and solving crimes using his ever expanding set of superpowers. This came to include Super strength, precognitive abilities including telepathy, flight and a strange new power called “atomic vision” that resembled one mild mannered blue boy scouts heat vision. Interestingly enough during this whole period there was no suggestion of MMH being the last of his kind and his disguise was distinctly Caucasian.
It wasn´t until John Ostranders brilliant Martian Manhunter mini-series that much of our would-be superheroes mythos came into focus and we began to see the potential for the Manhunter as a representative of ethnic minorities.
One of the most important changes that Ostrander made was to make Martian Manhunter the most famous superhero in the southern hemisphere and Jónn travelled around Asia and Africa taking on various disguises and fighting corruption where possible. MMH, also became one of the most tragic figures in all of comics (and that’s saying a lot) when Ostranders revised backstory for MMH became cannon.
So it goes that MMH, actually came from the planet Ma´alecaándra (the planet we know as Mars) MMH birth parents, had him and his twin brother Maálefaák. However when his twin brother was born, he was born without telepathic abilities, which on Mars at the time was considered a severe handicap and deformity. As such while loved by Jónn he was shunned by Martian society at large. He grew a deep resentment towards the Martians and thus in later life developed an evil scheme to wipe the Martian race out. In an ambitious endeavor to commit full-scale genocide against his own people, he engineered a contagious virus known as H'ronmeer's Curse. The virus reacted to telepathic energy, and carried from one Martian to the next whenever they elected to use their psionic powers. The plague responded to a Martian's innate fear of fire, causing them psychosomatic stress so intense, that their bodies and minds would literally burst into flame. J'onn desperately tried to keep his wife and daughter from using their mental gifts, but they were unable and so, contracted the plague. His wife was the first to experience the symptoms, and his daughter followed soon after. J'onn was anguished as he watched his family burning to death before his very eyes. The trauma of the event shattered his psyche, and nearly drove him mad.
Thus, when Erdel teleports Jónn to Earth, Jónn is in a catatonic state, and his tragic story is only revealed to Erdel via a telepathic link the two develop while Jónn remains in a coma.
It was in Ostrander´s marvelous work that finally allowed the full tragedy of MMH story to come to light. The character from then on was depicted as a quiet, stoic individual trying to cope with the trauma of his past, while adjusting to how alienated he had become in our world. Amidst a universo full of aliens MMH became the only true alien, a minority of one alone and alienated in the universo. The tragedy of the extermination of his people came to resonate with many readers from ethnic backgrounds, or, margenalised subcultures. The fact he never talked about it, got on with the good fight, and found the strength to move on made him all the more compelling.
In 1997 Grant Morrison and Howard Porter added another aspect to his mythology, creating what would become one of Jónns most feared and powerful foes, the war like, White Martians, or Hyperclan, who posed as Superheroes, when really they planned to take over the Earth.
The 2004 cartoon network animated TV show created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini further evolved and illuminated the mysterious past of the Martian Manhunter, retconning much of his origin, and boy did they ever strike gold. In the pilot episode, MMH´s origin was once again retold, this time the agressive White Martians or Imperium became integral to the extermination of Jónns people, including his wife and daughter. The imperium, were highly advanced and powerful imperial space power, who had wiped out the Green Martians civilisation, in a wholesale holocaust of jónns species. Much like in the original origin Jónn witnesses many closest to him die, before the Green Martians put up a final fight but fall in bloody battle against the invading army.
We also got in this show the brilliant voice acting of Carl Lumbly who brought to life the loneliness and tragic sense of detachment, that has now become a hallmark of all interpretations of the character. Most striking was his choice to give MMH a stangly deep African lilt to his accent, making MMH all the more appealing to ethnic minorities. Due to the mass exposure and success of Justice League The Animated Show, this version of MMH penetrated into the public imagination, becoming the most popular version of the characters story.
Does Cyborgs Story Thematically Resonate With Minorities?
The Problem Of Stereotyping
One of the first and most striking things about Cyborgs first appearance in the 1980s, was that he was used to tackle the problems of gang affiliation amongst Ethnic Minorities in the United States.
On the one hand that could be considered an interesting and socially relevent use of an African American character. After all this is not a made up problem. It is a big issue in The States amongst adolescents from African American and Latino backgrounds especially, who are targetted by gangs, because of their limited liability to legal sanctions.
In this context an African American superhero who comes from a troubled criminal background, but who actually reforms, turning his gifts toward helping society could actually be relevant and a good role model. However, it is the context of Victors Juvenille deliquency that becomes an issue and rather confusing. First, as we know before the 1980s blacks were rarely cast in films, or, television, or, made it to be the titualr characters in their own comics. If they did, alot of depictions of black males in the media, had them as criminals. In fact often the only reason a black man would appear in a film (especially in the action genre) was as a mugger, a burglar, a drug addict or dealer or someother criminal element, in short, a threat to society. This obviously did not go unnoticed and alot was done to rectify this situation in the media, in which actors like Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington became mainstream leading men, and, heroes of their own films. Comicbooks, in turn tried to begin capturing minority audiences by creating ethnic counterparts to already established white superheroes, such as Green Lantern. Some more progressive comic writers such as Stan Lee and George Perrez however, knew that this was not the way to capture this burgeoning market and much like the appeal of Wonder Woman to girls, the way to capture minority audiences was to create superheroes from minority backgrounds. To Marv Wolfman (also the creator of Blade) and Perrez´s credit they also tried to intergrate, storylines and themes they believed relevant to those communities. The problem, however, was the subtext and lack of realism in Cyborgs story. Many middleclass kids have been driven toward criminal behaviour, but it is rare that a child from Victors background, whose parents were affluent scientists would be drawn into the world of street crime and gang warfare. Therefore the criminal background of Cyborg seemed tacked on, mainly or in large part simply because he was black. Making the addition of his criminal behavior at best a mere strereotype and at worst painting anyone whose heritage is African as a potential menace to society; even the ones from priviliged backgrounds with no reason to engage in deliquent behavior, simply because of their race might.
This is not to say all African Americans should be painted as saints in the comics. Far from it. We only have to turn to characters like Spawn or Batwing to see how themes socially relevant to those of African descent can be addressed intelligently while staying consistent. In both Spawn and Batwing, some of the darkest chapters of black history are explored, both beginning villains, only to rise above their upbringing and become heroes.
Batwing was a child soldier in The Congo, whose parents were murdered in front of him. While a youth he was forced into becoming a killing machine by The Army Of The Dawn, who used him to raid villages murdering his own people, for the cause. He became so proficient at killing as a child that by age 13 he was promoted to the Rank of elite man. After he refuses to follow orders to burn down a village, that would result in the deaths of many hundreds of women and children, he is turned on by his commanding officer and goes on the run. Later in life he is recruited by Batman Inc to fight crime and corruption in The Congo.
In the case of Spawn, we get a very interesting origin, with alot of politically emotive themes. Spawn was once Al Simons an American Special Ops Agent for the CIA. For, years he was one of their most efficient ground agents, executing highly dangerous secret operations abroad. However Al begins to have pangs of consicience when he realizes many of his missions involve killing innocent civilians including women and children. Wanting to retire, the CIA consider the information he has to sensitive and therefore they set him up; his own partner killing him while on his last mission. Due to his involvement in the murder of many innocents he goes to hell, where he is transformed into the hell Spawn.
As you can see, in both of these stories we get a glimpse into the black experience, whether it be the horrors of war and use of child soldiers in Africa or the experience of many African Americans in the armed forces in America especially during the Vietnam War. For instance many GI´s complained of suffering symtoms of newly diagnosed psychological ailment known as post traumatic stress disorder. Psychologists directly connected the large number of soldiers coming back from Vietnam suffering from drug addiction and an assortment of other mental illnesses as a direct result of their horrifying experience at war and the concurrent stress of not knowing when or if they were going to die. This disorder and its other co-morbid expressions were not limited to African Americans, but was also suffered by many other ethnic minorities and working class men who served in the armed forces during that time. With the wholesale neglect of these soldiers once they arrived back home, this remains one of the most tragic chapters in race relations in America.
It is appropriate then that a balck superhero like Spawns mythology addressed as similar betrayal by his country. Assasinated by the very country he sacrificed so much for. Spawn in the early 90s became a big hit amongst white and black readers alike, because the comic addressed unashamedly relevant social and political issues. It actually became the highest selling comics of the 1990s, had a film and he is now on his way to having a second.
When you look at the difference between how Cyborg was presented in the 1980s, and how Spawn and Batwing are presented, we can immediately see the contrast. Socially relevant issues were explored over the whole run of Batwing and Spawn, where as they were just tacked onto Cyborg in a single issue and after dropped, simply making him into a stereotypical and generic black character.
In the New 52 however they´ve now addressed some of this, and, tried to flesh Victor out as a character. The gang affiliation has now been dropped as Geoff Johns quite sensibly realized it made no sense to Victors back ground. Instead we have an interesting story of a boy, who grows up desiring his father be proud of his accomplishments. No longer a stereotype, he´s now a high school jock, whose scientist father wishes more for him. It is an interesting dynamic and slightly more organic than the previous tail spun. But now the problem is that his story still is kind of generic, reaching nowehere near the heights and operatic scale of his white counterparts. He is black only in color, with nothing new tos ay about being a superhero. Superman, last son of a doomed planet, Batman, a man born of tragedy now avenger of the night, Aquaman, the Warrior King Of Atlantas, Wonder Woman, demigod and daughter of Zues, oh and Cyborg, a black kid with cybernetic implants. He is now easily the flatest character in the cast, and, the one alot of us just wish wasn´t there.
Cyborg And The Ethnic Sidekick Revisited
As stated earlier in the article there is a long tradition of having ethnic sidekicks for the white heroes. Often servants, vassals, or drivers to the titular character. As far as I know this began with the creation of Tonto (meaning fool or dumb in Spanish), the sidekick to the Lone Ranger whose history is marred with controversy, most recently the Native American character, was played by white actor Johnny Depp. Meaning one of the few roles in Hollywood that could be played by a Native American was passed on to a white actor instead. In the superhero genre, perhaps the most famous ethnic sidekick is Kato. Driver to millionaire Newspaper Magnete Brit Reid who also moonlights as vigilante Green Hornet. However, the focus of the show was easily shifted to Kato once the TV show aired in the 1960s due to the martial arts prowess of Bruce Lee who played Kato for the serial. Soon many were just calling it the Kato Show. But even with Bruce´s electric performance as Kato, he was still turned down for a starring role in his own series Kung Fu, which he had originally pitched as a concept to Warner Brothers. Instead the role of a Shaulin Monk travelling the Wild West went to white non-martial-artist actor Dan Carradine, with Bruce not even recieving acknowledgement for even coming up with the concept.
The general concept of the ethnic sidekick was he was to be the raw physical power behind the more cerebral, capable, veteran. Often of a higher station in life or Rank. Often, speaking some kind of Street Lingo, or, patoir. Curiously enough many of these sidekicks ended up resonating much more with younger audiences and becoming far more popular than their masters or superiors. Huggy Bear easily became the most memorable and iconic character in Starsky And Hutch. While The A-Teams Mr. T, who played B A Baracus, ended up becoming far more famous, than his commanding officer John “Hannibal” Smith much to chagrín of co-star George Peppard.
You might ask what has this got to do with Cyborg? Well the answer is that inspite of many attempts to make him equal, Cyborg has not been depicted as such. Thus far in The Justice League his portrayal has been rather uneven, most of the time seeming more like Batmans ethnic sidekick. The raw phyiscal strength behind Batmans brilliant strategic mind. When it comes to strategy Cyborg, despite supposedly being one of the smartest on the team, rarely shows any agency or problem solving of his own. Much like Wonder Woman has fallen into the stereotypical role of love interest for Superman, so has Cyborg fallen into the conveniant role of Batmans sidekick. Often Batman is found telling Cyborg how to use his powers to best serve the interest of a particular mission. Infact most of the time Cyborg is doing anything in the story, it is at the side of the caped crusader, who affectively uses Cyborg as just another one of his gadgets in his utility belt. Again, I believe this is down to Cyborgs lack of definition. Being the only core member who currently and has never starred in his own publication doesn´t help either.
Batman is the gadgets guy, the brains guy, the strategy guy, which means Cyborg kind of step on his terrirtory. With the huge following Batman has, this can´t be allowed, so we end up with Cyborg being relegated to glorified ethnic side kick, which is more a hark back to the the 70s and 80s TV serials mentality than anything progressive.
Martian Manhunter: Victim of War, Colonialism And Genocide
MMH while technically not a member of a human minority, is the ultimate minority of one. In this alone, he is a very powerful speaker and representative not just of African Americans buta ll minorities. His story also appeals as many of the tragic events that have plagued the history of minorities and margenalized groups, show up in Manhunters mythology. One of the most glaring comparisons of his mythos to the modern history of minorities is the Genocide of his people by an Imperial Power. In the recent past many minorities have been subject to genocidal campaigns by the European and North American powers. It has been something etched into the collective conscousness of minorities, and, something we still feel the after affect of to this day. We are still not that far removed from generations of our ancestors who suffered at the hands of collonialism and the thought that we were inferior races, whose only value was to be enslaved, exploited or exterminated. To see a fictional character go through the same grief, I´m sure is emotive for everyone, but is especially relatable for ethnic minorities.
Aboriginies, Jews, American Indians, or those from the Southern African Countries, each have all beem victims of attempted or wholesale extermination. In the western countries, especially the USA where racial tensions remain high, the quest for equal rights, opportunities and representation, are a constant reminder to minorities of their history. It is no wonder that many of these groups and even alot of white readers tend to see real pathos in the story of Jónn Jónns of the animated series. True most, chinese Americans or African Americans did not suffer the disgraces their parents did, but the fact remains that it is something that said peoples are still healing from. As such I believe there is alot of missed opportunity to tackle some of these issues in the comics of MMH. I honestly feel that is why so many have this inexplicable love for the character. No one from the animated series whose missing from the current roster got so much energised support to join New 52 Justice League as Jónn and I think this is why.
He recieved so much support infact that DC had to make him the poster child for the JL of America. Don´t get me wrong I´m not saying only minorities like this character and its because of his tragic past, but I am saying he resonates so well because there´s this sense that we know a bit about the turmoil going on inside him. I also think the sense of pity he elicits from readers of all races is because, his story is one all too familiar in recent history, made most infamous by the Halacaust. His people the victim of absolute annihilation, by the imperial “white” martians reflects so many minority experiences in the early 20th century, not just blacks or African Americans. In this sense I believe this is one reason that Jónn may actually be a more suitable candidate to represent them even though he´s technically not from a human minority.
I have alot more to write, but this article has already been very long, but I´d love to continue the discussion in the comments.