Eric Gartside
It's Time to Get Real About Racial Diversity in Comics. Earlier this month, Marvel Comics announced a series of variant covers that put a superhero twist on the art of iconic rap albums like De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising, Dr.
Dre’s The Chronic, and 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. On its face, this was another love letter in the long relationship between hip-hop and comics; from Jean Grae to Ghostface Killah (who also goes by Tony Stark), rappers have taken on superhero identities, and Last Emperor’s 1997 song “Secret Wars, Pt. 1” details a battle royale between Marvel heroes and rappers. However, it touched off a controversy about whether it’s been more of a one-sided love affair—and whether mainstream comics has done enough to bring minority creators themselves into the fold. But as the faces on the pages popular comic books have steadily grown more diverse, the hiring practices of publishers haven’t necessarily kept pace.
Summer Work. Geography. Civics. Native Americans. Facing History: The Holocaust. Civil Rights. Writing. Technology. Jesuit. Cool. Memes. Jamestown. Hobbies. Recipes. Infographs.