Three Sources

Hello guys! Today I will be evaluating three new sources that have to do with the justification of racism in comic books.

 The first source I will be evaluating is, "Propaganda in Comics", by Cord Scott.

Scott is a reliable author because his credentials are shown in his article. He has written several encyclopedias and academic journals. He also has a Doctorate in American History from the University of Chicago. The URL shows that it is a hosted by nonprofit. This article was posted in 2008 so it is not the best source to choose since it is seven years old. I believe that the intended audience is anyone who is looking to inform themselves about comic books and how they were used as propaganda especially for the war. This a scholarly source because there is a bibliography documenting the works cited by the author in the source. 

The second source I chose to evaluate is, "How the Government Turned Comic Books into Propaganda", by Greg Beato. This article was published on February 28, 2013 which is fairly recent. Greg Beato is a contributing editor of Reason magazine which makes him a reliable source. Throughout his article he has links to other articles which help readers follow along and understand what he is talking about. I believe the intended audience is for adults because it is a more heavy topic about comic books that kids wouldn't really comprehend. Beato also uses many quotes throughout his article which shows others perspectives of other people about his topic. 

 The third source I will evaluate is, "Comic books and World War II: Buying Into the War", by R.T. Johnson. There isn't any credentials shown within this article for Johnson making him an unreliable source. Although Johnson does use other references within his article which makes his work very informative. The intended audience for this article would be for young adults who are interested learning about comic books and their role within the war. The URL is hosted by a commercial site. There also isn't a date which shows when this article was published which makes this an unreliable source since we can't determine if the article is outdated or not. 

Three New Sources!

Hey guys! I’m back with three new sources that will help with the topic of predominantly white characters being justifiable in comics. I included three paragraphs that offers why it is reliable and answered questions that evaluate the source.

1. Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race and Identity In Comics (Web Source)

• The author is poised at discussing how race, ethnicity, and culture play out in people’s lives, communities, and how it shifts. There are citations in the text that can be clicked on, which will lead to related material. The intended audience are for those who are interested in comics. It is a mixture of both opinion and fact, although the opinion is very minimal while there is a lot of facts. The facts are supported by quotes and by clickable citations that will lead to the information. Personally, I feel there isn’t much evidence in this source but enough to make it sufficient to use. The language seems to be both objective and a bit emotional. There are broad generalizations that oversimplify the matter. The author of this site does use a more primary sources than secondary sources. Although the source is a bit of opinion, it happens toward the end of the site. Gene Demby does take a stance. I would say that he is questionably reputable for that he is a journalist that I have not heard of.  The source isn’t that far back in time. It was published January 11, 2014. The information can be found in different web sites. There are no vague or sweeping generalizations that aren’t backed with evidence. Lastly, the journalist provides two sides to the argument. Overall, this source is reliable as it gives me information to support why predominant white characters were okay and not racist for early comics.

• Demby, Gene. "Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race And Identity In Comics." NPR. NPR, 11 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2015

2). Comic Book Nation: The Transformation Of Youth Culture In America (Academic Source)

• The author, Bradford W. Wright, is poised at talking about how propaganda projected/transferred into youth culture. In this text, there is a lot of references to other works within the text in order for the reader to look it up for more information relating to the topic. The intended audience is for those who are interested in comics and how comics have become a part of the daily lives of others and what their affects would be. This source is an academic source, so it is filled with many facts and very minimal to no opinions. The facts are supported by quotes, references, and examples that are littered throughout the text. There is a plentiful amount of evidence in this source. The language is objective with no emotion. The author uses primarily primary sources but there are a few secondary sources in there. There are no opinions. It is a reputable source for that I got it from Google Scholar and that the author is an associate professor with the University of Maryland University College-European. This book was published on March 22, 2001. It may be 14 year old information, but it provides enough information from the years before 2001. There are no sweeping or vague generalizations. Lastly, for the most part, the author provides both arguments. Overall, this source is helpful as it provides me with the information about how propaganda transferred into youth culture.
• Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2001. Print.

3). The Colors Of Good Vs. Evil: Comic Book Color Palettes [Info graphics] (Web Site)

• The preface by the author, Caleb Goellner, talks about the distribution of colors in comics. The author describes how color is distributed in the comics and how they relate to color theory. In this website, there is a reference to another site, ColourLovers, which includes more info graphs. The intended audience is for those who are interested in how color is being used in the comics of the past to now. This is a website source; it is stated that the information is based on color theory. There are plenty of info graphs to aid in comprehending and supporting color theory in my essay. It seems like the author of this website has used only one main primary source, with secondary sources going along the primary source. There are no opinions. The information is mostly objective because of its academic view of colors. It is hard to tell if it is reputable because it has a reference and the author is unknown to me. The website was published on September 16, 2011; it is only 4 years old, which isn’t that bad and would be considered recent. The author does make the information seem like vague and sweeping generalizations. However, that is how color theory works (and color symbolism). Lastly, this website does not include any arguments; it is only an informational website about colors and the use of color theory and symbolism in comics. Overall, this source is helpful for that it gives me information to help describe how color symbolism and color theory relate to why predominant white characters in comics in the past were justifiable.

• Goellner, Caleb. "Good Versus Evil in the Superhero Comic Color Palette [Infographic]." Comics Alliance. 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

Creativity

Come check out our Powerpoint Presentation on the justification of racism in comic books.

From Ink to Reality

A few weeks ago, as you devoted blog visitors know, I posted an analysis of an image pulled from the cover of Best Comic Books No. 10. The image had wonderful examples of the use of line and space to comunicate powerful messages of propaganda, while incorporarating an artistic style unique to comic books themselves. Recently, I happened across another such image, and many others, in which I noticed a recurring pattern. This pattern is what I will attempt to formulate and discuss in this particular post.

One of the images which I came across is from USA Comics Vol.2 No. 5. Seemingly unfamiliar, the cover of this issue had just as many effects, particularities, and moral issues as the previous image I discussed. What makes it unique, however, is the idea it insantly shot into my mind, as an effect of all of the action on the page.

Examining this image carefully, we can establish the same groundwork of Nazi symbolism, action and movement, and the message of American superiority over the Axis forces, whether it be moral or physical. With all of this emotion and action, I couldn't help but realize that the image conveyed the feeling of being saturated with information. The Victory Boys are seen leaping from ropes and flags, Hitler ,as usual, is kicked in the mouth, a Japanese monster seems to be the commander of the Japanese forces, and even the background is filled with some sort of mysterious space-like aura. Along with having no more room for additional content, the comic also had no room for racial variety.

When I say there is no more room for racial variety, I speak for most comics bred of this time and developed in lieu of the war. World War 2 was the white man's war, and incorporating racial variety would seem out of place and off- putting to a 1950s comic book reader. In fact, I believe that if an African- American or Latino- American was put onto the front cover, that character would draw most of the attention away from the scene. This creates a unique problem for publishers and creators of the comics: is it beneficial to make the moral step to include gender and racial variety in comics?

Obviously, the industry at that time would have said, "No! Of course not!" Since we can all agree that the majority of businesses are in it for the money, comic books are no exception. By using a topic so closely related to the civilizations, cultures, and issues of the white man, the industry effectively made it impossible for them to include more racial variety. Hopefully this insight gave you a new and special way to analyze the comic books of different eras, and tie them to the moral issues surrounding the inclusion, or exclusion, of races seperate from the predominantly Caucasion characters of most graphic novels.

Adressing the Topic Once More

     Hey guys! How’s it going? I’m back to talk about our group’s topic about the justification of predominantly white characters in comics. A couple of days ago, I finished reading issues 1-8 of The New Teen Titans series. This comic series was created in the 80’s and was written and illustrated, respectively, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The comic was very entertaining and fun to read. To give a basic summary, the New Teen Titans are formed and fight crime together against the demon Trigon and the Furious 5. Because of the intense scenes and amazing artwork,  I am planning to buy the next collection of issues (specifically numbers 8-16). As I was reading the comic, I noticed the small variation of races within the comic characters. The main comic characters that were racially different was Cyborg (African American), Starfire (alien) and Beast Boy aka Changeling (a green boy). The rest of the characters (which include Raven, Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and the enemies) are white.

     As always, there are always going to be some that state the comics like these are racist because of the lack of diversity. While I do agree that there is a lack of diversity in this comic and other similar to this, I argue that there is justification for having predominant white characters in comics. To support  my claim, I'll start off with some history. At the start of World War 2, many comic characters were predominantly white males kicking butt against Hirohito and Hitler. A lot of people looked to America as the “savior” of the world; because of this, white was associated with safety and American. Comics against Japanese were especially racist against the Japanese for how they were portrayed as ugly and evil. However, I state that it was during a time of national crisis. America was in a two front war. Comics helped rally the people to not be intimidated and help with the war effort. Comics after that were normally associated with what was happening during the time and also expressed opinions of the comic creators.

     As time passed on, comics were mainly dominated by white comic characters. This has been the case for many years. To many readers growing up reading comics, many were accustomed to having the comic characters predominantly white. With diversity slowly becoming integrated into the comic world, many of the old fans of comic series aren’t liking it. It doesn’t mean that they are racist. It’s just that they are used to having the tradition of white characters being predominantly white in comics; nothing is wrong with that.

      Tying this to the comic I read, I feel that this comic doesn’t not do anything that affects the reader in any way or form; it is an enjoyable read. The lack of diversity in this comic is justifiable. Because it was created in the 80’s, a time where there wasn’t much diversity in comics, it is justifiable for there to be predominant white characters. A lot of people are becoming more sensitive to small issues like this that really doesn't affect general views and such. Maybe these people aren't old school comic readers or even comic readers at all. Maybe they are the people who watch the movies based on the comics. Whatever the case may be, there is a justification for predominant characters in comics.

I must confess....

Well, hello there. Nice of you to join me today where I might have something to confess. I had some time to think about it and honestly, I do not know where to start but I can tell you it started with an interview that I recently made. In my last blog post, I interviewed my room mate who happened to be a comic book fanatic. His father had a very large collection and he loved everything about them. I asked him "do you ever feel like there is not enough representation of your race in comics" and he told me that it did not matter to him, he said the stories and comic book action was rich enough for him to continue reading them. In fact he said he had never paid attention to it until I brought it up.

A few weeks before conducting the interview I did happen to read a book named "The Shadow Hero" by Yang and Liew. I've talked about this book all through my English class and the truth is I fell in love with it. The story line is rich and genuine and it had to do a lot with the race of the superhero. He was an Asian American raised by his father to be a calm young man. Little did his family know he was accompanied by an ancient spirit that fulfilled a promise in exchange for a body to live with. The character was Asian and there was a tiger, dragon, turtle spirit. So I mean naturally it made sense, you know he grew up poor like most minorities. So, it made sense with everything I've ever written in this blog. Race is a key factor and adding a spin to it would not be as easy as anyone would say. So, I asked him about the book after the interview. He said he felt in different, that if it had a good story line and action it was worthy of reading. Take into account my room mate is Asian. So I began to ask myself who in reality makes up these comments about the injustice of comics. The more I think about, I come to realize that maybe it's just the media. Everyone does hear about it but no one seems to have the same shared opinion. I honestly began to think that people who make these comments aren't comic book readers to start with and are just people that want to find something to criticize. That fueled my energy for my whole blog. I was tired of White people being put down for having pride or expressing themselves in their literature. Yeah, they might have done things wrong at some points but we shouldn't be so hard on them. But after a couple of these recent events I've thought about it and I'm not saying I don't have the same energy fueling but at first I thought it was people who felt really indifferent and that they were strong comic book fans that felt left out and in different. But in reality I  from what I have seen and realized, comic book fans love the book and recognize their flaws but love the story for what it is and not for what it could be. They love to keep the characters the way they are because those are the charchters they grew up to love while they were innocent and just loved a good story, because bottom line race really is not an issue, people just want good literature. The factor that race plays is one that leans towards a new scent, something different but pleasing, something that can change the play of the game but not the rules. Because a comic book with diverse characters add interesting stories and allusions but at the end they still have a hero and a villain. You might have thought this from the start, but I've come to learn this now. I won't stop saying what I believe but I must confess my foundation has been shaken a bit. I will just have to continue observing and will continue picking up new evidence as a go along but I wonder what you think about the situation, is there really an issue or it's all made up because there is something out there that is being said about our comic books today. What it is, that's the really question.

Creativity

Hey guys! I found this cover of a comic book very fascinating. We see two soldiers with their arms linked with Superman. They have this very jolly feeling towards them. If we take a look at their facial expression they are admiring Superman. They are looking at him as a role model with whom they look up to.

We can tell that Superman is the most important person in the drawing because in Molly Bang's book, Picture This, she states, "The center of the page is the most effective "center of attention." It is the point of greatest attraction" (62). So we can see that the artist is using Superman to first reel in their readers. Then they use the soldiers to get them to want to join the army because by just looking at this image and seeing them all happy with Superman it perceives the army as fun tempting their readers to join in the war.

Many people may argue that is it racist that the men in the image aren't diverse but I would have to disagree because although the men are white I do not believe this to be racist because it's not about the color of their skin but rather about what this picture's message is trying to say. As we all know Superman is a very strong and masculine superhero that many people adore and admire. So when this artist portrays Superman with soldiers in the war the artist is just using propaganda in his drawing to promote participation in the war.