The Disappearance of the White Male Superhero

Jim: Well someone had to say it, but my group is being summarily dismissed and being replaced. I for one am sick and tired of it. Let’s check a few things out to prove my point that the white male super hero is going the way of the Dodo bird. In DC the smartest guy in the DCU – Brainiac 6 – GREEN. In DC they have Green Lanterns and Red Lanterns, Yellow, Black, and Purple Lanterns. Where's the White Lantern? In fact, in DC who do they call Mr. Terrific – a BLACK man. This has to stop.

Lee: And your group is? Old? Crotchety? Old and crotchety? For sake of discussion, let’s assume your “group” is the white male. And, if that is your group, the problem isn't the lack of white men, it's the books and Universe that you are reading. The Marvel Universe doesn't have the problems with the white man. In the Marvel Universe, all the colors know their place. For example, the Black Panther is offset by the White Panther. And just to be safe, Marvel even has a White Tiger just in case someone decides we need a Magenta Panther. That’s two white cat type people for one black cat person.

Jim: I don't know. How do you explain the strongest person in the MU, the Hulk being GREEN AND RED. According to you, shouldn't there be a WHITE Hulk?
Lee: No no no. Red Hulk is evil. And dumb because he's evil. Green Hulk is dumber than a stump. It's ok to be full of color as long as your dumb. Smartest man in the Marvel U? Reed Richards. Lilly white. Man with biggest brain in Marvel U? Professor X. Smart AND BALD! It's all about the white man in the Marvel U.

Jim: You are totally wrong. In Marvel is all about being Dark now. The Avengers are the evil "Avengers" and guess what - yep they are run by a white guy. The coolest guy in the "good" Avengers - Luke Cage - Black. Oh and Luke is the only one allowed to have a baby. We need a WHITE GUY ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE to protect our interest! White Tiger - never been a white man - all about the hispanic side of things. Like Blue Beetle - white for two generations, now hispanic. What is next "El Batmano" protector of the barrio?
Lee: You need to look deeper than that. You getting all caught up in the appearance. The coolest guy in the Avengers in Ronin/Hawkeye. White Guy in Black Face! Marvel is just putting on faces to appear relevant. And, so what if Luke Cage had a baby. What happened to the baby? Stolen by a white man! That's because the white man is king in the Marvel U. What happens over at DC? Best detective in the entire universe was white and he was killed by... that's right. A stone man. A slate, gray stone man to be specific. If that doesn't prove that the DCU, the Universe you read, has no respect for the white man then nothing does.

Jim: Lee, are you just blind. The White Man is going down everywhere you look. Batwoman is taking over Detective, she is not a white man. The Question, replace by a Hispanic woman. Steve Rogers in the MU, prominent white male hero, now dead. Batman prominent white male hero now dead. Superman, used to be a prominent white male hero, now it is all about him being an alien and an illegal immigrant. I know we had our moment in the limelight, but hey we are still a major part of Western Civilization and we are just wiping ourselves out of the picture. Look at some of the great new titles on the stands – Scalped – Native American, Madame Xanadu woman. It’s a crime I tell you a crime.
Lee: I think that you are trying to prove my point. Your examples are all set in the DCU. The DCU just places more emphasis on the non white hero. That’s why 9 out of 10 white men prefer the Marvel Universe. The Marvel Universe caters to the white man. You are correct, Captain America was killed but he was replaced by A WHITE MAN. And, the sidekick? Still the Falcon. Still a black man.

Jim: Please Marvel is just as bad. The White Man is the evil guy, the central character in the Marvel Universe Norman Osborne – White and the bad guy. The one guy who faced him down and is too cool for school Luke Cage – BLACK. I have covered this before and you are just not listening. How bad has it gotten? They let Dwayne McDuffie (who is black) write the Fantastic Four (the book that launched the MU) and the first thing he does is replace Mr. (white) Fantastic and Invisible (whte) Woman with the Black Panther and Storm – who are black. To sit back and let this reverse racism take over our comics and marginalize the white male super hero, why it is so wrong it sounds like its French. Maybe the NAACP and GLAAD can support all of this stuff, but maybe it is just time for us white boys to move on.
Lee: I think all that time you spent in the DCU has warped you. I'm telling you. The white man is still king in the Marvel U. And don't worry, I'm sure there are plenty of white men in the NAACP reading Marvel comics. We'll just have to agree that you're wrong and move on! Until next year...