So How Diverse is DC's new line?

[redconfession]

I was curious, with DC claiming their new line would be modern and diverse, just how diverse their releases have been so far, so I broke them down.

Note: Certain characters (like Deadman) I listed as white, as he was white before he died.  Same with Swamp thing and Frankenstein.  Feel free to argue with me on them.  And I have Batman in Parenthesis because he's in like 80 different covers.  I listed him once, then in parenthesis from then on, so the original number represents how many different characters there were, while in the parenthesis shows how many total were depicted on covers.

 

Men

Solo: 21 (24)

Aquaman, Mister Terrific, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Flash, Jason Rusch, Ronnie Raymond, Deadman, Captain Atom, Batman, (Joker), (Batman), Nightwing, (Batman), Batwing, Swamp Thing, Frankenstein, Animal Man, Resurrection Man, Static, Jonah Hex, Deathstroke, The Grifter, OMAC

On Cover: 38 (41)

Aquaman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, Cyborg, (Batman?), August General in Iron, Rocket Red, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, (Batman), Robin, Red Hood, Arsenal, Deadman, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, (Guy Gardner), John Constantine, Shade the Changing Man, Etrigan, Vampire 1 (Andrew Bennett?), Goggle guy in Legion lost, bug armed guy in legion lost, bug guy in legion of superheroes, black haired guy in legion of superheroes, Superboy, Red Robin, Kid Flash, Hawk, Martian Manhunter, Midnighter, Apollo, white-haired Blackhawk, sunglasses Blackhawk, redheaded Blackhawk, ponytailed Blackhawk, big Blackhawk, King Shark, Deadshot

 

Women

Solo: 5

Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Catwoman, Batwoman, Voodoo

On Cover: 23

Wonder Woman, Fire, Ice, Vixen, Unknown Lady in Black, Starfire, Poison Ivy, Katana, Black Canary, Tattooed lady, Madame Xanadu, other lady on cover, Vampire 2, Winged lady in Legion Lost, antennae lady in legion lost, red haired lady in legion of superheroes, Wonder Girl, Hedgehog chick in TT, Charcoal chick in TT, Dove, eyepatch Blackhawk, pink-haired Blackhawk, Harley Quinn

 

White

Solo: 20 (23)

Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Flash, Jason Rusch, Deadman, Captain Atom, Batman, (Joker), (Batman), Batgirl, Nightwing, (Batman), Catwoman, Batwoman, Swamp Thing, Frankenstein, Animal Man, Resurrection Man, Jonah Hex, Deathstroke, The Grifter

On Cover: 39 (41)

Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, (Batman?), Rocket Red, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Ice, Unknown Lady in Black, (Batman), Kyle Rayner, (Guy Gardner), Red Hood, Arsenal, Poison Ivy, Black Canary, Tattooed lady, Deadman, John Constantine, Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, other lady on cover, Etrigan, bug armed guy in legion lost, black haired guy in legion of superheroes, Superboy, Red Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Hawk, Dove, Midnighter, Apollo, white-haired Blackhawk, sunglasses Blackhawk, redheaded Blackhawk, eyepatch Blackhawk, Harley Quinn, Deadshot

 

Black

Solo: 4

Mister Terrific, Ronnie Raymond, Batwing, Static

On Cover: 5

Cyborg, Vixen, John Stewart, Goggle guy in Legion lost, big Blackhawk

 

Asian

Solo:  0

On Cover: 2

August General in Iron, Katana

 

Hispanic

Solo: 1
Blue Beetle

On Cover: 1

Fire

 

Middle Eastern:

Solo: 0

On Cover: 1

Robin

 

Gay:

Solo: 1

Batwoman

On Cover: 2

Midnighter, Apollo

 

Unknown: Robot person in legion lost, Big toad alien in legion lost, little bug alien in legion lost, guy in armor in legion of superheroes, guy on cover of sgt. Rock, 4 covered Blackhawks

UPDATE: Broke down characters by citizenship as well.

USA - 45

Aquaman (Atlantean), Wonder Woman (Themescaran), Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Flash, Cyborg, Mister Terrific, Hawkman(?), Guy Gardner, Booster, Green Arrow, Firestorm (Jason), Firestorm (Ronnie), Captain Atom, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Batgirl, Arsenal, Red Hood, Nightwing, Ivy, Black Canary, Catwoman, Batwoman, Voodoo, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Resurrection Man, Red Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Static, Hawk, Dove, Midnighter, Apollo, Jonah Hex, Sgt. Rock, Deathstroke, The Grifter, Blue Beetle, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark

 

Europe - 1

Frankenstein

 

Britain - 5

Madame Xanadu, John Constantine, Etrigan, Andrew Bennett, Vampire lady(?)

 

Norway - 1

Ice

 

Russia - 1

Gavril

 

Africa - 2

Vixen, Batwing

 

Middle East - 1

Robin (also American citizenship)

 

Brazil - 1

Fire

 

China - 1

August General in Iron


Japan - 1

Katana

 

Alien - 4

Atrocitus, Starfire, Shade the Changing Man, Martian Manhunter

 

Unknown - 10

Girl in black, swampish thing, Deadman (dead), Tattooed woman, Unknown Lady 1, Unknown Lady 2, Wonder Girl, Unknown TT girl 1, Unknown TT girl 2, OMAC

 

If you know the names of these characters, or if I mislabeled someone, please let me know.

Comments

I apologize for the incoming wall of text

[red_confession.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely. I wasn't making any conclusions with my data--simply presenting them. In fact I've been playing devil's advocate with most of the people here. I only did it because DC was claiming to be more diverse, and I wanted to see if they lived up to their promise.

I purposefully avoided putting my opinions in with the numbers in order to prevent them from being skewed one way or the other, and to enable people to draw their own conclusions. That being said, here is my personal opinion on the matter:

I believe they're making a step in the right direction, but the numbers show they're far from perfect. Both companies need to improve upon diversity in their comics, but I also feel like while Marvel doesn't have more solo titles, they tend to treat their minority characters with more respect. Luke Cage is one of the greatest characters they have, and though he doesn't have his own solo he's in a lot.

I doubt most of those titles, ESPECIALLY the minority ones, will last. I'm not wishing death upon them by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the fact of comics publishing. And I think the minority ones will suffer the most simply because there isn't a lot of name recognition in most of them. I'll be picking up a bunch of them to support them, but if the story isn't strong enough, they won't last. That, to me, is the greatest difference between DC and Marvel. Marvel (typically, but not always) gives readers a reason to care about a character (no matter what), before haphazardly giving them their own title. X23 was in NYX and X-Force before getting her own ongoing. Daken was in Wolverine Origins, then Dark Avengers before first stealing his father's ongoing (all of the "Dark" Avengers stole their real counterparts ongoings if applicable with the exception of Venom), before finally getting his own. If they came out with a Luke Cage ongoing tomorrow I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. I'm not saying that minority characters need to be shoved into team books before being analyzed and potentially given their own books. I'm saying that minority characters (and even all those white men they're fond of publishing) need to be interesting and engaging for people to read them. Sadly, it's just harder for minority characters.

Re: I apologize for the incoming wall of text

[muccamukk]

I know what you mean. I did cover numbers like this for Marvel's women for a few months last year. I find raw data shiny.

I agree that the real test will be a year in to see what's still standing. I heard on a panel at some con or other that most of these mid list titles are expected to last one arc (six issues or so) and then die quietly in a corner. A few, like last year's Batgirl, will pick up enough sales to keep going, but DC is basically throwing things at a wall to see what sticks.

I don't read much DC because I find that for all of their lack of individual titles Marvel does handle diversity slightly better. Luke Cage is leading two team books right now, Misty Knight has one, Northstar kissed his boyfriend on panel (a man of colour), and so did Shaterstar (ditto), M's "out" as a Muslim, and Jim Rhodes has his own title again. These seem like things that will last, and maybe there'll be some more women solo titles someday (something DC really does do better).

[red_confession.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised, even if I didn't hear anything like that myself. DC has a habit of throwing things at a wall to see what sticks, and this is no different.

I started out primarily as a Marvel girl, but honestly the DC characters aren't that bad. Whereas Marvel grounds itself in reality, DC is good when you want a dose of escapism in your comics. I much prefer the Marvel UNIVERSE as a whole but I prefer individual characters in DC, if that makes any sense.

And yet Billy and Teddy cannot kiss to save their life. You also forgot that Eli lead a team for a while, as did Alex Wilder. Dust is also a Muslim if I remember correctly. Anole is also an openly gay character. Luke Cage is in an interracial marriage, and has an interracial child. Marvel definitely wins in the diversity department, even if they don't have their own titles.

DC does have more Women's solo titles, but they often don't know what to do with them. Granted, they have the same problem for male solo titles, but it's especially true for characters like Wonder Woman. So I'm not sure if it's a step in the right direction.