DC Comics Whitewashes Previously Black Character
On her Tumblr account, cosplayer Jay Justice posted about the new look for Green Arrow character Onyx, now that she has been reintroduced in the New 52 universe. That new look, in the first week of February, Black History Month? Apparently, white — or at least white-passing African American. I couldn’t imagine expressing how bad an idea this is any more clearly than Jay herself did, so she gave us permission to re-post her entire Tumblr post.
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DC Comics is not winning any points with me right now.
Photographer is Jason S Colflesh Photography
You may not know much about Onyx Adams, so I’ll tell you a little bit about her. I first read a multipart story featuring her in old Detective Comics issues. Remember when they used to have Green Arrow stories? Onyx’s first appearance outfit was one of my very first costumes. I wasn’t good at sewing back then, but I felt so cool ^__^ I took photos with as many Green Arrow cosplayers as I could find, and I didn’t even care that they had no idea who my character was. I was just really excited to get to be a kick ass character that actually looked like me.
Onyx was a former member of the League of Assassins, who went on to fight alongside Green Arrow & Black Canary. She carried a sword & a whip & used martial arts skills as well. She later on had a bit of a makeover & was one of the only other heroes Batman trusted to help him fight crime in Gotham City. Once I got skilled enough in makeup to apply a flawless bald cap, her modern look was definitely on my to do list.
Enter the New 52 & Onyx’s new white passing/extremely light skinned look. I’m really disappointed to see this. This post sums up how I feel about it very well.http://imasupermuteant.tumblr.com/post/75799986179/some-familiar-names-return-to-dc-comics-with-some-new
Why bring back characters of color if you’re just going to whitewash them? We barely have representation as it is. It’s taking away something very dear to my heart, and I don’t understand why. Another post that truly illustrates how wrong this is, is the ‘Jar of Characters’ post. If you’re having trouble understanding why many comic book fans are upset at this news, read this.http://timemachineyeah.tumblr.com/post/58648290519/this-is-a-jar-full-of-major-characters.
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Follow Jay Justice on Twitter and Facebook to see if DC responds to her comments.
