"How many Black Superheroes can you name?" Topic

This isn't a moot question.

I met a Black gentleman who was grudgingly buying Spider-Man for his young son, and he mentioned that there weren't any Black (African American) superheroes.

I quickly mentioned:
- Black Panther
- Storm
- Black Goliath
- Falcon
- Power Man

We both agreed that Blade was kinda pushing it, and admitted that he didn't know who most of those guys were (he remembered Storm when I mentioned she was in X-Men).

So, the gauntlet has been thrown! Without pouring through back issues of Marvel Universe or DC Comics Handbook, how many Black/African American superheroes can you name?

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The big ones i'd say you missed were Green Lantern, Steel, Bishop, Captain Marvel, Night Thrasher and Warmachine

Green Lantern (one of them anyway)

Blade? one of the teen titans, Spawn.

blacksuperhero.com
Just found this.

I'll second the Green Lantern. One of my faves on Justice League.

How is Blade 'pushing it'? Too much of an anti-hero?

Also in the Teen Titans, Cyborg.

But I'd go back to GL.

Wasn't there one or more in Legion of Super Heroes, DC's far future setting?

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire!

Frozone

I could be mistaken, but wasn't Iron-Man a black auto worker?

What about DC's millenium (I think)thing? That was all black superheroes just about. It started pretty much as I was getting out of comic books so I never followed it, but some of the titles looked pretty good.

Black Lightning

Steel ( one of the new supermen that sprung up when Kal-El got squashed by Doomsday )

one of the Forever People is black, but I cant name hardly any of them

Blackula, Blade, Shaft, Chris Eubank, Lynford Christie………………..

It's an interesting point that, while there are some Black superheroes, there aren't that many that are (a) readily available in comic books and, (b) kid-friendly. I mean, Spawn and Blade might be a bit too mature for younger readers.

Maybe there's room for more kid-friendly superheroes of color? Note that kid-friendly doesn't have to be stupid or slapstick, but should avoid some of the more mature and darker themes popular in many contemporary comics.

Just some random musings… no intention to threadjack here.

Bishop of the X Men is Black.

And in Wildstorm Comics, The American Way features a Black character called the New American. I wouldn't recommend this comic to kids however. The setting of the comic is during the 60's and the goal of the government was to create a new super hero that would help ease the racial tensions of that decade. As most plots go, this plan backfired and has caused more issues than it was supposed to solve. Great comic for adults and more mature young adults though!

How many black Super *Villains* can you name? I can't think of one … too dangerous to have the white superheroes busting their chops?

I find it interesting that he would "grudgingly" buy a comic about a white superhero for his kid. If my kid wanted a comic about a black — or asian or whatever — superhero I would get it for him without any reservations whatsoever. (Assuming I was inclined to get a comic for him in the first place)

Mal Duncan – was The Guardian and Hornblower (AKA The Herald) back in the 70's Teen Titans

I'm amazed noone has mentioned Sabre yet.

The ice man from Unbreakable was a black super villain.

villian Moses Magnum

MiniatureWargaming dot com, I had a conversation with a black friend of mine when I was in college along these lines. He told a rather telling joke about black role models in American history that I won't repeat here, but essentially it pointed to the abysmal lack of notable black role models.

The thing is, we (meaning white Caucasian Americans) have lots of role models. We don't think it unusual to read about them, so we have a frame of reference for ourselves. Now, imagine instead that all the role models are black. Wouldn't it be nice to find just one, hopefully more, white role models?

I imagine it's even worse when we're discussing superheroes because superheroes are make-believe. That means that skin color is a choice, not a fact, and very few authors are choosing anything other than white.

I don't mean to make any sort of political statement here, just wanted to share an insight a friend led me to years ago.

Thanks,

Shawn M Dwyer, just your Average Joe…

Pictors,

The Milestone Comics imprint was published by DC Comics. The characters existed outside the "regular" DC universe. It had a distinctive look and brand identity, but the imprint died in the comics implosion of the late '90s. The character "Static Shock" survives as an animated series on Cartoon Network.

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Static shock series *did* get integrated with the DC universe though. HTe jsutice league shows up from time to time.

Also, SS is a Black super hero with a White Sidekick.

Powerman! My all time favorite superhero!
Powerman and Ironfist have been my favorite heroes since I

OOPS…
Powerman! My all time favorite superhero!
Powerman and Ironfist have been my favorite heroes since I
was 14 or 15. We would play TSR Marvel superheroes and I was always Powerman and/or Ironfist. picture
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I love the real Powerman and not that crap "cage"!!!

My choice for a luke cage movie is Evan Parke( Hayes form king kong )

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Tiger Woods. It's only a matter of time before he gets his own comic.

Has nobody menioned Halle Berry as Cat Woman yet?
Sheesh.
I am reminded of the line in "Revenge of the Nerds", when the doctor from ER just finishes having his way with a cheerleader. "Wow, I never knew you nerds were so good!"
"It's all we think about." 8^)

Wasn't there a black superhero in "The Incredibles?"

What about Fred Williamson from KC, he was known as "The Hammer?" He definitely has the power of super-ego. ;-)

Warmachine. One of the Youngblood leaders was a black guy in a red and silver Power Armour, sentinel I think. Or was that the name of the Stormwatch leader. Either way, you've got two black super-leaders in P-A at Image.

Quantum, of Quantum & Woody. Rapture, one-time fiance of the Savage Dragon.

Frozone in the Incredibles is black.

The Legion of Superheroes had a black hero named Invisible Boy, at least at one time they did. Their lineup has changed a bit over the years.

Pam Grier.

OJ.

Tiger already has his own comic. It's been published in one of the golf magazines.

The original Invisible Kid in the Legion was white. They had Tyroc, though, a black hero. They also had Shadow Lass, who was an alien and a kind of dark blue. I only know their roll call from the 60's and 70's, though!

Forget how many black super heroes can you name. How many SUCCESFUL black super hero titles can you name? The reason there aren't more is cause those titles normally don't sell well. I'm not going to pick a reason, as I honestly don't know, but if 'black' super heroes sold well, I'd bet my last dollar more would be in print.

-Chris

Brian98- When I read Iron Man in the mid 80's there was a long stretch where the armor was worn by Tony Stark's pilot who was black. He went on to become War Machine, right?

I think the reason there are few black comic book heroes is because most comic book readers are white, demographically speaking. Now, whether thats a symptom of few black heroes, or just a function of social upbringing, I can't say. (Thats not to say black people don't read comics, though.)

There are black superheroes and supervillains, but in a situation where your target audience doesn't compose a majority of the buying customer, you can't expect them to be prevalent.

Battalion from Stormwatch

It's like selling an old house or any other sort of commercial venture off the typical, conventional and predictable path.

There's a universe of people who might by a house—or comic books—but they're only a fraction of people overall.

Now, of that population, what percentage are interested in offbeat, unusual or vintage design or decorating? It's a smaller universe of an already smaller universe.

There may be lots of people who would be perfectly happy living in an old house if they inherited one or found themselves living in one through some other combination of circumstances, but their going-in idea of what sort of house they want to buy means it's not likely they will ever be in such a house long enough for the novelty to wear off and for them to be able to evaluate the house on its own terms.

PVO

Jakem Thunder and the Ultimates Nick Fury are two very cool ones.

CC

I've seen a comic recently that was either batgirl or catwoman and she was black.

Isn't Cable black? I don't recall…

The Marvel Ultimates version of Nick Fury is black.

Black Manta, Aquaman's foe, was eventually revealed to be black under that costume, wasn't he?

Also, I am told that Casper the Friendly Ghost, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, and the Ghostly Trio from the old Harvey Comics group were black when they were alive…

Don't forget Tyveculus. :-)

Here's mine:

Falcon
Blade
Storm
Bishop
The Brown Hornet (Fat Albert Show)
Cyborg
Green Latern
Roadblock (GI Joe)
Cat Woman

I think there is probably a lack of "black" superheroes because "black's" don't buy them. I've never seen a person of color at a comic store except for an Indian buddy of mine (who bought Tin Tin btw, which should be ironic to the man you talked to). I would be considered "white", but I loved reading about Capt. America and The Falcon and always thought Bishop was really cool.

However, a good story and hero is sellable to everyone: Spiderman and XMen are popular because they reach ppls regardless of color.

The only new comic for "blacks" I heard of (quite a few years ago) feature one who "by the power of his skin" was a superhero or something; no one would buy that garbage!

BTW, I am writing this while wearing a Randy Moss jersey (like his game, not him).

Short lived series called "Mantis"…kind of a cross between batman and ironman, though the pilot was better than the series was.

And of course Meteor Man (cute family flick)

One of the young x-men was black also…can't remember his name but he can 'borrow' any other mutant's powers he touches and use them at the absolute maximum potential.

Bill Cosby's favorite black superhero is mine as well:

The Brown Hornet.

;-)

To show I'm not kidding, check these out:

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Sabre

The lists above are all great examples. Mr Terrific of the current incarnation of the JSA is one that was missed. I'd also like to say that Ultimate Hawkeye from the Ultimates is black, though due to the way he's been inked through the Ultimates issues it's kind of hard to tell.