Broken Frontier

I completely loved Sidekicks, the hardcover book collecting the first six issues of Allan Heinberg’s Young Avengers. I haven’t enjoyed a comic book series this much since I was sixteen-years-old, riding my bike three miles into town to buy the latest issue of The New Teen Titans from Montgomery Drugs. It’s nice to be excited about reading comic books again.

Young Avengers has everything I could want in a comic book. The characters are likeable, the dialogue is fast and funny, there’s plenty of action and surprises, and Jim Cheung is one of the best artists working. I ended up enjoying the first collection more than Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, and considering the fact that I almost worship Whedon, that’s a major compliment.

So I was stunned to learn that some people were offended by a scene that appeared later on in the series, one that seemed racist.

I’ve been losing my interest in most superhero comic books lately, what with the Ultimate Universe rapidly degenerating into a race to see how many new characters can be “ultimized” per issue and mainstream Marvel and DC lunging from one mega-event to another with the subtlety and grace of a bulldozer. But reading Young Avengers reminded me of why I loved comic books so much in the first place. It was fun, pure and simple.

On the other hand, I’m sick and tired of prejudice, whether it’s aimed at women, blacks, foreigners, Hispanics, gays, overweight people, or whatever. I do not comprehend the obsession some people have with condemning, tearing down and even killing anyone they consider unacceptable, especially when so many of the bigots insist on cramming their agendas down everyone else’s throats. There’s a simple solution to their problem, though, one that would bring them peace and make the world a much better place in the process. They could kill themselves.

If I sound bitter, it’s because I am.

I felt angry after reading in a forum that the Young Avengers series had supposedly stooped to negative stereotypes. After enjoying the first six issues so completely, I was disappointed to learn that the series had evidently degenerated into a lazy and putrid form of storytelling.

I’m ashamed to admit it took me a few days to realize how unfair I was being. Instead of checking for myself, I had gotten upset over a comment made in a forum, albeit a comment made by someone whose opinion I respect. After three years of buying trade paperbacks almost exclusively, it never dawned on me that I could actually buy a comic book before it was collected and judge matters for myself.

So I drove to Silver Bullet Comics (the excellent comic book store here in Winston Salem), and I purchased the seventh and eighth issues of Young Avengers. I read them as soon as I got home. And in some ways, I ended up being more confused than ever.

The teenage members of the Young Avengers meet outside Petits Plats to discuss their options, knowing that Captain America has threatened to tell their parents what they’ve been doing. Eli fails to show up, though, so the others get worried that he’s fighting crime on his own again. Casting a spell to find him, Billy learns that Eli’s been hurt, and the group rushes to his rescue. While the others battle Mister Hyde, Billy tries to help his friend. But Eli – embarrassed and powerless – pushes him away and runs off.

When Billy follows him, he sees Eli shooting up.

Even now, black men are overwhelmingly portrayed as drug addicts and criminals on television shows and movies. They are often easy marks for law enforcement agencies, who use concepts like “profiling” to justify their narrow focus. If a specific race of people is targeted almost exclusively for observation, of course the statistics are going to be skewed in their favor. Bigots then use those statistics to “prove” that they were right for exclusively targeting certain people in the first place.  It’s a vicious cycle that shows no sign of ending, and just one example of how damaging prejudice can be.

With Eli being the only non-white character on the team, it’s easy to see why some readers would have a strong reaction to the scene that shows him using drugs. It must have felt like a slap in the face to anyone who saw the panel and was confronted yet again with one of the ugliest of racial stereotypes, especially in a comic book aimed at teenagers.

But is the scene actually racist?

Allan Heinberg, the writer, doesn’t think so. When questioned about the scene by a writer whose letter appeared in the ninth issue of the series, Heinberg responded, “Since I had personally had a recent (and regrettable) experience with steroids, steroid use was something I wanted to write about. For better or worse, Eli’s race was never a factor in those storytelling decisions, and I hope that by the end of this arc, Eli’s story will be an inspiring one to all our readers.”

When I asked Heinberg about the situation in an email, his reply was brief but understandable. “Since it is almost impossible to respond to the accusation of racism without sounding defensive, I will instead urge you to read YA #9 and the YA SPECIAL #1, both of which explore the reasons behind Eli's steroid use, and to continue reading YOUNG AVENGERS as Eli's heroic journey is only beginning....”

Personally, I thought the final scene of issue seven was flawed, with Heinberg sacrificing logic for drama. Eli runs into a nearby room that just happens to have hypodermics, tubing, and drugs? Billy crashes the door down in time to catch Eli in an overly-dramatic pose revealing his shocking secret? It felt contrived. And why, since Eli has a supply of the drug (in convenient capsule form) hidden in his belt buckle, doesn’t he pop a pill instead of shooting up?

Still, problems aside, the scene did not feel racist to me at all.

The revelation that Eli has no powers isn’t an issue of color. Instead, it’s an issue of gender. Most boys dream of being praised by their fathers (or grandfathers, in Eli’s case) long after other dreams have faded. Eli walks in on his grandfather crying over a picture of him and his Young Avenger teammates in the newspaper. There’s such a look of fierce pride on his face that it almost made me cry. Eli wants to be a hero, but more importantly, he wants to earn his grandfather’s respect. The fact that he has to use drugs to earn that respect makes Eli a tragic figure, not a racist stereotype.

Young Avengers features two interracial couples – Eli and Kate, who are going to figure out eventually how much they are attracted to each other, and Luke and Jessica, who want to help train the Young Avengers. Generally speaking, bigots abhor the idea of people dating “outside of their race”. In fact, this form of racism is tolerated and even encouraged by many races, a fact that continues to astonish me.

Does the inclusion of interracial couples somehow make Young Avengers the most open-minded comic book series ever? Of course not. But for me, at least, it does seriously weaken the argument that depicting Eli as a drug-user is a racist act.

The truth is, anytime a minority is portrayed in a negative fashion, it can be perceived as prejudicial. Even worse, it can be perceived as “evidence” by those who are constantly trying to justify their own ugliness. In the comic book, Eli needs to use a green drug to boost his strength. The scenario is more akin to Popeye chugging spinach than gang members getting high on the streets of Los Angeles. But it’s naïve to think that all readers are intelligent enough to understand this. Undoubtedly, there are people who will read the issue and say, “Damn, even in comic books, all the black guys are liars and drug addicts.”

Is the scene racist? I don’t think so.

But let’s be honest here. Bigotry is based on everything but common sense. How does the color of someone’s skin define who he is? What’s logical about creating myths to support disliking an entire group of people based on their religion or birthplace? How does the existence of same-sex couples threaten someone’s sense of “morality”? Prejudice is the absence of common sense. It’s a bizarre and repugnant concept based on the idea that by declaring entire groups of people inferior, it somehow makes you superior in contrast.

It’s ludicrous to expect victims of racism to look at things with a detached point of view. They’ve already learned that when it comes to hatred, there is no logic.

When I first read issue seven of Young Avengers, I thought about Speedy, a DC superhero. He goes by Arsenal now and is a member of the Outsiders, but once upon a time, Green Arrow caught him using drugs. I don’t have that specific comic book, so I can’t compare the two, but the scene with Eli was strongly reminiscent of that earlier scene, at least for me.

But someone else might read issue seven and think about the many times his race has played a factor in how he was treated. Forgive me for being blunt, but only idiots use phrases like “it’s just a comic book”. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Every song we hear, every movie we see, every conversation we have, and yes, every comic book we read – our perceptions of them are shaped by who we are and what we have experienced. It’s ridiculous to think otherwise.

So while I don’t believe the scene is offensive at all, I understand completely why some people would consider it blatantly racist. It’s a matter of perspective.

Don’t ask me to accept the casual bigotry of someone who objects because gay characters appear in Young Avengers. It’s amazing that 99% of comic books (and every other form of entertainment) focus exclusively on heterosexual people and relationships, but any attempt to include gay characters in the mix is dismissed by some people as an unwanted social or political comment. As a gay man, I find this reaction loathsome.

So it would be hypocritical of me to say people shouldn’t be offended by a scene that I don’t consider racist. Each of us brings our own experiences into the story, and no one’s perspective is more valid than anyone else’s (even though sometimes I want to passionately argue otherwise). In the end, each of us has to decide for himself or herself what is acceptable and what is not.

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe the scene in Young Avengers was prejudiced. The story was compelling, and I honestly believe the plot was driven by a character, not a label. Eli used drugs not because he was black, but because he wanted to be a superhero and make his grandfather proud.

Even so, I’m glad questions were raised. It’s too easy to remain silent, especially in a world that often defines prejudice as a “viewpoint” – nothing personal, by any means, we just hate you – and squirms uncomfortably at the thought of trying to discuss it rationally. Bigotry is an accepted form of social vampirism, sucking the humanity out of its victims and leaving faceless labels in their place. The only way to effectively combat it is to drag it into the sun and let the light reveal its ugliness.

Sometimes that means stories may be unfairly judged, and that’s truly a shame. I don’t think Young Avengers deserves that particular criticism. But again, that’s something each person has to decide on their own. Personally, I want to live in a world where people question things. For most of human history, the only acceptable option has been silence. We must be willing to discuss these issues at length. Otherwise, the evil goes unchallenged.

And as every fan of comic books knows, no one wants to read a story where the bad guys win.

Disclaimer: The preceding article was a commentary. My opinions do not necessarily reflect Broken Frontier or anyone affiliated with the site. Please feel free to leave your own opinions on the Lowdown forum. Thanks!