Miles Morales’ controversial story shows the limits of Marvel comics

Anyone can be a spider. At least that was the idea when Miles Morales first burst onto the scene in 2011 as the successor to Peter Parker from the Ultimate universe. An Afro-Latin teenager taking on the mantle of Marvel’s most beloved and iconic hero, even though he was set in an alternate universe, was a game-changer. The possibilities for the character, the topics that could be discussed, and the creators that could put their stamp on the character seemed endless. We’ve seen some of the possibilities represented by the Oscar-winning animated film.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseand a stellar PlayStation game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Anyone can be a spider. But a recent hit from the comic book number What if… Miles Morales became Thor? This raises another question: can anyone write Spider-Man?

If you’re black, the answer to that was a clear no. In Miles Morales’ 11 years, he’s never had a black or Afro-Latin writer in his solo title. It’s a problem, and it’s a problem that created problems with the character in the first place. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sarah Pichel created Miles with the best of intentions, to be sure. Bendis, who wrote the Miles Morales-focused title from 2011 to 2018, built on the character’s mythology, his supporting cast, and continued to make him a central figure after Miles was moved from the Ultimate universe to the main 616, the universe in that most Marvel stories take place. By all indications, Bendis, who identifies as Jewish, is someone who cares deeply about representation in comics and is an important voice in the modern era of comics. However, as a white man, there are inherent limitations in his approach to Miles Morales that the hero has not been able to overcome.

The first limitation comes from the name. Miles takes his mother’s last name, Morales, which emphasizes his Puerto Rican heritage and frees him from the burden of his father’s criminal past, Jefferson Davis. I don’t know if Bendis intentionally named Miles’ father after Confederate President Jefferson Davis as a way of bringing that name back so the Southerner isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But I think, as black fans of the character have pointed out over the years, that a black creator would have chosen someone else because that would have bound the character to the shackles of America’s racist history, not freed him from it. A second limitation is making Jefferson a cop, which before the Black Lives Matter movement and even the police conversations that fueled so much discourse about race in this new decade, probably wouldn’t have happened to a natural-born black breeder. Already aware of the tumultuous relationship between police officers and blacks and Latinos.

Miles’ identity, shaped by his father’s story, connected the young hero to the history of slavery and policing in America. As a result, Miles often falls into the stoic black male trope: good, serious, and poised. While the idea of ​​Black Spider-Man is rebellious, his characterization is not, and his actions as Spider-Man do little to upset the status quo. His romantic relationships have also been limited until recently, especially compared to Peter Parker’s early days. The character began his career as Spider-Man before Parker in both universes, but there’s still something about his personality that hints at him not coming across as menacing, a disturbing reluctance to make him anything more than a youthful figure, especially after Trayvon Martin. Miles Murder A few months after Morales debuted. While Bendis’ successor Saladin Ahmed, who identifies as a Muslim and has put his stamp on Ms. Marvel, gave Miles a bigger personality, romantic relationships, and an interest in style and current events like abuse. of the power of ICE, there is still something, which makes sense. Very cautious and calculating, aware of limitations that were not in Kamala Khan’s letter. The glorious Miss Marvel.

Both in the spider poem and a video game Spider-Man: Miles Morales They were inhabited by black creative groups. Peter Ramsey co-directs in the spider poems Spider-Man: Miles Morales It featured the work of writer Evan Narciso and lead animator James Hamm. And that’s not to mention the hundreds of other black, Latino and Afro-Latino team members on both projects that gave Miles and his world a palpable sense of authenticity, whether it’s in the hairstyles or the characters navigating Brooklyn. . And in both projects, Miles feels like a whole person, more authentic than a representative who lacks being called “the merit of his race.” In the PlayStation game specifically, Miles is not just trying to replace Peter Parker, he is taking on the gentrification and abuse of white power that is happening on a corporate level and masking pretensions to grandeur that seem deliberately Trumpian.

The progression from other media portrayals of Miles is what I expected to see happen in Miles Morales’ comic book appearances, the diversity of his personality, his ability to deal with things Parker didn’t even know about, and his versatility. In the comics, he’s long relied on the Venom-Blast power as a single move, which made his fights more boring. But so far, Marvel Comics hasn’t learned from those lessons. all this time The Incredible Spider Man It remains the book of Marvel’s superstars, with some of the best writers and artists in the business bringing Peter Parker’s story to life every month and using all of Spider-Man’s greatest villains. It often feels like Miles has been stuck with Peter Parker’s remains since he entered the 616 universe, sharing the Spider-Man title but getting half the attention. Of course, that changed a few weeks ago, though not in the way anyone wanted.

What if… Miles Morales became Thor?, written by Yehudi Mercado with art by Paco Medina and Luigi Zagaria, is part of a miniseries with alternative scenarios of Morales’ legacy as a hero. The theme was rightly criticized for the stereotyped language presented in the theme, which is rooted in racism, prejudice and the idea of ​​blackness as monolithic. The narration is written in rhyme, intended to evoke rap lyrics. “Of the five realms, Asgard is your cap. For Miles, you can see it’s so good.” Miles himself makes fun of old-fashioned rap lyrics and album titles, “Hammer Time”, “All Eyes on Me”, and weird lines like “Time to spin that hits” , “Now that was noise” and “Up to your face.” “and diss you”, which I’m sure no black person ever said even when the slang elements were popular.

The art doesn’t paint a better picture and features shoes dangling from phone lines, graffiti inscribed with Mjolnir and Odin with eardrums. As several Twitter accounts have pointed out, this issue is very close to the late Dwayne Macduff’s satirical tone in non-black comics’ approach to black characters, black teenagers ninja thrashers. The end result of the issue’s portrayal of Miles Morales is blackness as a pastiche of elements seen through a white lens and a reminder that even superheroes do not identify themselves as individuals, but rather as a collection of appropriate concepts placed in a contextual void.

Mercado, who identifies himself as Mexican and Jewish, apologized Commit to improving racial stereotypes and pledge to pay Brooklyn Book Bodega for this publication. Mercado has rightfully taken responsibility for his writing, and while he won’t remove what was posted, it’s worth noting that he’s certainly faced his own struggles as a minority in a white-dominated industry. The biggest problem that And yes…? The story and portrayal of Miles Morales simply doesn’t work for Mercado as well as the more favorably received work of Ahmed or Bendis. theme And yes…? The story is that it should never have gone through the newsroom in the first place. The problem with comics is the culture of Marvel Comics, whose practices of hiring artists and writers do not match their commitment to inclusion in the pages of their books.

The company notably hired well-known writers such as Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Ridley, Roxanne Gay, Jeffrey Thorne, and Reginald Hudlin, who started outside of comics. Ridley is the only one who currently has a current book, black Panther, right now. But most of the black talent that Marvel hires is for them. wonderful voices Questions related to Black History Month and similar events. Writers David Walker and Rodney Barnes have focused their efforts on creator-owned projects, though the latter is currently adapting the show’s first season. the Mandalorian in comic book form. But in terms of black creatives who don’t come from other backgrounds, like film, television or journalism, and who are consistently visible at Marvel, there are very few. Vita Ayala, who identifies as Afro-Latin and non-binary and currently writes new mutants he is one of the most famous modern names and also writes for DC, Image, Valiant and IDW among others.

Just as it makes a difference who tells whose stories in the film and television landscape, it is equally important in comics. That’s not to say that only black or Afro-Latino creators should deal with characters who share their racial identity, but since many of them are struggling to make it in the industry, with their own talent and how many characters there are now. With the population of the Marvel Universe, it looks like the comic book landscape needs some drastic changes behind the scenes.

After all, how can these modern myths reflect our modern world if the people who tell these stories are constrained by a corporate club mentality that has made little progress for decades? Rather than just blaming Mercado, the recent controversy is a sign for Marvel to further expand its talent pool and allow creators to fully understand why portraying these characters is so important. Marvel Comics not only has the power to do so, but also the responsibility.

The article was also updated to note that Brian Michael Bendis identifies as a Jew and Saladin Ahmed as a Muslim.