At San Diego Comicon this year, there was a panel on Black Comics Creators. Pam was there, and gives her take. Long, but very very much worth a read.
Excerpts:
A black woman got to the mic and asked the panelists why she is more likely to consistently find rounded portrayals of black women in books created by white British male authors. She gave a bunch of examples, primarily from Vertigo books.Rza answered that she has to wait for the men to get established, as they are just now getting through the door. Judging from the hoots, jeers and inarticulate screams of outrage from the crowd, that did not go over well. Davis the First’s joke about angry black women was funny, but didn’t completely diffuse the vibe.
The woman then said that she’s 47-years-old, she’s been reading comics since she was a little girl, and asked how long was she expected to wait.
Rza’s response: You’re 47? Wow, you look good for 47. No, really, isn’t she hot for 47? And so forth. Additionally, Rza mentioned his child’s love of manga, which left the implication that he ladies will have to wait a generation or two for these young black female manga fans to come into their own.
...
All that happened a scant few minutes after another fan encounter worth mentioning.
A guy got up to the mic and launched into Testifying about martial arts movies. Something about the love black people have for kung-fu flicks, and the spiritual dimension of kung-fu flicks, and black people are spiritual, and why hasn’t there been a black kung-fu flick out of Hollywood, and how do we get one made.
Hudlin said, wanna see how to get one made? He looks to his left and says to Rza, wanna do a black kung-fu flick? Rza says, sure! They shake hands. Cowan reaches over with let me get a piece of that, bumps fists with them, and he’s in on it too. And the huzzahs rose joyously from the audience.
Boom! Just like that, we all witnessed a deal go down. [...] The women were told they have to wait for their representation, but guys? Totally all over the kung-fu movie thing! A man can get up at a panel about black comic BOOKS and ramble about black kung-fu MOVIES and be taken seriously enough for a handshake deal to go down. That man is not considered nutcase, nor is he denigrated for his size as a way of dismissing his input. He was a big guy. Nobody on that panel said to him wow, you’re into martial arts? Couldn’t tell by lookin’ at ya. Maybe you should look into signing up for a martial arts workout program or something.
My beta-readers told me to cut that bit as it could be construed as a petty, personal attack against whoever that guy was, diverting from the main issue. Obviously I have chosen to ignore that advice. I think noting the treatment of his input and use of his physical being as compared to the treatment of her input and use of her physical being is part of the issue. It speaks volumes as to the sexist mindset that is a plague throughout this industry, no matter where you fall on the color line.
Go, Pam, Go.
Posted by Janer