A response to Thunderbird in the Comics:

Rob's reply

Jose,

>> I saw the e-mail that you sent on the X-men's poor example of a Native American hero, and a lot of the points that you covered had never occured to me. <<

That's the whole idea. As I said in my initial essay, Culture and Comics Need Multicultural Perspective: "Unfortunately, the frontier mentality is embedded deeply in the American psyche. It's pervasive in every form of popular entertainment, from sports to TV to comic books." This mentality is subtle, so people never notice its effects. For instance, why is no Asian the star of a major TV show? Well, that's just the way it is, people will answer. It's the way it's always been.

>> Mind you, I've never read that Giant sized issue thoroughly, but I have read it. <<

I've read it many times, but I didn't pay attention to Thunderbird's role until I reread it again last month.

>> It just goes to show that there is a lot of insensitivity towards Native American culture, and minorities in genreal. Being Afican American, I can attest to that. <<

I'm sure you can. I've linked the fate of Indians to blacks and other minorities many times. For instance, see The Trouble with Stereotyping...and What to Do About It.

Many people have looked at America through the prism of black-white race relations. No doubt my conclusions are similar to theirs. One reason I've tackled Indians in pop culture is because it's an underexamined niche. But any way you look at it, our culture has problems that need addressing.

>> The point is, I'm going to support your book for two reasons. <<

Good idea. <g> Buy the first two issues and tell all your friends. I see you've subscribed to our free newsletter. Excellent. Now you won't have to run across my messages by chance.

>> 1) It will be a sort of education for me, so that I never miss represent a Native American in any of my books. <<

A tough goal but a noble one.

>> 2) It seems singular. I don't thinks there is anything out there like it on the mag stands. <<

There's nothing close that I know of, but I just picked up BLACK PANTHER after dropping it initially. That comic is in the same ballpark. It treats the world's political, social, and ethnic issues as if they were real. Check it out if you haven't already.

And thanks for writing. I wish I had time to respond to all the messages I get in mailing lists and newsgroups, but I don't. If people e-mail me personally, I'll usually respond.

Rob

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