Race in Comics

[The Neko]

I've made fun of enforced diversity, but I haven't really dealt with race much more than that. I've had background characters be different, but it's hard since my experiences in HS noted that my school was almost all caucasian and asian, with some hispanic students, too. If I was on the east coast, it'd probably be different just because the ethnic makeup is different there.

[Rocknjosie]

my characters on based on people I know in real life, so their racial background remains the same. However, I've never shaded my characters (like for instance Peanuts' Franklin) so though my main character is African-American it's not stressed or even really apparent.

[Ratballista]

For my comic my main character is white, but a lot of people have told me he looks like a black man (despite the fact that I've colored him in a few pictures). This is probably because of the way I draw his nostrils, but the reasoning behind why my character is white is probably because I'm white. Now this dosent mean that I wouldn't have made him black (in fact I tried to after I started, it didn't work well with the first strip) if I actually thought of it, but I realize that whenever I make any character, that has some similarity to real life, they're always white, christian, and usually male.

I think (I know) this is because whenever is see someone or meet someone that I like, I want them to be as much like me as possible. People like celebrities I like I always seem to hope, and assume, that they share the same parameters as my life. Whenever one of them turns out to be homosexual, or of another religon, sure I'm dissapointed, but it's always pretty easy to get over.

[Escushion]

Usually I'll see how they turn out. As I'm drawing a new character it'll become clear what race they are. There are occasional exceptions, but they usually have nothing to do with race (example: I knew I wanted Claire to be a redhead, so it kinda' settled her race.)

Though race is brought up explicitely in the comic when dealing between humans and others .

[FinbarReilly]

I've only made race an issue in three of my scripts. One was because of historical issues (South Dakota, 1874), the other was symbolism (a diverse group up against a monolithic one), and the third just because it happened that way. Otherwise, I'm pretty much color-blind...

FR

[Black Sparrow]

Usually I'll see how they turn out. As I'm drawing a new character it'll become clear what race they are. There are occasional exceptions, but they usually have nothing to do with race (example: I knew I wanted Claire to be a redhead, so it kinda' settled her race.)

Ditto on that. My first step in any story or comic is usually character creation. As I develop and color them, a race just kind of shows up.

That said, many of mine are white. I have slightly greater diversity in stories than in comics, but not much. That probably comes from growing up surrounded by white people, with a couple exceptions.

Also, it might have something to do with my enjoyment of odd hair colors.

...

*Looks at avatar*

Does that count as racial diversity?

[Jackhass]

Heh, well...white people are easier to draw...you don't need to colour them in.

Seriously though, for the few human characters my comic has I don't think about it much...I'm not consciously trying to make my comic an beautiful rainbow of ethno-diversity, nor am I consciously excluding anyone. My comic isn't about racial issues...I more or less see it as irrelevant, it's the character that matters not their colour.

[Killbert-Robby]

Whenever I draw ppl from other races, I always get yelled at for being a bigot, lol.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

I don't use people in mine. But they all have "ethnic" names.

[Jackhass]

Whenever I draw ppl from other races, I always get yelled at for being a bigot, lol.

Heh, yeah...the one person I drew that was vaguely ethnic looking I got some stupid e-mail bitching at me for it.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

Whenever I draw ppl from other races, I always get yelled at for being a bigot, lol.

Heh, yeah...the one person I drew that was vaguely ethnic looking I got some stupid e-mail bitching at me for it.

Was that about the middle eastern thing? That was ridiculous.

[Dutch!]

I did a storyline last year which involved a few friendly bits of abuse for the French, but that's like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Mvmarcz]

my cast is very small and based on the people around me, i've had a few non white friends growing up but the number was always small, my grandfather(my mom and my brothers lived with my grandparents) literally forbade me from having black friends. He saw me TALKING to a girl from school one night and afterwards He pulled me aside and accused me of invite that "nigger" into his house, I'd done no such thing, infact all I said to her was "I can't talk right now I'll see you at school, happy halloween". I kept my mouth shut though, it was pointless. I had to lie to him and tell him that I would never be friends or hang around black people. Also couldn't have any of them in the house of course, one time my grandmother said that "if we invited one in that they'd bring more and eventually there'd be a gang at our house"

So....I don't really have many non white friends >_>


yay south

[Dutch!]

Tolerance of cultures goes both ways, remember.

Let the old feller have his views and you have yours.

[Mvmarcz]

Tolerance of cultures goes both ways, remember.

Let the old feller have his views and you have yours.

he's dead now, I lived under his roof, respected that he was from another time and never fought him about it, but I'm still bitter that I had to lie and couldn't even invite friends in to play with me.

[Escushion]

Tolerance of cultures goes both ways, remember.

Let the old feller have his views and you have yours.

Err, no... Race isn't the same as culture. Letting senior citizens be racist without saying a word isn't about tolerance, it's about them being set in their ways, so talking to them really won't do anything. My grandparents are the same despite being up north, but they'll be gone soon anyway, so no point in upsetting them by trying to educate them.

[Anvil]

Visual races on Krynn (The world my comic is based off) Has never really been determined. Some people consider those from Hylo (I think) to be black, while the plains people are considered our natives and from the Plains of Dust, our midddle easterns.

For the most part though, everyone in the strip is caucasian under their armor and stuff. At least the humans are. The elves are just pansy and nobody else has showed up yet.

[Ratballista]

Whenever I draw ppl from other races, I always get yelled at for being a bigot, lol.

Realizing that your never going to be able to please everyone is just insentive to do what you want. Now I'm not saying be a racist, but no one can really stop you. Whats yours is yours and I really don't think you need to make your comic a politically correct rainbow just because everyone tells you you need to. Truthfully, I don't need to be saying this because it happens anyway. I get agrivated when people mock and put down christianity (which they do, a lot) but it is within their right and their freedom to do so, but I just dismiss it and move on. But when someone makes a huge fuss over something they see as racist ("you drew that black man with too dark of skin you bigot!"), when its nothing more than a "mistake" made by the artist it gets a little overboard.

[Blackaby]

Whenever I draw ppl from other races, I always get yelled at for being a bigot, lol.

Me too. I've got a heap of shit because my Iraqi is a vampire. Obviously by having an Iraqi vampire, I'm saying that all Iraqis are evil. I guess this means I'm also saying that the Chinese are insane vegans, West Africans are psychotic murderers, the British have fat arses and the French are werewolves.

My main character is *technically* blue but if you speak Irish, you'll probably get the joke in that.

[Black Sparrow]

...The elves are just pansy...

Oh... it's a good thing you're talking about your comic there, and not in general. That it is.