The thing with Akosamesew Kanewopasikot

As for the figure of Akosamesew Kanewopasikot, he’s based on DC Comics’s Cassandra Cain. As in he not only reads body language real well and is skilled in martial arts, but also kind of quiet (or rather has difficulty speaking eloquently) like she does. Basically the same character if she’s an adult man and also Native American, not that Native American characters are nonexistent in North American fictions. But sometimes the stereotypes of Native Americans run counter to stereotypes about Asians, in the sense that if Asian Americans are the model minority, then Native Americans are considered to be maladjusted failures. If Asian American men are highly desexualised and undersexualised, then Native American men are ridiculously oversexualised.

If Asian Americans are intellectually orientated, Native Americans seem to be portrayed as more supernaturally orientated instead. This isn’t always the case but it does feel this way when it comes to the way these demographics are portrayed, Asians and Asian Americans are almost always portrayed as martial artists, but Native Americans are seldom if ever depicted as such, despite being also stereotyped as warriors of some sort. This character might not be the first Native American martial artist in fiction, but more of a break from tired cliches and why there’s practically no Native American character that’s as well-known as the likes of Shang-Chi, Lady Shiva, Cassandra Cain and Katana tend to be, okay only one of them is this well-known to the general public.

But you should get my point that it’s rather rare to find a Native American martial artist character that has the same clout as Cassandra Cain does, one would only wonder how would she fare well if she and her mum had been Native American from the get-go. Assuming if her backstory remained the same but where both of them are Native Americans instead, they’d be read very differently with Cass being the unfortunately assimilated indigene and Lady Shiva being the bad indigenous mum. Even then it’s practically rare to find a Native American martial artist character, let alone one that has the same clout as she does, if not entirely nonexistent. Akosamesew knows some of the same martial arts as she does, most notably Okichitaw, which is a martial art invented by the Cree.

He also knows savate, jujitsu and muay thai, though contrary to this he tends to be shy and retiring in person. When he’s not working, he’d hunt and fish with his best friend Jean-Louis Lumiere. He’s learning Cree, since he got denied the opportunity to learn it when he was younger. He was briefly fired for sleeping with Richard Sorm’s wife Emma Havisham, which greatly angered their son Ian (Richard was largely indifferent to it). He returned to duty after begging for it and that Jean-Louis misses him very much, so in those days he worked as a PE teacher and also as a fitness instructor for actors. Aside from that, he has a particular affinity for ice hockey (which he plays with Nootaikok), sharpshooting and playing chess, I’m sure there are some Native Americans who do the last one.

When it comes to the way Native American characters are portrayed in comics again, I feel based on what I’ve read although Native American martial artists certainly do exist and have existed before, it’s not exactly the first thing to come to mind and whilst his presence could change things, given the number of nonstereotypical indigenous characters is already pretty small that him existing wouldn’t change much. That’s should he also appear in webcomics at all and this could also be applicable to video games to an extent too, although such characters do prominently feature in things like Tekken for instance. I guess for every Native American character that does diverge from stereotypical portrayals, there are those who adhere to it in some way.

And then there are Native American characters who could belong to an actual tribe or community, but the people in charge of these stories kind of mess it up. When it comes to how a number of western geek authorities demand a lot of worldbuilding in those stories is that authors are kind of pressured to take inspiration from actual cultures, like say taking inspiration from Kazakhstan but given the risk of cultural appropriation is so great that they’re better off writing about actual Kazakhs and depicting Kazakh culture instead. So it would be more sensible to have a realistically portrayed Native American, than something that’s coded Native American but also isn’t really Native American at the same time.

Although coded representation is fine from time to time, sometimes showing the real thing in a less stereotypical light is the better way to go. It’s one thing to relate to a cartoon duck or mouse, it’s another to relate to a cartoon representation of somebody who’s Lakota or Cree. Somebody might be really desperate for representation enough to latch onto any character who seems like them, especially if they’re bereft of similar role models before at some point or another. When it comes to indigenous characters, whilst there are those who aren’t stereotypes, but on the flip side there are others who may not be outright stereotypical but are othered in some way. In the case with Sarah Rainmaker, from what I’ve read, whilst she’s outspoken about many issues, these don’t seem to be influenced by an indigenous worldview.

None of them seem to be influenced by her upbringing, whether if it’s Comanche or Apache, because these have little (if any) bearing on her activism. Oddly enough, if she ever existed in the real world, her activism would most likely be intersectional in nature. She wouldn’t just address racism and sexism, but also how these two intersect when it comes to the lived experiences of indigenous women like herself. Even if not all indigenous people are like this, let alone indigenous women, but it’s not uncommon for a number of indigenous women to discuss the intersections of racism and sexism aimed at themselves. Sarah Rainmaker could’ve easily done that really, though I feel the people who depict her aren’t indigenous women, sadly and terribly. Or even indigenous people in general, since they’re the ones who’d relate to her struggles the most.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, these things include MMIWG (Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women and Girls), sexualisation of Native American outfits (especially when worn by those who aren’t indigenous North Americans themselves) and the like, but also less commonly talked about is how sexualised Native American men are. In the sense that in such romantic stories, they’re portrayed as the epitome of virile masculinity or something. I think I read a story like this before, coupled with how romance novels had these men as their leads. It’s not any better if it happened to him and it would be more of the same thing really, just compounded by his ability to read body language real well, despite being rather shy and retiring around people.

As for his appearance, you could say that he looks like Poundmaker. He was a Cree and Metis man raised by a Blackfoot family after losing his own parents or something, he also wore what appeared to be dreadlocks and you get an idea of what Akosamesew looks like. Though it could be said that some of his own relatives are Blackfoot and hung out with them, so they kind of rubbed off on him in a way. Not to mention some of his own relatives are Metis or the descendants of white people and indigenous people, but are considered to be separate from scions of more recent European and indigenous descent. Culturally they’re kind of different as well, though it’s not uncommon for them to have both First Nations and settler relatives, since I know somebody who’s like this. There you have it, a good idea of what he is as a character.

End of superidols

It’s kind of rare for Christians to object to superheroes the way they do with Harry Potter, let alone without bringing up magic, that even when these stories don’t feature magic that doesn’t make them godly. It could glorify some other sin in some other way and it would still be problematic or offensive to God because all sins are equal, though it’s possible to pray for the salvation for authors while they’re still alive. I actually did this to one author named Antonia Fraser because one, she has to put an end to one of her characters’ bad habits, and two one devotional got me into interceding for her salvation when I prayed to God to do something about her fictional creation. Then I got recurring dreams of this character solving new cases, appearing in a new book, getting a new surname and stuff. Finally I got to a point where I prayed to God to help Fraser finish her stories and he said that I forgot something because it’s already happening.

I also prayed for Fraser’s salvation so at this point she’s being saved and if she dies, she’ll go to Heaven one day. Well that’s preferable to going to Hell and being lost to God forever, while she’s still around she’s getting sanctified whilst coming closer to him. She may not live long but she’ll have a satisfying afterlife for as long as we intercede for her, that she’s probably attending church services more often and reading the Bible more often now. Despite my mistakes at times, this got answered more immediately. We may get a new story featuring this character as a married mother these days, possibly getting a new televised adaptation in years. I said that somebody like JK Rowling could also be saved, now that she’s been disowned by a chunk of her fanbase from her Harry Potter days.

It’s also preferable to having her remain in Hell forever. Though it remains to be seen if JK Rowling ever accepts Christ in her heart, given at this point from being so rejected by her fans that Jesus Christ would be the only one who’d love her unconditionally. You could do the same with others like Gerard Way, or any other comics writer alive today. But I feel there’s something particularly odious to God about DC and Marvel is how they often enable their readers’ idolatry of the characters and stories, making these stories as immersive and addictive as possible. Like you have to watch all the movies, episodes and read all the comics, regardless if that time could’ve been spent on devouring Christian literature and listening to sermons instead. An idol is an idol, be it Superman or Buddha. Even without the occult, they still glorify sin.

For every writer who does get saved and puts an end to their characters’ bad habits (especially Antonia Fraser at this point who portrays one of her characters as a married mother), there are those who use their own to indulge in whatever sin they like or tolerate in some way. It needn’t to be lust, it could also be hatred. It could also be idolatry, so on and so forth. But I suspect the lust part is evident in a number of stories where it’s like these writers use their characters as vehicles for their sexual fantasies, if not lust then these characters become an outlet for their anger and disdain for others, or some other sin/vice/shortcoming. Antonia Fraser did this at some point, but now she doesn’t do this anymore. But it remains to be seen if these writers wouldn’t just be saved, but quit doing their own bad habits, read the Bible, listen to sermons and stuff.

For as long as we pray for these writers, they too will be saved and see the light. As for the overall DC and Marvel publishers, it’s possible to like the characters and stories without making them into idols. But a number of them are from a poisoned well, whether if it’s the hero Daredevil bearing a close resemblance to popular depictions of the Devil, or Chris Claremont’s apparent contempt for Christianity in his X-Men stories, or how you have characters getting away with certain sins that get others into trouble. It’s pretty surprising to me why there’s hardly ever a big Christian backlash towards X-Men the way there is to Harry Potter, even if X-Men really isn’t any better in other regards. Whether if it’s the scantily clad women, the rampant blasphemy towards God and biblical concepts, disdain for Christianity and Christians, or showcasing demonic heroes.

It’s like how Illyana Rasputin is a heroine who sometimes looks demonic but for some reason Christians never objected to this, or for another matter Kitty Pryde’s repeat ingratitude to Professor Xavier (who’s the figurehead of the wider X-Men organisation), and it’s so strange why she gets away with the things that got somebody else like John Proudstar into trouble. It kind of sends a message to people that you could get away with your faults and escape the consequences of those, made worse by the racism shown in these kinds of stories as Kitty’s white but John Proudstar isn’t. It’s also oddly coincidental that both their surnames relate to pride, a major sin in the Bible, but only one of them gets off scot-free. Even then as I get older, the more suspicious the X-Men stories get. Like there’s something deeply wrong about it that a lot of people ignore for whatever reason, even if it could be just as bad as Harry Potter is and gets.

Or possibly even worse as writers like Chris Claremont have the audacity to demonise Christians and Christianity, like how the one sympathetic Christian who’s not demonic looking like Rahne Sinclair often gets brainwashed into doing something, as if Christians are gullible enough to fall for these kinds of things. As well as mocking the word of God multiple times over, that it’s shocking why not a lot of Christians go after this more. I don’t think the Harry Potter stories have done these sorts of things, given I never read those, but somebody else said that part of the problem’s that a number of Christians are very worldly people so they often let in things that don’t do any good for them. This actually makes something like X-Men much worse because it doesn’t seem so spiritually offensive, even though at times it clearly is. Sort of like how Chris Claremont mocks biblical concepts a lot.

To the point where both he and the X-Men franchise will fall down in flames, for insulting God a lot and for misleading people. It would be even more horrifying if a future X-Men writer has the audacity to use the X-Men stories to insult pastors a lot, having more pastors as villains and more X-Men characters destroying churches. Like if a demonic character like Illyana shows up to kill a pastor for what they said to her, or if Kitty Pryde goes on massacring a lot of churchgoers because they said something about her. It would be horrifying to have X-Men characters have the audacity to kill Christians for persecuting them, which goes to show you how anti-Christian the X-Men stories truly are. Not just garden variety blasphemy, gayness and stuff but also outright disdain for God and Christianity, that such stories will reveal their true ungodly colours.

Both DC and Marvel will fall due to enabling their audiences’ sins in many ways, but most especially idolatry that they will be judged for this. These characters will be gone forever, forgotten to time, erased as to keep others from stumbling any further. Perhaps given my growing disdain for American imperialism in the Philippines, this could be a good thing because it’s pretty common for Philippine cartoonists to work for US publishers in some capacity. So it feels like American neocolonialism in the sense that Philippine cartoonists would rather work for US publishers to get extra cash, instead of either strongly supporting their own comics industry or even working for non-US publishers more. The end of DC and Marvel would be awkward, especially for those who grew up with these sorts of things. But the loss of these two would have others seeking substitutes, whatever they may be.

Maybe the loss of DC and Marvel would lead to a less westernised Philippine comics industry, now that Philippine cartoonists will come to actually support it in earnest. And since I’ve been praying for Philippine publishers to translate Chinese comics and the like, as well as praying for others to cope with these things in the future, that this will come to pass and maybe Philippine comics will be truly dewesternised. It remains to be seen if Philippine publishers will ever translate the likes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Saiyuki, but the loss of the two US publishing giants would have others scrambling for viable substitutes. Publishing Tagalog translations of these two plus Bumilangit and maybe many more from our closest neighbours would lead to a less westernised Philippine comics industry, even if the same problems/sins/vices remain in some manner.

The fact that Philippine publishers rarely translate books from our closest neighbours in East Asia (including Southeast Asia) that perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because finally they’ll actually get to do this a lot more, once they start scrambling for doable alternatives in whatever form they appear in. It would be nice if something like Psicom actually translates both JJBA and Saiyuki into Tagalog, or if not these two then something like Nana and Star of Cottonland. It remains to be seen in the future but this is highly plausible as God’s out to take down DC and Marvel for what their writers have been doing for years like sexual harassment (which Neil Gaiman has been recently outed for) and so on. That and both publishers enable idolatry of their products a lot, which makes them just as odious as Harry Potter is really.

Like how these publishers will do anything to make people dig deeper into their obsessions with those characters and stories, coming up with things that take away the ability to spend time on something more spiritually edifying, like listening to sermons and reading devotionals. Though it wouldn’t be any better if it’s sport really, I personally consider bingewatching DC and Marvel programmes in a single go to be a major waste of time. In the sense that somebody could’ve spent more time livestreaming sermons just the same, though it wouldn’t be any better if it’s something like say Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. As I get closer to God, I spend less time on secular things. Maybe not all the way, but I don’t listen to this much secular music anymore.

But even then whilst there’s nothing wrong with liking superheroes, video games or sports, there’s something about secular companies doing everything and anything to make them really addictive, even at the expense of worshipping God when needed to.

When Amazons get attacked

When it comes to the character of Supergirl, no matter the age, a blonde woman in a feminised Superman outfit (and also with many of his powers) will often be recognised as her anyways. Supergirl falls into a strange limbo where she’s a viable enough character to make frequent appearances in the DC comics canon, but practically unable to sustain her own magazine series for long. She’s one of those characters that largely work in theory, conceptually speaking a female Superman is intriguing. But depicting a female Superman in practise, let alone a recurring one, is something of a narrative headache.

Given how complicated her backstory is, like having to explain how are Kryptonians able to survive the destruction of their planet enough to send another one to Earth, along with being adopted by Earthlings as a minor makes it harder for writers to make her stand out from Superman without making her too unrecognisable. Supergirl isn’t so much a bad character as much as she’s an unsustainable one at that, as her own magazine series (despite DC’s best attempts at pushing it) don’t last this long. Even Jimmy Olsen’s and Lois Lane’s own magazine series outlasted her own, if we restrict this to the 1950s up to 1980s half of the DC comics canon.

That’s not to say that Supergirl is inviable as a character but that there is a way to differentiate her characterisation whilst keeping her mostly intact, though I feel part of the problem lies with the way the superhero school is structured with the way female characters are written. In the sense that the average superheroine is barely if ever like the average woman and becomes less so over time, especially with Marvel’s Kate Pryde. She started out as a fairly ordinary young woman, evidently into some of the things girls would be into like ballet. But over time writers and especially her creator Chris Claremont made her more outlandish, like giving her a pet dragon and the like. At times she seemed more like an idealised teen boy than a realistic teen girl.

There is a line between a woman with masculine hobbies and interests, and a female character that would’ve easily been a man, though it’s easy to confuse and conflate the two. The way Kate Pryde came to be characterised, especially under Chris Claremont’s pen, seems like a grab-bag of what young lads would find cool or intriguing. Especially once she received ninja training when she got brainwashed or possessed by Ogun, gained a pet dragon and the like, which all scream young boy ideals. That’s not to say teen girls can’t enjoy these things, but when many of them identify more with Hermione Granger than they do with Harry Potter, this should tell you about the things that a teen girl might relate to more or aspire to be, pardon if it sounds kind of sexist.

Aside from Superman and Wonder Woman, the one other character Supergirl could be analogised to would be Nancy Drew. Much like her, Nancy Drew has been characterised by different authors over time, albeit all of them taking up the name ‘Carolyn Keene’, and also has a pet cat called Snowball (as encountered in ‘Mystery Of The Brass-Bound Trunk’) and a dog named Togo. Both of them are also the same age or same age range (emerging adulthood), except that Nancy Drew’s far more successful among female readers than Supergirl is. While there are some nonviolent Supergirl stories out there, it’s much commoner to find her beating up bad guys in some way.

Whereas Nancy Drew spends her time investigating cases, even if she has time for certain hobbies like playing tennis and hanging out with a consistent set of friends called Bess and George. Supergirl does have friends but a number of them tend to be also derivative of other male characters, like what Batgirl is to Batman generally speaking. There are stories where Supergirl does investigate cases of some sort, but like I said it’s more common to find Supergirl actually fight people. Not that women can’t get into fights and sports, just as Nancy Drew is into tennis herself. But it’s kind of hard to make Supergirl more than a female Superman if writers don’t bother delving deeper into her characterisation, whether if she’s way more into STEM than he is.

We have no idea what her hobbies are, moreso if they’re not frequently and deeply portrayed even in her own stories, like she could be big into stargazing and learning more about European wildlife, though these are my interests (but I actually do more ‘moongazing’ really). Since she’s more of an outsider to Earth than Superman is, it should be natural for her to become curious about Earth fauna as these are unfamiliar to her in their home planet. In the same way that European wildlife is largely unfamiliar to Southeast Asians, like they’re the ones who’d take time knowing what polecats and hedgehogs are. There’s a way to make Supergirl into more than a female Superman without reinventing her so much, but this involves digging deeper into her characterisation.

What are her interests and hobbies outside of crimefighting? If so, do they differ from Superman’s? These do exist but sadly not very often to the point where Supergirl comes off as rather half-realised, where it would be this easy to reinvent her every time. But this might not be unique to her as it’s shared with other characters, even other female counterparts to preexisting male characters. Cassandra Cain is one of many female counterparts to Batman and she does have hobbies and interests than differ from his, like drawing and dancing, but she also spends a good chunk of her fighting just the same. To be fair, certain hobbies and responsibilities can make it harder to focus more on your hobbies, so being a superhero is no different.

But since superheroing’s not an officially recognised job, one wonders what they actually do for a living. Even if something’s part of the informal economy, one would wonder how are people like Batgirl and Supergirl actually getting paid for what they do. Even professional martial artists and combat athletes get paid for a living, but for some reason we have little idea of what Supergirl and Batgirl earn in their second jobs, if they’re doing so to earn more money than what they’re getting from their other jobs. It’s not hard to get the idea that the superhero school’s more of a boy’s power fantasy, in the sense that we know boys like to play fight. So the superhero’s tendency to go into fights with others plays into this, but I suppose if Supergirl gets into crimefighting because she wants to get paid more would ruin the whole fantasy of it.

Even if this is something anybody would reasonably do if they’re not earning enough in their other jobs, though it makes too human and far less escapist, not that female readers don’t enjoy escapism at all. But I feel the way Supergirl’s been characterised, especially in some stories, makes it harder for her to not only appeal to more female readers, but also make her more than a female Superman. Especially in terms of characterisation with regards to her hobbies and personal interests, that whatever time she has for them is cut short because she has to beat up bad guys time and time again. She’s not necessarily a bad character, but it can be hard getting more of her when writers don’t bother to dig deeper into her personality.

Perhaps this is likely one reason why we don’t see this many blatant female counterparts to existing male characters in other fiction schools, like crime fiction even if Nancy Drew could arguably be seen as a one-woman army equivalent to the Hardy Boys. Even if Nancy Drew does share some characteristics with Supergirl, despite being intended as a kind of female readers’ very own Hardy Boys she still manages to be recognisably her own character early on. That’s not to say Supergirl lacks female fans at all, but it’s hard getting more of her when writers don’t bother further developing her characterisation. That and the limiting nature of superhero stories make it harder to further flesh out certain characters, if because people are expected to fight.

We have little idea of what Supergirl actually does in her spare time, not necessarily of the pervy variety, but that we barely ever get to witness her stargaze, learn more about Earth animals and stuff despite being a newcomer to this planet. She even barely has her own recurring supporting cast, let alone something that’s not too contingent on Superman’s at times. One would wonder if she actually works much better as a supporting character, given any attempts to make her star in her own magazine series don’t last long. Nancy Drew held onto hers much longer and more often than she did, that you get a sense of her being a more fully realised protagonist.

Even if this isn’t always the case for other female sleuths but it’s kind of telling how they still manage to captivate female readers a lot more than their superheroic counterparts do, original or not, that it makes one wonder if most superheroines barely actually captivate women and girls for long. Like the latter find themselves undermined in some way or another, or perhaps they’re so underrealised that their own magazine series don’t last long, despite repeated attempts. Even original superheroines like Black Canary and Wonder Woman have this problem from time to time, like if they’re not insulting to women they might as well be half-baked heroines at that.

Not that Supergirl is a bad character but it’s not hard to get the feeling that she’s not particularly fully realised compared to Nancy Drew, a character who manages to not only be a viable lead character longer but also has more female readers to boot. A Supergirl like character could work, though she has to become more than that without reinventing her so much. Something like giving Supergirl a habit of stargazing and a burning desire to learn more about Earth wildlife, as befitting for a newcomer trying to adjust to our world. These are based on the things I’m into, but this is to give you an idea of doing more with her without reinventing her so often.

Superpowered but not fighting

It seems in the world of superhero stories and their ilk (ability battle stories), if characters get extraordinary or supernatural abilities they’re almost always compelled to fight. This may not be true for all of them but it does a big disservice to what else they can do with those skills, let alone without delving into certain activities. Like if you have a character who makes silk by hand, if they see no point in fighting bad guys, they might as well make a living from weaving and sewing. This is an actual thing in the silk industry, people breed silk moths for the sake of making silk once these creatures spin cocoon whilst they’re still young. Then they get killed in the line of duty when their cocoons get boiled so that the humans will use those for silk, though some avoid killing these creatures altogether.

Similar things have occurred before and after, something like Roald Dahl’s Matilda having a telekinetic ability, although he’s not known for reading comics it’s kind of weird why these things don’t happen much in comics. If you could use comics to visualise explosions and characters going through walls, you could visualise stories where characters who make silk work in the fabric industry instead. Somebody even pointed out that superheroes, regardless of gender, barely have much free time. As in they’re almost always fighting bad guys, but not taking the time to study, read, sew or whatever. Maybe they do with the latter but rarely so, probably because it’s easier for writers to depict them beating up bad guys by necessity. So superheroes will almost always be led to defeat bad guys at any point in time.

I guess transitioning to what amounts to glorified detective stories, just with added superpowers, would be somewhat easier as these still involve heroes having to defeat bad guys, but in a different way by relying on deduction and investigation more. These may have happened before but over time superhero writers and their ilk would rather have superheroes actually beat up bad guys in the most colourful and elaborate manner possible, if this involves spectacular displays of gore in some cases, then it counts. So these gory Mortal Kombat-type battles are really just the logical endpoints of having superheroes defeat bad guys by fighting, as fighting always involves violence, so this was bound to happen in hindsight. You might say there’s something bland about people using their powers to work in factories.

But that’s actually more realistic in that if some people have certain skills, they’ll wound up working in certain industries where these are needed more. Not that they don’t have anything else to do outside of those occupations, which they certainly do, but this involves a very different way of using such powers. Some of those supposedly useless abilities might turn out to be very useful in other situations, like if you have radar sense you’d be very good at investigating criminal cases and the like. Or if you have a light-based ability, you wouldn’t just make yourself invisible, create blinding glares and fiery lasers. You’d also make something invisible and strobes to find clues and detect bad guy activity, as well as locating where the victims might be. These might have happened before, though not very often.

If it’s possible for our heroes to defeat bad guys in a different way, it’s also possible for superpowered characters to forgo fighting altogether in favour of accepting factory work for life. It’s not end of the world if Marvel’s Cindy Moon forgoes fighting in favour of weaving fabrics for a living, though this isn’t a very likely situation, even if it helps her earn some money along the way. One might wonder how are superheroes able to successfully juggle their jobs with their normal lives when they spend much of their time fighting bad guys, in the case with wrestlers and boxers fighting is their occupation. In the case with police officers and the like, fighting bad guys is their occupation. But it seems in the world of superhero comics, even if superheroes do have hobbies, they’re almost always beating up somebody in some way. Moving onto Mortal Kombat style fights is really the logical conclusion to this.

Spiderwebs

It’s very rare for Christians to criticise superhero stories, let alone on the basis of the characters being demonic without complaining about magic. Spider-Man being based on a demon seems really plausible given he has to do the Devil’s Horns whenever he makes silk, though he could’ve used an ordinary hand sign instead to do the same thing. Not to mention he scarcely looks like a spider, apart from any attempts at making him resemble one and I’m saying this as an arachnophobe. I feel the existence of the Spider-Man stories and the way their authors construed the characters to be seems like a mockery of one of God’s creations (spiders), like instead of making Peter Parker make spider-webs with an ordinary hand gesture, he does the Devil’s Horns instead.

Conflating the innocent (spiders) with the demonic (Spider-Man doing the Devil’s Horns), it’s like the Devil’s out to undermine Christianity in some other way, that’s by making a heroic figure do this gesture whilst making silk. If the Devil’s out to destroy people, perhaps it’s no surprise why later writers would have Peter Parker make a deal with the Devil to annul his marriage to Mary Jane. Whilst divorce and the like are painful, but when you have a heroic figure who not only does the Devil sign but also makes a deal with the Devil to end or undo a relationship just to save a family member it’s like the writers are giving into the Devil’s ability to tear apart families. To the point where it may not be worth supporting the Spider-Man stories anymore, especially if writers continue to undermine Christianity in some way.

But perhaps despite consuming Marvel media before, I never really became a big Marvel fan. Not that I dislike Marvel and I do like some Marvel characters myself like Tigra for instance, but there’s something about the Marvel canon that feels spiritually odious, the more Christian I get. DC, which is something I’m more familiar with, does have its own spate of spiritually dubious heroes in the forms of Blue Devil, Kid Devil, Zatanna, Zatara, Timothy Hunter, the Enchantress and more because they are either demonic or practise magic themselves (which is forbidden in the Bible). Marvel has its own with Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness (who’s reimagined as a younger woman as of late), Illyana (demonic and also does magic), Nightcrawler (a Christian who looks demonic), Daredevil, Damian Hellstrom, Doctor Strange and Satanna.

But the disturbing thing with Marvel is that a handful of them have had their own dedicated magazine series before, with Daredevil several times over. There was a Doctor Strange writer who got into the occult whilst telling the character’s stories, DC has this cornered with Alan Moore being into Aleister Crowley style witchcraft and Grant Morrison being into chaos magic as well. But the Marvel thing is even more disgusting because the two characters who are practising Christians (Daredevil and Nightcrawler) also resemble the Devil and/or demons, it’s like those at Marvel call evil good and good evil, especially with demonised portrayals of practising Christians who don’t fall into this portrayal at all. Not just with Reverend William Stryker being a preacher and an enemy of the X-Men.

But also how the X-Men’s lone sympathetic Protestant Rahne Sinclair has been brainwashed twice into attacking innocent people, like the X-Men writers seem to have a demeaning view of Christianity as something that brainwashes people. I don’t think DC has done something like this outside of less popular magazine stories, well to my knowledge, and if I’m not mistaken Peter David (who also worked on Marvel stories himself) had Supergirl merge with a girl who got involved in something wrong, with both of them coming to do right as an angel or something. Though this portrayal was eventually undone when Supergirl reverted to being Superman’s cousin again, but if portraying Cassandra Cain as a sympathetic Christian is too much for publishers, what does this say about their view on Christianity?

That Christianity as done by practising Christians is an inconvenience at best, whereas polytheistic religions are portrayed more sympathetically and lovingly instead. It would be uncontroversial to say that both DC and Marvel portray magic and characters practising this more sympathetically than they would with Christianity, let alone without messing around to the point where a character like Rahne Sinclair’s a sad exception to the rule. A practising Christian who doesn’t look like a demon gets brainwashed twice into doing evil, whereas demonic looking characters are almost always on the side of good. Calling good evil and evil good, perhaps the way they portray Christianity is really messed up. There are superhero stories out there that portray Christianity more respectfully, most notably Power Mark. But he too is an exception to the rule.

The superhero school isn’t necessarily anti-Christian, if Power Mark’s any indication, but large swathes of both the DC and Marvel canon are unfortunately anti-Christian. Not just in condoning magic, but also anything and everything else despised in the Bible.

Storm in a teapot

Cheryl Lynn Eaton wrote an essay on how and why Storm’s not always an example of good black representation in the X-Men stories, but I feel she kind of nearly neglected one other problem: Storm’s also not always a good example of Kenyan representation. From what I’ve read and watched, Storm mostly comes off as a white writer’s idea of an exotic black woman. So exotic and unlike other black women (read African descendant women) that she ends up having blue eyes and white hair, which when added to being worshipped as a goddess in Kenya, only others her a lot more than they would with African American characters. I feel this portrayal seems in line with those Charles Addams cartoons featuring black Africans as ‘uncivilised heathens’ out to eat western missionaries, even if many African countries at this point aren’t like this.

They’re even home to substantial practising Christian populations at that, they even have radio stations and YouTube channels that air and livestream sermons. There are even devotional and Bible reading websites coming from African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, even if not all of Africa is Christian, let alone have this many practising Christians at that. It’s kind of hard for me to think of Storm as a Kenyan, in that she doesn’t seem to celebrate or know of holidays Kenyans are wont to do. Something like Boxing Day, which happens every 26th of December, which is also celebrated in Nigeria and Ghana due to British colonialism/influence. Or rather her writers don’t make her celebrate and know of Kenyan holidays, which would’ve indicated her Kenyan upbringing in other ways.

There’s no doubt that they’re ignorant of Kenya but when Storm is perhaps the most famous fictional Kenyan of all time, then that’s a responsibility writers and editors need to uphold to the point where it’s necessary to have a Kenyan write her adventures. Although the Kenyan comics industry is smaller than that of America, or for another matter the entire African comics industry being smaller than its North American counterpart, but that hasn’t stopped comics and cartooning from being real. There was a comics series called Shujaaz, which is made in Kenya for Kenyan audiences. It’s even available online in the form of PDF downloads on file sharing websites, so you could learn to look for it over time if you know where to look or stumble upon by chance.

As for South Africa, it has produced two comics serials that were given televised adaptations. These are Supa Strikas and Madam and Eve, the latter is where you could also easily find online in comics form. Admittedly the latter is also written by foreigners living in South Africa, but even then Marvel Comics has employed Filipino cartoonists by the way despite being an ostensibly American publishing house. Now here’s the thing with Madam and Eve: whilst its authors aren’t South Africans themselves, maybe until now due to naturalisation, but the fact that they’ve stayed in South Africa for such a long time as to get South African trends, problems and mannerisms as well as the South African mindset in real time. As opposed to nearly any X-Men story featuring her, as they’re written by people who’ve never set foot on Kenya.

Let alone for such a long period of time as to really get Kenyan trends, mannerisms, mindset and problems in real time, which would’ve added authenticity to Storm’s Kenyanness really. So I feel some of the real problems with the way Storm is written largely stem from her respective creators being rather detached from Kenyan culture, they’ve never set foot on Kenyan soil, they never peruse Kenyan media in any way and so on that they never really experienced a taste of Kenyan culture, let alone in real time. So it’s kind of hard to think of Storm as a Kenyan, if you’ve actually experienced a taste of Kenyan culture in some way. If you’ve actually stayed in Kenya for a more extensive period of time, then you’ll come to realise how unKenyan she’s written to be. It’s not that she’s any less black, but she’s usually written as an exotic black woman.

As in she’s so different from many African American women as to readily mark her apparent lack of westernisation until her meeting with the X-Men, which kind of hints at a sort of colonialist mindset that Britain had (and possibly still has) towards it and its peoples. Even if it may not be the case anymore, well technically speaking, it’s not hard to see how it plays into an othering of African countries, cultures and peoples, especially in comparison to their western and westernised counterparts. Portraying her as a goddess who is worshipped by her people plays into this mindset, even if Kenyans these days are more likely to be Christian and a good number of them are practising Christians by the way. It’s a really outdated portrayal of her, considering how many African countries are majority-Christian by now.

To the point where the continued publication of the X-Men stories with their rather outdated views of African beliefs and cultures through the way Storm’s been written and portrayed frequently reinforces these views onto non-Africans.

Just My Lack Of Imagination

I feel when it comes to superhero stories and the like, the characters get extraordinary abilities. But it’s usually used to service glorified fistfights, instead of something that’s actually useful and conducive to quotidian life. Imagine that you have a sonic scream but chose to work as a rapper that you’d easily forgo microphones altogether, or that you make silk like a spider and use this for making threads and weaving fabrics. Imagine that you have the ability to restore things to their original state, but choose to work in nursing instead. Imagine that you have the uncanny ability to find and locate things, but choose to work in investigative journalism. Imagine that you have the ability to create organs out of thin air, but choose to work in plastic surgery.

That’s not to say these scenarios don’t exist at all in such stories, though not very often because I feel fist-fights are an easier draw than these. Even if this is what more people will realistically do with these powers, especially if they’re so disinclined towards combat that they see no reason to do so. But I wonder if it’s easier to write superpowered fistfights is because these writers don’t seem to have any experience or interest in anything else, Not that they’re autistic or something, but it’s easier to stick to pet interests. Than it is to venture into something unknown and unusual, easier to abide to your comfort zone than to do something else. This is also likely why there aren’t a lot of comics stories about dog predation, working in restaurants and factories, and stuff.

Maybe not in any way that I can think of, but it speaks volumes about their near absence in comics. They are present in those stories, though only a small fraction if present at all. This kind of plays into the way writers make characters use their powers, where it’s easier to just get them into fights. Than to use said abilities to do something genuinely useful to the public, something like nursing, weaving, sewing and plastic surgery. Even something like rapping and rapping alone helps, though I don’t think not many writers have considered this. Would somebody with pheromone manipulation work in therapy instead? I think this involves actually thinking through things, considering what a character would actually do with those outside of combat.

Not so much in terms of sex but in doing everyday jobs, that such a skill would be real handy to have. They may even absolve problems like animal welfare regarding the use of silkworms in silk making, given this is something of a hot button topic in some circles. If you have a character who creates human skin, no need to skin animals to make leather with. There are probably some comics that are about silk making and leatherwork, though these are also pretty rare if they ever exist. Knowledge of these two or either one of them could inspire characters with such supernatural skills, though I don’t think not many writers considered this. If because many superhero writers seem rather disinclined or disinterested towards those things, even if it kind of absolves certain hot button issues.

Even if it creates new abilities and new ways of using more familiar ones, though that would be a step too far at times for others. But it is weird to me why do comics characters have to use superhuman abilities a lot in combat (and in fanfiction, something prurient), when they could easily parlay it into something productive and useful to humanity? Especially if they see no point in fighting and seemingly useless abilities turn out to be useful in some other way, though I feel the combat heavy nature of both superhero stories and also the ability battle school make it harder to do something else with these abilities. Let alone committing to it for long, that I feel it’s easier to be risk-averse.

Even if this leads to newer uses of commonly shown abilities as well as new abilities and stories, which makes for something refreshing in a sea of constant fistfights. It may not typify all superhero and ability battle stories, but it kind of does speak to a lack of imagination and inspiration on many writers’ part. In the sense that if somebody got into leathermaking, or at least developed some knowledge of it, it could lead to a character who creates extra skin who turns this into leather. It wouldn’t be any different if somebody got into silk making in a way and creates a character who not only generates silk, but also weaves and/or sews with this material. You really need to have any real experience with sewing to pull this off, but also experience in sewing with silk.

Even then it kind of speaks to how and why comics writers don’t bother doing anything different, despite leading to newer storylines, characters, new abilities and new uses of familiar abilities, like they don’t seem to be interested in or have experience with those. If imagination has no limit, why limit yourself to fistfights? But stories and characters that deviate from this are pretty rare, if present at all, given I don’t think many writers are committed to this path. Even if it leads to doing something different, not necessarily unprecedented, but something that’s kind of refreshing to read in comics. Though it remains to be seen if some writers would become this interested in things like silk-making and leathercraft to come up with such characters, stories and abilities that may lend themselves to quotidian occupations.

Cartoon character iconography

When it comes to cartoon character iconography and especially those of superheroes, once an outfit is designed for the character comes expectations for what they should look like, should they ever wear new outfits at all. In the case with Supergirl, she’s a female counterpart to her cousin Superman and the expected iconography for her involves blonde hair, blue blouse, red cape, red boots and a red skirt though the belt varies from circular to v-shaped. But certain aberrations do happen such as red shorts, a proper catsuit, blue skirts and the like, though the expected iconography is supposed to be a feminised version of Superman’s own outfit, barring the hair itself. Or for another matter, the expected iconography for Rogue’s that of a woman who dresses in a brown jacket and a green and yellow catsuit with yellow boots.

I guess if Rogue existed in the real world that even if she retained her love of dressing in yellows and greens, and sometimes wore her old clothing from time to time she would’ve also changed with the times in some way. This is what she ended up doing in the comics from time to time, but her most iconic outfit’s from the 1990s and this is the same outfit a number of cartoonists return to from time to time. To put it this way, Siouxsie Sioux is a real life musician whose most iconic get-up consists of teased black hair and black clothing, though this is the same look that she graduated from as time passed. She now has straight greying hair and doesn’t dress in the same way she did when she was younger, but you should get the point I’m making regarding iconography.

It’s easier to draw cartoon characters in the same outfits as it’s easier to draw from memory, especially over time that’s become an accepted part of their respective iconographies. It also makes it easier to lend itself to merchandising, given the character’s expected iconography. Back to Supergirl, her expected presentation’s that of a blonde woman who wears a feminised Superman outfit. Cassandra Cain’s expected presentation’s that of a young Asian American woman who dresses in a black coloured Bat outfit that comes with a mask that fully obscures her face, though ironically given her knack for reading body language this would’ve impeded her ability to carry out such a task. But sometimes impractical outfits become part of the character’s expected iconography like the latter one.

Vampirella’s own outfit would be hard to comfortably wear without risking indecent exposure, though some cartoonists take this too far, sometimes without regarding the character’s own dignity in certain situations. But it’s become an accepted part of her associated iconography, despite how inconvenient it would be in some situations as to warrant more modest redesigns. So if this outfit was designed for the character in mind from the get go, or gets popularised in a more accessible format as it is with Rogue, it would be hard departing from the expected iconography without risking backlash of some sort. There have been attempts to get Black Canary from not wearing fishnets, most notably in the late 1980s and also in the 1990s, though the fishnet thing’s so deeply entrenched that it’s easier to return to those.

Than to risk the unknown, though the animated productions have shown that this is possible without changing the character’s overall look that much, all you have to do is to substitute fishnets for an opaque pair of tights. But even then there’s often the expectation for what the character should look like, if such a look was either part of the character or is popularised in other media, that giving them an entirely different outfit would be a very drastic departure. Sort of like what happened to Street Fighter’s Cammy White upon her latest appearance, for a long time she wore a thong leotard with a beret and two braids. Then comes the latest Street Fighter game with her sporting shorter hair and a more modest ensemble, that inevitably a degree of backlash would’ve occurred anyways.

When it comes to real life musicians, fans would inevitably have a favourite look, even if the musicians themselves have moved on from it as fashions change. Let’s say your favourite David Bowie hairstyle is the iconic red mullet, even though he moved on from that haircut as the mid-1970s marched on. Then one could on go saying that they liked Liam Howlett* best when he was younger and had undyed hair to boot, this is one example but not the only one that I can hypothetically come up with. But the thing with cartoon characters is that they’re designed with certain looks in mind, not so much something they chose at their own volition, since they’re not even real. In Rogue’s case, her most iconic look is the one that got popularised on television.

But it still often reinforces people’s expectations of them, that doing a radical redesign would make them practically unrecognisable. So there’s much care to make them recognisable whilst redesigning them in some way, given how such portrayals reinforce people’s expectations of them.

*He’s a member of the group called The Prodigy and he’s its resident keyboardist.

The Cultural Uncanny Valley

A phenomenon of something that seems rooted in someone else’s culture enough to be recognisable, but also off-kilter enough to be not quite right as it is with Avatar: The Last Airbender. It does make sense that despite taking inspiration from various East Asian cultures, the storytellers of Avatar are very much westerners in most regards. Right down to the core elemental powers being rooted in Greek thought, rather than Daoist thought because the latter seemed unrelatable (western bias much, go tell that to the Vietnamese). The Hindu school of thought comes close but with the addition of space, though it’s odd why there aren’t a lot more Indian coded characters in Avatar. Let alone those that aren’t Guru Pathik, given parts of it is based on this school of thought.

But it’s not hard to see why it didn’t resonate much with Chinese, Japanese and Indian audiences, the influences are there but there’s something western about it that felt off to them. Similarly enough, one could have also said the same about the way foreign cultures are portrayed in other media. Which has already happened in the comments of the video clip I linked before, but it’s worth noting how Japanese culture is portrayed differently between those who aren’t Japanese and those who are. The former will often fall into Orientalism (the tendency to other Far Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures), the latter is often telling it like it is in many, many ways. Or for another matter, Italy and Greece in North American fictions.

I remember this academic essay on the way Italian men are portrayed in North American romance stories where they often fell into stereotypical traps, bad grasp of the Italian language and so on, which becomes very obvious to those who’re Italians themselves. That’s not to say Italians can’t be dark-haired either, but there’s a particular othering to the way Southern Europeans are portrayed by Northern Europeans and Anglo-Americans, like how they’re seen as not quite like them in many ways (Catholic, different gender roles, ad infinitum). This becomes obvious to those who’re Southern European themselves/themself, like how the earlier stereotype of the Hot Middle Easterner (as evidenced in The Sheik) echoes itself in portrayals of Southern European men.

I suspect the cultural uncanny valley exists in nonfiction where there’s a tendency for others to idealise a country they like, ignoring its actual faults (despite being present on some level) if you point this out and the like. Not necessarily unreal but at times it feels like a romanticised view of the country, not so much how its inhabitants see it as, warts and all. Or for another matter demonisation, which is again not how its inhabitants see it as, but in the opposite direction. The cultural uncanny valley inevitably exists due to foreigners’ conceptions and ideas about foreign cultures, which says a lot more about them than it does about those countries and how their inhabitants see them as. Which is how countries get othered in any way, which is not how their inhabitants perceive these to be.

The nature of American imperialism in the Philippines

I feel American imperialism in the Philippines takes on an insidious tone when it comes to how some Filipinos highly look down on certain aspects of Philippine culture and secretly preferring American imperialism above Philippine sovereignty, or even the thought of the Philippines having to ally more with other nonwestern countries (like say China, which is practically unthinkable to them). I feel part of my distaste for American imperialism has to do with how ridiculously westernised the Philippines is, that I even actually want the Philippines to be more heavily influenced by other Asian countries like Indonesia or even China really. This is even the case with some radio stations like RJ 100 FM, which is headed by an Amboy, which shouldn’t be surprising why so little OPM’s played there.

Why somebody like Gerry Alanguilan couldn’t stand the presence of Philippine comics becoming influenced by Japan, but seems okay with working for American publishers and American influence in Philippine comics. It’s like the Philippines actually prefers the west above its neighbours in the east, whether if some of them are aware of it or not. Another is how ridiculously overrated America is by its allies, regardless of how annoying and detrimental American imperialism is and gets. Like how China’s often targeted for its harassment of Tibetans and Uyghurs, though not unwarranted, but America’s not any better towards its harassment of African Americans, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians.

Or how America’s own war crimes against the Philippines is often overlooked, perhaps because it would make America look bad. But that’s kind of part of the problem because of the way America projects itself and inculcates itself onto its allies, that it’s going to be hard standing up to it whenever it does something wrong at all. Maybe not exactly like what I’m making it out to be, but when the American government keeps tabs on European countries, then it’s not surprising why it’d do the same to its allies in the east. To the point where the US-Philippine bilateral relations are more toxic than you’d think it is, given how America will do anything to assert itself to the world through very unethical means. So unethical that it really needs to be charged for its war crimes.

And why America’s really up to no good.