Black Batman

370999

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I dunno... I would think that part of Batman is coming from old money and having an aristocratic air to him to fit with him being a modern day dark knight and I'm no sure a black character could do that due to America's history. Maybe in fifty years but I dunno.

Superman on the other hand can darn well be any race. As can Spider-man or Green Lantern, etc.

Or maybe I'm a vile racist? Who knows...
 

Altorin

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May 16, 2008
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That's what they did to Nick Fury, and people seem to like Nick Fury better since he became black. Although I don't think naming the comic "Black Batman" would be a bright idea. That's just asking for trouble, but I for one don't care if batman is Black or not. There have been a lot of race changes in comic history.. usually whitewashing but not always.

We had a similar thread like this when a black actor said that it would be cool to play Spider-man.. lots of racism in the response to that, but honestly, I don't have a problem with any of it, as long as it's good. If it's bad, and "black" is just used as a character trait, that's silly, but color of the skin doesn't matter at all, and things are changed and retconned all the time in comics.

Maybe start it as an alternate universe Batman, if DC still has those

*shrugs*
 

The White Hunter

Basment Abomination
Oct 19, 2011
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SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
I wouldnt give a shit because fuck Batman. I only like the recent movies and although Christian Bale would be a heavy loss I dont think having some (good) black actor replace him would be the end of the world.

As long as hes not running around Gotham in baggy pants shouting "Ahhh hell nah n*gga, you aint touching none of dis shit punk" all is good.
Replace Christian Bale with Samuel L. Motherfucking Jackson and I would be totally on board with the whole thing.

OT: Meh? I'd question the point of the whole affair and then promptly not give a toss.
 

verdant monkai

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Oct 30, 2011
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Depends if you change his secret identity too.
If he was Bruce Wayne but Black that would be tolerable but not the batman everyone loves, plus everyone knows Bruce Wayne is a upper class American white guy. I suppose he could be related to Opra Winfrey. That would be funny.

I would react by throwing a tantrum and getting my nerd on and writing complaint letters to DC. In my mind you just cannot change Batman. Does anyone remember Azrael? they tried to replace Bruce then and everyone hated him.

However I want more Black super heroes, there are no really famous ICONIC ones.
We should change the Flash to make him a black guy, (no one would notice) it would seem fitting don't you think?
 

Troublesome Lagomorph

The Deadliest Bunny
May 26, 2009
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CODE-D said:
Oh so hes black huh? Thats just the de facto after white huh? Why not asian or indian or inuit or even jewish.......racist...
This.
And I'm not a fan of changing who the heroes are to begin with. What's the point? They are what they are. Instead of remodeling old heroes, shouldn't we make new, awesome heroes that are as diverse as they can get?
And I don't just mean white and black: there's also Indian, Native American, Asian, Hispanic and Arabic. There's more than those two races.
 

internetzealot1

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Now, see, it would be fine for Batman to be black if he started out being black. But it is not acceptable to create him as white and then turn him black. Just start a new series with a black Batman clone, and if its too much like Batman, then making him black was never worth it in the first place.
 

Revnak_v1legacy

Fixed by "Monday"
Mar 28, 2010
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Kendarik said:
Revnak said:
Kendarik said:
Revnak said:
Kendarik said:
Revnak said:
Kendarik said:
Revnak said:
Kendarik said:
"Black batman" is stupid. There is however nothing wrong with batman being black. Nothing in any of the story lines or any of the various versions of his often recreated backstory require a particular ethnicity.

Of my two favorite Catwomen (that looks odd...Catwomans?) one happens to be white, one black. Ethnicity doesn't matter to the character at all.

It would only matter if something about the character is inherently race based. I can't think of one at the moment, but to give a silly example, if a Nazi superhero was turned from White Christian to Black Gay Jew in a retcon.
Ethnicity is not the same as race. Black is not a race. And a black gay Jewish Nazi would be hilarious. Every Nazi ever should be retconned as black, gay, and Jewish.
Well race isn't a word with a university definition, but in general terms, yes, black probably does meet the definition of race, in fact skin colour was one of the primary determining factors in that non scientific word's early use. You know, that's why people say its "racist" when you are anti-black. But you keep feeling smug if it makes you feel better. (Especially when your corrections are wrong lol)
Read my other post and recent edit. It was a typo. And there are plenty of university definitions for race, just ask a professor and there you go. I can insult you for making typos as well, but I am pretty certain your original misunderstanding of the differences between race and ethnicity were not typos.
You claim now it was a typo...

And read my comment on your correction.

Also you might mean, University where I work, not where I go.

Let me help you out there, the term "race" is inherently "racist". There is no valid scientific use of the word, and no self respecting academic would suggest there was. Feel free to point me at that very clear universally accepted definition though.
A typo is a type of mistake.

Race is as real as we make it. You can't ignore the obvious social importance of the concept of race, even though it biologically doesn't exist. And yes there is no universally accepted definition. However, there is one for ethnicity, and it is not the same as race. Black is not an ethnicity, it is a race.
How can you positively identify it as a race, when you agree race isn't defined?

In any event, your definition is STILL wrong for ethnicity. Ethnicity CAN include racial traits. A couple segments of the Merriam-Webster definition for your attention:

a: of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background
Synonyms: racial, ethnical, tribal

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnic
Ethnicity is just a way of grouping people into groups that make some sense and have some commonality.
Your race is a socially constructed status that is ascribed to you in accordance with certain physical traits. Your ethnicity is the social group or category you generally fit within. Black is not a valid ethnicity as it tells me nothing about what social category that individual fits within. A black Swede differs from a black African which differs from a black American. And Webster loses credibility with me for having an incorrect definition of gender.
Certainly many Black South Africans will tell you they are a different ethnicity than White South Africans. Colour can most certainly tell you part of someone's social category.

And I'm so impressed that you know more than dictionaries lol
Certainly, but you didn't say black American, you said black. There is a major difference. Hispanic Latino is an ethnicity that considers race. Hispanic is an ethnicity that does not consider to race. Latino is a race, not an ethnicity. A brown kid from Mexico is a Hispanic Latino. A kid from Mexico is Hispanic. A brown kid is Latino. They are not the same.
 

SenseOfTumour

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Only comment I'd have is that if I saw a Black Batman comic, I'd assume it was an offshoot.

If it was called Batman, I'd assume it was either 'an alternative reality' thing, or that Bruce had died and his role had been taken over by a friend of his.

'Black Batman' says another character entirely tho.
 

babinro

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Sep 24, 2010
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na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BLACKMAN!

Makes no difference to me. I've seen enough racial changes in characters over the years that you'd eventually adapt. Smithers from the Simpsons or Nick Fury from Avengers are two examples that come to mind.
 

Joseph Alexander

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Jul 22, 2011
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SaneAmongInsane said:
so the other night I was stoned and amused at the idea of trading Batman's ethnicity for Luke Cage's. I made this post, it's just a silly idea: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.373406-White-Luke-Cage#14436420

Now heres the real conversation: Lets say DC announce they were rebooting Batman, and he's black now. Same exact thing but he's black. Titled of the comic, oddly enough, isn't Batman but "Black Batman". HOWEVER, DC announces they will be discontinuing anything having to do with a white Batman, in other words, White Batman is being retconned out of existence.

My question is, how would you react to it? would you keep being a batman fan or would you scoff at the change of skin color? I mean thematically, it's still the same comic.... save for perhaps the Joker is now overtly racist rather then gay, and maybe there is a story arch with Batman hunting down Klansmen.

I suppose I would be all right with it, so long as they were just changing the skin color and not turning Batman into a genre of urban fiction.

(also, clearly, I'm talking about this subject very light hearted and tongueNcheek. I'm trying to be silly, no racist... even though this whole concept is vaguely racist I realize.)
so... pretty much black panther.
 

Dorian6

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Apr 3, 2009
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Why couldn't Batman fight the Klan now? Are only black people allowed to break it up if the KKK does something illegal?

I don't care what color his, or any other character's skin is as long as it makes sense for the character and they don't change it just to be exploitative.

It worked for Nick Fury

and Heimdal

and Harvey Dent...kinda
 

monkey_man

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Jul 5, 2009
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Batman is a story of a rich white guy, pampered from birth. Then his parents get shot to death, and his entire worldview collapses. He then vows to become a crimefighter etc.

This can't be true if he were black, as the stereotype of rich black guy is not the same.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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I'll be honest and say I would fucking hate it.

Bruce Wayne is a white guy. Suddenly turning him black would be as stupid as turning Storm for X-Men white. Though you can bet that the latter would cause a greater racial shitstorm.
 

DudeistBelieve

TellEmSteveDave.com
Sep 9, 2010
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Casual Shinji said:
I'll be honest and say I would fucking hate it.

Bruce Wayne is a white guy. Suddenly turning him black would be as stupid as turning Storm for X-Men white. Though you can bet that the latter would cause a greater racial shitstorm.
White Storm...

...A part of me really wants to petition Marvel/DC to make a line of comics based around this stupid premise. C'mon, no one else sees the humour in taking a character like storm... Keeping her exactly the same, but making her white? Or taking a character like Batman and making him black?
 

DestinyCall

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May 5, 2009
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Black Batman - I'd read it.


But if you are going to make Black Batman, go all the way. Every character should be switched to a different race. Really shake that tree hard and see what falls out.

He could fight against Black Joker and Black Riddler and Black Penguin. There's also be Black Catwoman and Black Robin, of course. And Black Alfred and Black Commissioner Gordan too.
 

Krion_Vark

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Mar 25, 2010
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Gennadios said:
The Klan is a joke, they didn't hold any real power since the 50's and any time members actually do commit a violent crime it's just blamed on the individuals and they get disowned.
Their founder also didn't want to go after Black people but wanted to go after the government that was taking away their rights and giving black people rights.
 

Moonlight Butterfly

Be the Leaf
Mar 16, 2011
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SaneAmongInsane said:
It wouldn't bother me at all I can't see how it would be any different.

Batman's story is just as viable with an African American behind the mask.

Hell he even looks awesome (and pretty damn fine).



The Batman of Africa, seen here on the cover of his first issue gliding past some pyramids, is spun out of Grant Morrison's Batman, Incorporated, an ongoing series about Batman setting up fellow bat-based superheroes around the globe.

Batwing will be written by Judd Winick and drawn by Ben Oliver.
 

DudeistBelieve

TellEmSteveDave.com
Sep 9, 2010
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Moonlight Butterfly said:
SaneAmongInsane said:
It wouldn't bother me at all I can't see how it would be any different.

Batman's story is just as viable with an African American behind the mask.
Would it matter if the comic and character were both called "Black Batman" instead of just "Batman"? Bare in mind, this Black Batman is the new White Batman.