Depends on who you ask. Superhero comics in general have always been caucasian/white-centric. The banner heroes of DC and Marvel have always been white caucasians, and mostly male. Marvel has Spider-Man, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Iron Man, and even the original X-Men as all being white. DC's "trinity" of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all white. Their premier ensemble cast in the Justice League is mostly white (Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman). It's only of late that people of color have been seen in roles of greater significance, and one has yet to step forward into the realm of universal recognition that the big-league heroes enjoy.
This year, DC ended several comics that feature women and/or people of color, including Blue Beetle (hispanic) and Birds of Prey (featuring a rotating all-female cast). Conversely, Power Girl gets her own series, which is only half-good since she's also a blonde blue-eyed caucasian, a lot of the main Justice League members are now women or people of color (ex. Black Canary - caucasian female, Firestorm - black, Vixen - black and female, John Stewart - black Green Lantern, Dr. Light - asian female), and certain male heroes have now been replaced with female counterparts (ex. The Question).
Still not enough.
Today's rant was inspired by a teaser image on The Source, DC's official blog, and is entitled "I Am Batgirl."
Here's the image:
A quick summary for those of you unfamiliar with Batgirl in the present canon DCU. The original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, was paralyzed from the waist down when the Joker shot her (seen in the excellent work The Killing Joke). She moved on to become the tactical information and network genius known as the Oracle, a role which has done more good than she had ever done in the mask and cowl. When the No Man's Land event occured, Barbara passed the role of Batgirl to a new hero named Cassandra Cain.
Cass became my favorite Batgirl because of her tormented origins. I'm a sucker for pathos, and Cass had it in spades. Taught from infancy to be a killer by her father, the assassin David Cain, she never learned to talk, understanding only the language of movement. Her brutal training taught her to be fatal, merciless, and to ignore pain. And yet she rose above that to a higher calling, vowing never to kill again. Wonderful stuff. And did I mention that she's decidedly Asian? Certainly can't forget that fact.
So what's the issue here? That's her iconic costume in the pic above, supposedly a cover of issue 1 of the new Batgirl series coming in August. With one exception, the part of her cowl covering her mouth has been ripped out (hence the frayed stitchings), allowing us to see the character's subtly smiling lips. Problem there is that the mouthpiece of the cowl was very symbolic of Cassandra, representing her speech impediment and difficulties in social interaction. With the mouthpiece ripped out, and the eyes in the image being hidden, it's strongly suggestive that the Batgirl in the image isn't Cass.
A lot of people think that with Batman now "dead" (don't ask... blame Grant Morrison and the mess that's Final Crisis), there's gonna be a new Batman (likely Richard Grayson) and a new Robin, so why not a new Batgirl? Speculation is going that with the mini-series "The Cure" possibly repairing Barbara's paralysis, she will take up the Batgirl cowl again, leaving Cassandra high and dry.
How this transition will occur is anyone's guess, though there's some evidence that something horrible will happen to Cass (again). What saddens me is that that's more diversity gone from the DCU. Red-haired, white-skinned Barbara becomes Batgirl again, and the Asian female who's gone through so much leaves. Doubly sad given that I love Barbara as Oracle.
I'm hopeful that there will still be a role for Cassandra after this, but she'll always be Batgirl to me.
More comments come August. You can bet on that.
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