Bizarro is grey, so I hope you’re counting him. (1/2) @HeathCorson #BizarroChat https://t.co/H0995tuyxu
— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 5, 2015
During a #Bizzarochat Twitter Q & A last Friday celebrating the release of Heath Corson’s Bizarro #1, geek feminist account Femmes in the Fridge asked if the six-issue, all-ages series would prominently feature characters of color, to which the account replied “Bizarro is grey, so I hope you’re counting him.”
.@DCComics No. Please consider what you said here. https://t.co/hCJpuyvmvv
— Jill Pantozzi (@JillPantozzi) June 8, 2015
Corson was answering a large portion of the questions “in character” as Bizarro, the grey-skinned duplicate of Superboy, and he later replied to Femmes in the Fridge with a sincere clarification:
.@FemmesinFridges And yes, as we criss-cross the DCU we’ll feature a whole mess of folks. (2/2) @HeathCorson #BizarroChat
— DC Comics (@DCComics) June 5, 2015
Although I appreciate Corson eventually answering seriously and understand that the initial tweet was “just as a joke” (and that the pressure of Twitter Q&As doesn’t necessarily foster thoughtful responses from creators), equating Bizarro with people of color does not reflect well on DC’s recent self-proclaimed diversity.
Earlier this month DC launched DCYou, an ad campaign with an emphasis on diversity in post-Convergence titles; and although simple acknowledgement of the need for representation was refreshing, critics pointed out that the creators and characters highlighted by DCYou were still overwhelmingly white and male.
For many, the campaign seemed to be DC touting itself as diverse without really considering why representation is important or how to diversify characters positively, and the “what about Bizarro??!!!” joke just lends weight to those concerns–promising “a story for every kind of DC Comics fan” in one breath loses weight when you jokingly dismiss a legitimate and specific question about diversity with the other.
That moment when that totally uncool thing that happened days ago finally gets noticed by the Twitterverse, and you go “Yes! I AM right!” :D
— Femmes in the Fridge (@FemmesinFridges) June 8, 2015
Hey people on panel or holding chats. If someone asks will there be people of color in a comic book series, say “yes” or “no” or “hopefully”
— VixenVarsity.com (@MizCaramelVixen) June 8, 2015
You saying, bullshit like “Bizarro is grey” or “Star Wars is a diverse universe”, is a SLAP IN THE FACE to people of color!
— VixenVarsity.com (@MizCaramelVixen) June 8, 2015
It’s especially upsetting that the writer behind an all-ages comic series appears to not grasp the importance of young readers being able to see themselves on a page (and that DC might not understand the implications of equating people of color with a character created to exemplify freakishness).
@gahall43 @DCComics (not that there are ‘masses’ of them anyway, the second half of their answer notwithstanding)
— Femmes in the Fridge (@FemmesinFridges) June 8, 2015
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