ReadFin Literary Journal (Winter 2018)

Finding an Australian
voice among a chorus
of American
superheroes
Brad Webb
If asked to name a superhero, a person’s response would likely be
a character from either the world of Marvel or Detective Comics
(DC)—such is the extent of their influence and power. From DC’s
Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman to Marvel’s Spider-Man,
The Hulk, and Iron Man, these giants of the comic book industry
seemingly possess a limitless ability to churn out personalities at an
alarming rate, flooding the world with goodies (and baddies) through
a multitude of expanded universes and alternative realities.
Every corner of the world has been allocated their own particular
(and occasionally, peculiar) super hero or villain. Many of these
early adopter archetypes are a conglomerate of racial and sexual
stereotypes whose genesis can be traced back to the mid twentieth
century—a time of seemingly unchecked bigotry and xenophobia.
One such example is ‘The Ancient One’, the vaguely sinister
sometimes mentor of Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Up until the late 1980s
this male Tibetan mystic was represented, in one form or another, as
a stereotypical Asian whose exaggerated features borrowed copiously
from illustrations that featured in Western culture drawn from the
dark days of the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
However, in an attempt placate a growing Asian consumer market
and, in particular, China’s expanding cinema audience, Marvel
announced that in the movie Doctor Strange (2016) The Ancient One
would be played by Tilda Swinton, a Caucasian female. Decried by
many in the West as an act of ‘whitewashing’, a statement from a
Marvel Studios spokesman defended the hiring of Swinton:
‘Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting
of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source
material to bring the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to
life. The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by
any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through
time and, in this particular film, the embodiment is Celtic.
We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda
Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside
our richly diverse cast’ (Rosenberg, 2016).
Marvel’s statement appears to be a measured response, essentially in
saying The Ancient One is more a title than an individual persona, so
Tilda Swinton, an Anglo-Scottish-Australian, is establishing a new
vision of the character. Also responding to a number of critics who
suggested The Ancient One should be have been played by a Tibetan
or Chinese actor, Doctor Strange co-writer C. Robert Cargill, contends
that The Ancient One’s comic book origins are rooted in racist
stereotypes, which makes it impossible to avoid controversy when
bringing the character to the big screen.
‘He originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is
a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion
people who think that that’s bullshit and risk the Chinese
government going, “Hey, you know one of the biggest filmwatching
countries in the world? We’re not going to show
your movie because you decided to get political.” If we decide
to go the other way and cater to China in particular—if you
think it’s a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan
character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no
idea what the fuck you’re talking about’ (Rosenberg, 2016).
Closer to home and, once again thanks largely to American ink,
Australian characters from the Marvel and DC universe appear as
increasingly stereotypical genre based ‘ockers’—their roles are usually
clichés, typecast, or frequently both. While DC’s clean-cut superhero
Superman was adopted by a grateful United States, Australia was
‘blessed’ with the supervillain George ‘Digger’ Harkness, better
known as Captain Boomerang. Created by John Broome and
Carmine Infantino, the Captain made his first appearance in Flash
#117, December 1960. As the nemesis of The Flash, resplendent in a
ludicrous blue smock emblazoned with boomerangs and sporting an
airline hostess style cap, Digger’s appearance was designed to elicit
a sense of terror in Barry Allen (Flash’s alter-ego), however, for the
reader, it likely evoked fits of laughter.
Besides the stereotypical ability to throw boomerangs, the good
Captain was also prone to bouts of racism—in a number of editions
of Suicide Squad, ‘Digger’ Harkness would refer to black team member
Bronze Tiger as an ‘abo’. With such a mountain of clichés piled onto
Captain Boomerang’s shoulders it’s surprising he never gained
his powers from drinking a can of beer (in the same way Popeye
derived his strength from spinach). In the 2016 big screen adaptation
of Suicide Squad, Captain Boomerang was a least portrayed by an
Australian actor, Jai Courtney. The character successfully managed
to fulfil his stereotype quota, as the Aussie beer swilling ocker, by
downing countless cans of golden ale. Even in the midst of a war
ravaged city it’s pleasing to think there’s still places to get an ice cold
beer. Thankfully, Courtney’s costume was sans blue smock.
Not to be outdone in the uninspiring comic character stakes,
Marvel also produced their own Australian supervillain by the
name of—wait for it—Boomerang! Created by Stan Lee and Jack
Kirby, Boomerang made his first appearance in Tales to Astonish
#81, July 1966. Boomerang’s abilities include being a world-class
baseball pitcher (no mention of cricket), a skilled marksman and a
street fighter. Naturally, the character wields a variety of lethal and
gimmicky boomerangs, however, he also manages to fly via a handy
pair of jet boots. Boomerang is constantly pitted against Spider-Man
and obviously comes out worse-for-wear on a regular basis. Frederick
‘Fred’ Myers (Boomerang’s alter-ego) was born in Alice Springs and
was then raised in the United States. This may go a way in explaining
how Fred went from initially speaking with an American accent to an
Australian one when he grew up (actually, no it doesn’t).
‘I told them I was born in Australia, so they made me
Boomerang. This is why the whole world hates you, by the
way. An entire nation boiled down to what you can remember
from that time you got high and watched Crocodile Dundee.
Guess I should be glad I didn’t end up some kinda kangaroo
guy.’ Boomerang (The Superior Foes of Spider-Man Volume 1 #1).
Relying on writers and illustrators from countries like the United
States to determine what guise Australian superheroes and villains
take goes a long way in explaining why Australia has no relatable
characters. How can a reader sympathise with, or respond to, a
character they cannot identify with on a basic level—that of being
Australian? Discounting American-centric bias, understandable
seeing literally every major publication now originates from the
United States, actual home grown characters are scarce indeed.
For while Australia has adopted characters like The Phantom, and
introduced story lines relevant to our region, publishing titles and
making territory specific stories boils down to pure economics.
Will it sell?
And what about collaborations? There have been some fine Australian
artists and writers who have worked for multinational publishers
inside teams developing comics with an Australian centric theme
ReadFin Literary Journal 53