54 Detective Comics Volume 1 #591 (1988)
or circumstance. With someone on the ‘inside’, what could gowrong? For starters many of these projects originate in boardroomsfar removed from the talent pool. The creative team is usuallypresented with a detailed synopsis, story board, or script; time linesand narrative arcs to develop and maintain; and, occasionally, aconvoluted plot, back story or future self which needs to be integratedinto the current assignment. Creative expression and freedom toexplore are subjects rarely associated with DC, Marvel, or any of theother large comic enterprises. Home grown talent is no guaranteethat a ‘down under’ themed comic produced in the United States willresonate with readers in Australia. And with their eyes firmly seton the American, United Kingdom and emerging Chinese markets,why would an editorial team deliberate the finer issues concerningcultural or historical accuracy? After all, it’s just a comic book. Whocares if they insult a few Antipodean sensibilities?While the level of artistic capability, primarily the dexterity of detail,and the paper and print quality of comics has improved significantlyover the past thirty years (Katz, 2014), the story telling transformationhas been slow to evolve. Although casual racism and sexism haveessentially been removed from today’s comic books (unless the scriptcalls for an antagonistic villain), story lines set in ‘exotic’ placesabound with presumptions and clichés. A popular destination forcomic story lines is Australia (primarily Sydney), along with outbackscenes depicting the Aussie lifestyle as envisioned by Paul Hogan’sCrocodile Dundee (1986).In October 1988, DC Comics Inc. released Detective Comics #591Aborigine! which pitted Batman against Umbaluru, an indigenousAustralian who had travelled to Gotham City to seek the return ofa stolen artefact known as the ‘Power Bone of Uluru’. Featuring astoryline with more than a few parallels to Crocodile Dundee II (1988),when Mick moved to Manhattan with his girlfriend, Umbaluru ispowered by the ‘Earth Mother’ who seeks revenge for the murder ofthe Bone’s indigenous guards. No doubt the writers were consciousof Australia and had investigated some indigenous creation stories.The first few pages touch on The Dreaming which helps link the storyof the Bone to the comic’s narrative. There’s even a mention of the1988 bi-centennial with a shop window display that gets vandalisedby Umbaluru near the end of the story. He changes ‘Happy 200thBirthday Australia’ to ‘Happy 50,000th Birthday to the People’.The composition of the Umbaluru character is a relatively accuratedepiction although, as a stand alone comic, there’s little room todevelop his personality beyond the one dimensional, seek and destroy,Terminator figure. Yet, while the concept is commendable, theexecution smacks of uninformed racism. Unlike DC’s other indigenouscharacter The Dark Ranger, with his educated, urban background,Umbaluru is cast as ‘the naked Central Australian with a limitedunderstanding English styled trope which is so often employed bywriters, despite the vast majority of us being from the coast, and livingin cities and major regional centres’ (Koori History, 2016). Umbaluruis constantly referred to as an ‘Abo’ and in one panel an antagonistyells, ‘Stinking primitive – this’ll teach you’ as he attempts to bashUmbaluru’s skull in with a hammer. Umbaluru is also referred to as‘the aborigine’, both in the comic and again online in the DC Databasewiki page. Granted, Aborigine! was published in 1988 and the characterof Umbaluru has not been seen since so the contributors to DC’s wikipage would most likely be unaware of ‘the negative connotations theuse of Aborigine(s) or Aboriginal(s) has acquired in some sectors of thecommunity, where these words are generally regarded as insensitiveand even offensive’ (School of Teacher Education, 1996 p.1).By the end of the comic Umbaluru prevails, throwing the mainvillain out of the window of a skyscraper but not before he fightsBatman who’s keen to see Umbaluru answer for his crimes ofmurder in a court of law. This doesn’t end as planned for the DarkKnight, with Umbaluru telling him, ‘White man’s justice? For anAborigine? Where have you been past two hundred year?’There is no doubt the writers at DC attempted to portray Umbaluruin a sympathetic light. Even Batman gives pause during theirfinal confrontation when he learns the truth about the fate ofthe Bone’s Uluru protectors. However, Batman’s sense of justicecompels him to bring Umbaluru down. That Batman is ultimatelyunsuccessful raises the question of who actually prevailed overthis confrontation and what lesson, if any, was learnt? Umbalurusuccessfully manages to regain the ‘Power Bone’ while exactinga bloody revenge on those who murdered his brothers. Batmanis left brooding on a roof top while the narrator observes, ‘By hisaccount, the men the aborigine killed deserved to die. And perhapsthey did. But he can make no allowance for righteous murder. Allkillers must be brought to book’. Nice sentiment except Umbalurudid escape, his mission was a success. The world’s greatest detectivewas outsmarted by an Aussie. Chalk up a win for the away team.America has shown a fondness for utilising IndigenousAustralian characters within the US comic industrycoupled with limited attempts at depicting diversity, butit’s not alone in such endeavours. The Japanese mangaseries Silent Möbius is home to Toyko police officer KiddyPhenil, a redheaded Aboriginal woman with cyberneticimplants. (Koori History, 2016)In Marvel’s 2005 series The Incredible Hulk (Volume 2 #83–85),supervillain Exodus rules Australia, assisted by Pyro and theVanisher. They see humans as nothing more than servants. Thisbrings them into conflict with the Hulk’s alter ego Bruce Banner whohappens to be living in the Australian outback. Banner has found apeace he’s never known amongst a tribe of Aborigines—they evenbestow the name ‘Two Minds’ onto him (even though this namingcustom is closer aligned to Native America). But when their safety isthreatened by a battle orchestrated by the ruling totalitarian mutantgovernment, the Hulk is forced to intervene. He attacks the President(no Prime Ministers here!), taking Exodus out, and proceeds to claimleadership over all Australia (Chez, 2009).As an Australian, the whole series is a four-part WTF? moment.The story was written by Peter David, an American seeminglyinfluenced by Steve Irwin’s The Crocodile Hunter. In one scene theHulk says ‘G’Day’ as he wrestles five incredibly large predatorysemiaquatic reptiles. The indigenous population, who are centralto this narrative, are portrayed as a cross between grass-skirtwearing Polynesians and nineteenth century head-hunters fromthe New Guinea highlands. Needless to say the Sydney OperaHouse also features in this story arc (the Hulk destroys thattoo, as he doesn’t like opera). This is just one example wheremultinational comic publishers portray Australia as a destinationand its inhabitants as nothing more than pawns or extras. There’sno attempt by any of these corporations to create an Australianbased superhero. What’s the point? If Australia gets into anytrouble America can just send over one of their superheroes to sortout our problems. Is this simply art imitating life?Comics often parallel other avenues of entertainment. Up until thelate twentieth century, many Australian characters were depictedin American cinema and television using American or Britishactors attempting Aussie accents and lingo, to laughable and oftencringeworthy results (think Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlainin A Cry in the Dark, 1988). Many of those characters drew onconservative and anachronistic stereotypes that did not representor reflect the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of contemporaryAustralia. Thankfully, the entertainment industry has begun toembrace multiplicity—driven largely by customer demand wroughtin part by social media strategies. One such campaign was aimed atthe video game Mad Max (2015). Produced by Avalanche Studios forworldwide release, this open world action-adventure was based onthe Mad Max franchise but the storyline was not directly connectedto George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).ReadFin Literary Journal 55