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Whats so racist about the name Nubia? It’s just a region in Africa right?

I’m guessing that Bill’s reacting to it because it’s part of the tradition that every black character in comics until the Falcon or so had to have their blackness mentioned in their super-name. Because I feel like speaking for him. I can see your point, but it’s like calling Diana Caucasian or Grecian. Which would be funny, now that I think of it. I’m interested in seeing Bill’s response, at any rate, in case he doesn’t feel like being spoken for (our best of the year choices did make it seem like we share a brain, so maybe he’s cool with it).

At any rate, I’m sort of disappointed that Kevin Smith wasn’t self referential enough to use her in his Green Arrow run. Unless he did and I missed it. I only read bits and pieces of it, since I was following it at the grocery store. Back when I could follow comics at a grocery store.

Nubia, name aside, looks like she could be a very cool character indeed.

Incidentally, if we’re that anxious to rid ourselves of racist subtext, why bring back Egg Fu?

Whats so racist about the name Nubia? It’s just a region in Africa right?

It’s problematic/aggravating/annoying/stupid because she’s another in a long line of non-white characters who are either named after or defined by their race. When you look at Golden Claw to Black Goliath to the sudden influx of black people (in the form of gangsters) in the Batbooks back when they did their gun control book a while back, you begin to notice a trend.

It’s a way to other-ize another people. Wonder Woman isn’t called Caucasia and Superman isn’t called White Superman.

You guys do know Egg Fu is currently haunting the pages of 52, right? And that he’s AWESOME?

Egg Fu *is* back! He’s been in 52 for a couple months, at least. He has a different name, but it’s clearly Egg Fu.

Nubia is an awful name, but I agree that the character has a lot of potential. That is all I have to say.

And hey, this article just taught me something! I used to think that “Mego” was pronounced like “Lego”, but now I know that it was supposed to sound like the words “me” and “go” were jammed together!

Bill Reed, you’re educating as you entertain! And it is fantastic!

“It’s problematic/aggravating/annoying/stupid because she’s another in a long line of non-white characters who are either named after or defined by their race. When you look at Golden Claw to Black Goliath to the sudden influx of black people (in the form of gangsters) in the Batbooks back when they did their gun control book a while back, you begin to notice a trend.

It’s a way to other-ize another people. Wonder Woman isn’t called Caucasia and Superman isn’t called White Superman.”

You make a very good point and I agree that its stupid and tedious that every non-white superhero used to have a name that made specific reference to their race. However in the case of Nubia in particular it might make sense. Just hear me out, yeah?

Nubia is a character who was abandoned and forgotten about by her own people- perhaps in part because of her difference. This might give a lot of people a low sense of self worth, but she came back fighting and forced her fellow Amazons to accept her as an equal.

She seems like just the kind of gutsy character who would take up a racial epithet that had been thrown at her and wear it as a badge of honour because she’s not ashamed to be different and she’s not about to take any shit from anyone.

Well thats what I think anyway.

I’m not terribly sure if it’s racist or not, but it’s certainly misleading. She isn’t FROM Nubia, after all. If she were Nubian, it would be less annoying, but it would still define her by her race. So I would ditch it not necessarily because it’s racist (although it may be), but because it’s inaccurate. It would be like calling Superman “Gothamite” - he’s not from Gotham City!

when they pull wonder womans top back at the beginning of that commercial, and then cut to the little boys face, im pretty sure you see him getting wood.

and the little black girl, whys she gotta be the villainess huh? thats just wrong. why does the black girl gotta be the villain?

“GOTCHA MAJAH!”

In terms of the name, I agree with Brad and David. (And let’s be glad Nubia didn’t cause a sudden spin off of “black versions” of superheroes. Unless you count Earth-D, but that was years later.)

Nubia, I-Ching, Egg Fu… what’s with Wonder Woman and nonchalant racism? Still, all these characters can actually be very cool if one treats them right.

And yeah, I heard about Egg Fu (it’s Chang Tzu now, right)? Haven’t been reading 52, though. Let’s hope it works. DC needs their own MODOK.

Speaking of nonchalance, did you unironically write “Nubia has that in spades?”

Yes. What, is that a derogatory term now, too? Is nothing safe?

“Spade” has been a racial slur for decades, sir. I was sure you didn’t know that when you wrote that, because I’m sure you wouldn’t have.

“I’m not terribly sure if it’s racist or not, but it’s certainly misleading. She isn’t FROM Nubia, after all. If she were Nubian, it would be less annoying, but it would still define her by her race.”

You have a point there. But the name could be made to work. The mother of Yehudi Menuhin called him Yehudi (The Jew) so that the world would know that he was proud to be different.

You could have somthing similar with Nubia. Maybe she was teased with the name as a child and she embrassed it to show she’s proud to be Black. I’m not saying that the name wasn’t racist originally but it doesn’t have to be. In any case surely Brother Voodoo is just as problematic as Nubia?

I couldnt stop laughing at the irony that you used the term “spades” in an article blasting racism. ha.

Nubia had a heroclix, too. (Heroclick?)

I’m a big Nubia fan, despite my rational understanding that she’s probably not a very good character.

I guess that’s what I get for living in the middle of nowhere all my life.

In the new “Wonder Woman” arc Nemesis tells Diana Prince that Wonder Woman was spotted with a man code named “I Ching” so that’s another Silver Age character with a shout out, maybe DC’s trying to modernize their old attempts at diversity.

Are the Amazons still multi-racial as they were under George Perez’s run? Culturally they were all Greek, but created with the souls of women from around the world.

Speaking of vaguely racist, why does the black girl have to wear jungle print?

On the subject of names though, I’ve been thinking and there are a few African-American women I’ve seen named Ebony. Thats a name that to me means the color black with “Ebony and Ivory” and all that- but those women’s parents must have thought differently.

I suppose its not much more a stretch to have a woman named or codenamed Nubia. Heck my favorite comic Young Avengers has a character with the codename Wiccan- thats a religion (which it doesn’t even seem he practices even if he’s got magic powers).

So far I think Black Canary is the only character with Black who isn’t black.

Nah, there’s Black Bolt, Black Condor, the Blackhawks, Black Orchid, Black Marvel, Black Adam, the Black Knight, Black Widow, and a bunch of others.

Considering that Black Adam is currently supposed to be of ancient Egyptian stock, you could make a case for him being black. even then, he isn’t actually drawn that way.

It’s always sort of seemed odd to me that Black Adam is still drawn as a modern Egyptian, when the ancient Egyptian civilization he ruled should have been predominantly black.

(Of course, Egyptian culture has been horribly poached in this fashion by many, many media other than comics– name the last time you saw a black Cleopatra, when by all rights that’s what she probably was.)

Nubia’s name is obviously racist. She only has that name because she’s black. That’s racist.

Ancient Egypt was multi-cultural but the famous Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Cleo) was Greek. Her family essentially were foreign overlords set up to oppress the Egyptian people but her reputation was romanticized over time.

In real life she was also overweight.

Lynxara, in “Dreamgirls” the character Deena Jones wants to star in a black Cleopatra movie. Which is considered odd, as Mark pointed out, since its well known that Cleopatra was predominantly Greek and she was the first queen of Egypt who had to learn Egyptian. (I’m sure white people taking over African nations is not new to the past few millennium)

Thanks for the heads up on all the non-black “Black” characters. All I could think of in terms of “Black” names were Black Lightning- or Black Vulcan on Superfriends-, Black Panther and Black Manta who were African American.

I don’t think Nubia is a racist name either.
Wasn’t Nubia an african empire from the time of the Egyptians pharaoes? At the very least, nubians were among the elite mercenaries that pharaoes employed in their conquests.

Anyway, I think she is an important character even if I don’t think I ever read one of the stories pictured here.

The first cover reminds me how DC was so afraid about introducing black characters in their comics. Nubia is fully armored on the cover and there is no way for most casual readers to know that a black character will be introduced inside without opening up the book.

During Jim Shooter’s original run as Legion of Superheroes writer, he introduced many new legionnaires. Among them was Ferro Lad, also fully masked. In fan magazine interviews he stated that he intended to unmask Ferro Lad and reveal him to be a black kid. Conservative editor Weisinger certainly couldn’t approve this and Shooter decided to kill his newly introduced character rather than compromize his original idea.

The same thing happened in the Nick Cardy run of Teen Titans with the whole Jericho story that was suppose to introduce a black hero which was censored by DC.