{"id":1525,"date":"2015-02-17T09:25:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2023-12-19T09:26:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T17:26:25","slug":"devourer-of-words-025-how-to-diversify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/devourer-of-words-025-how-to-diversify\/","title":{"rendered":"Devourer of Words 025: How to Diversify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MARC BERNARDIN’S DEVOURER OF WORDS<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devourer of Words 025: How to Diversify<\/h1>\n\n\n
Marc Bernardin<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Toucan<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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We seem to talk every 12 months at around this time\u2014Black History Month\u2014about diversity in comics. About how all too often the books that we read, and the people who create them, don\u2019t betray the plurality of the world at large. This is when the major companies trumpet the gains they\u2019ve made\u2014some legit, some cosmetic\u2014in adding some color to an overwhelmingly white landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s worth asking the question\u2014year round\u2014what we can do to push the dial in the right direction. Here are a four simple ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.<\/strong> Don\u2019t be afraid.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Though the advice \u201cwrite what you know\u201d has some merit, it can be a limitation as much as a \u201chelpful\u201d guideline. The first thing to remember is that people, no matter their place of birth or color of their skin, are driven by their desires. Once you figure out what they want, you can put things in their way to stop them from getting it. Not that you shouldn\u2019t do some research to make your character feel authentic, but unless you\u2019ve been writing every character like he grew up in the bedroom next to yours, you\u2019ve been doing that research anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/strong>. What\u2019s in a name?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

This is a trick I\u2019m stealing wholesale from John August\u2019s Scriptnotes podcast:<\/strong><\/a> when giving secondary characters names in your script, change a few to some obviously ethnic ones. When encountering names like Gonzales or Singh or Nakitomi, your artist and colorist should, naturally, shade them differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Look to the background.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The texture of the world you create is often as important as the complexity of your main character. It can be subliminal, but subliminal messages totally work. Specify that you\u2019d like the fundraiser your billionaire playboy is attending to be thrown by the National Organization of Women. Or that 4 out of every 10 people on the street aren\u2019t white dudes. It might not sound like much, but it counts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong> Examine the world you\u2019re building.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you don\u2019t do any of the things above\u2014what does that world mean to the character? Shouldn\u2019t someone notice that everyone around them is homogenous? Doesn\u2019t that feel like a Twilight Zone<\/em> episode? Then lean into that. Turn a flaw into an advantage\u2014or, at the very least, acknowledge it. You might discover something great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re doing a work-for-hire book, the things in your control are limited. You won\u2019t be able to, say, turn Spider-Man into a Black\/Latino kid (unless you\u2019re Brian Michael Bendis, in which case, carry on). But you can affect change in smaller, but still important ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last thing: Remember that diversity isn\u2019t solely a skin-color thing. The world around you is different in any number of ways. Not everyone is skinny. Not everyone wants to sleep with whom you think they\u2019d want to sleep with. Not everyone is sober. Not everyone has clear skin. Not everyone is alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just another tool for the kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marc Bernardin\u2019s Devourer of Words appears the third Tuesday of every month here on<\/em> Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Marc Bernardin<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n