The industry jumped on the diversity train so fast that it lost its novelty in just a few publication cycles. No novelty stays novel forever.

This sounds like an immediate face plant. 😂 If Vita can be said to have written “X-Men” because the New Mutants are X-Men characters, then my episode of YOUNG JUSTICE allows me to say I’ve written New Gods, Milestone, Legion of Superheroes and Green Lantern.

I think the Muslim exorcist best describes the stated intent of "this story would be different if told from X group instead of Y group." Some are quite interestung but we're at the point where you either have to lead well with the "minority" angle or just ignore it because surface level changes don't matter anymore; if they evver did.

I have no problem with more diverse characters or "perspectives." But there's a glaring issue that no one seems to talk about. Milestone was a high-profile initiative for marginalized people to be seen and heard. And despite initial interest, it died a fairly quick death. Even the big Superman crossover didn't help generate interest. Now we're watching as it's revival struggles to make a splash. It seems like marginalized characters did a lot better when the publishers weren't posting big neon signs that pointed out that the character was a minority. It's almost like getting in people's faces about it has the opposite effect. Who knew?

A Chinese James Bond as in he works for the Chinese government?

Some things I like here: the stated goal of this line is that it is an experiment and they want to use it to learn. Also, I’ll always support creating original charactars. My question however is, whether the books succeed or fail, what will be the lessons learned?

"This is our African American book" is a yawn. "This is 'The Evil Dead' starting the Wu-tang Clan" is a way to open my wallet. Yet which do they lead with?

The werewolf thing sounds interesting but only because I like werewolves, Also I thin reverse Indiana Jones would work better if he was stealing from rich collectors instead of museums.

This concept would work better as a Jump style release.

Chinese James Bond…so I’m supposed to root for the Chinese government’s espionage efforts against us? Because who is the primary target of the Chinese government’s espionage efforts? This is such a tone deaf idea.

For what it’s worth, I would absolutely buy a werewolf comic written by Tananarive Due. She’s written some really great horror novels and short fiction, so that’s probably the title I’d be most interested in checking out.

Here’s the problem and it’s a critical one: when you adopt the mindset that you are a “marginalized group“ marginalize to whom? I’m not a white guy, but I’m not marginalized for any soul on this planet. Somethings just aren’t mine and I deal with it like that. Just create something that’s interesting and compelling and build the audience up from there. If it’s good, it will find his audience if it’s not, then it won’t. It’s definitely not going to find an audience when the creator of the series feels such pity that it calls the characters they are creating marginalized. #HardPass.

It’s also exclusionary. What, I’m not allowed to write something set in Bukhara because I’m not Uzbek? But the Silk Road is a badass background for a story!

Hey Adam! Kpop at 10:51!

The Energon Universe started off well. Even some of my normie friends who use to be comic readers are interested in reading Transformers and GI Joe. Unfortunately, with the start of Scarlett I don’t think the quality will hold up. So if we could have kept the Energon Universe going well, comics might have been able to pull themselves out of the tailspin they seem to be going in.

I’ll never understand why the idea of “just write good stories” will always elude them

Isn’t Pornsak Picheshote the name of that guy from Perfect Strangers

'Each one-shot is the equivalent of a pilot...' We can see where this is going. I'm sure free copies of the comics will be sent to every TV company and streaming service. Once again, comics are trying to be used as a stepping stone to what the people involved really want to do. Which ISN'T comics.

The article you read, unlike comic pros on Twitter, doesn't come off as abrasive, so that's actually really good. I haven't read The Good Asian, but the reviews I read were mostly positive, so I guess it's mildly successful for the people who like it. I think it's weird they're highlighting the diversity first, and story second. What if the story is bad? Is the expectation that people just say "man, this comic sucks because of this and that... but phew, at least it's diverse!"? I feel like people would say, "I can't believe we got a crap story about a diverse character... I wish we got a good story with a diverse character".

The funny thing about reverse Indiana Jones is, if it’s actually going to be “Indiana Jones,” they’re going to have to make these museums they’re seemingly going to be shitting on these cool places full of traps and secret passageways or whatever. Like if the character of that comic book is getting up to Indiana Jones type stuff, or Mission: Impossible steal the NOC list from the CIA style heist, they’re going to have to present these “evil” museums has these hyper super cool places worth having that type of story take place in. Indiana Jones is a treasure hunter because the locations he has to go to, to find whatever are cool.

The idea of doing a book about a Muslim "occult detective" is interesting, particularly if it revolves around occult magic in the Islamic world. One set in Africa would be pretty interesting, too. Ideas about magic and the cultural contexts in which they appear are different in those areas of the world than what we normally see in comics. If they did a good job of exploring those ideas, that would be the selling point for me.

Ryan George interview when?

I admit I wouldn't look twice at a comic because it had "marginalized" characters or "marginalized" creators. When I started reading comics (early 60s DC) there were no credits in the comic as to who wrote or drew them. I might like a comic with hot, well drawn women who, I guess, would be considered marginalized these days because the woke hate attrative people.

Sore-throat (I'm guessing) Perch sounds like Rod Serling, especially in that opening monologue. I don't know. Maybe it's just where he recorded.

Very good article, taking a controversial issue without sounding alarmist. But also summing up the challenges this new venture faces.. As Perch sums it up, comics starring white male characters are already facing challenges. How much more for marginalized characters who may have a more limited appeal. The farther you move away from the industry standard, the harder it will be to find success. By the way, Milestone Comics also tried to focus on marginalized characters.

I like the Muslim Exorcist idea, could be cool… but who’s drawing it?! African werewolves is interesting … but again, who’s drawing it? Can they actually draw werewolves. I’m very picky.

X-Men and New Mutants are littered with characters of different ethnicities and religions, reason why they are so beloved is because they have distinct personalities, backstories, and complex characterizations. Additionally, they all have their cultural backgrounds play integral parts to their character's mindsets (Peter was Soviet so he values individual sacrifice for the common good, Dani hates cowboy stories and hates oppression, Nightcrawler's Christian faith saved his sanity or else he'd blow his brains out etc.) Modern comic writers are lazy and make the characters usually stereotypes with no complexity past superficial features. Storm is the most iconic African comic book character of all time if not all of pop culture, and her backstory has nothing to do with racism as it does how she grew up orphaned due to a war in Kenya and how she grew to be worshipped as a goddess for her mutant powers and how ultimately her time with the X-Men slowly started changing her sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (Punk Storm phase) but in the end she still grew very much into a leader who had edge but also still retained most of her compassion.

There's a difference between "thoroughly explored" and "thoroughly pandered to."

What does “diverse” even mean? Is manga “diverse”? They’re all Asian, but in Japan they’re not diverse, and the characters don’t act any differently than I would. And when they say “diverse” it’s not the actual meaning of “diverse”, they just mean there’s black people in it.

Sorry, but the creative teams names alone is enough to keep me from purchasing any of these books. Vita Ayala? J. Holtham? Come on now. Do we really need Afro Latina Lesbian Tomb Raider?

waiting for the right conversation on this issue w the folks in the chat...

People don't want stories about an all white guy... but... what if he's an ALBINO? Which made me think... why aren't there more stories about albino vigilantes who go out at night and fight crime? If they can't walk around in the sun, then the solution is to all their stuff at night. And then from there, if a criminal sees this albino guy walking around at night, with pale skin, he'll think he's a vampire, like Nosferatu if the albino guy is bald. So I think they should publish an Elseworld comic where Bruce Wayne was albino. Or a Nosferatu comic, but with a twist: the vampire isn't actually a vampire, he's just an albino guy.

I'm all for people creating new characters, stories, and franchises. Western entertainment needs that. Quality should always be the main focus, though.

My boy Perch working off a script!!! Nice work

At some point the company you keep is a reflection of you. And any editor that thinks Vita Ayala and her track record is someone to scout and hire is a reflection of the quality of this whole project.

A Muslim John Constantine could be interesting.

Wait which country is Chinese James Bond spying for?

See how good your videos can be when you work from a script instead of off the cuff from your car? Good points. Great video.

K-Pop!!!!

2018? Oh no that wasn’t good era from vertigo. I read Hex Wives. That comic is Awful. I looked up Pichetshote on DC wiki. Apparently He been editor in Vertigo way before 2018. The earliest comic he was editor was 2007 by Army @ Love by Rick Veitch. Did you know Pichetshone was editor of G.Willow Wilson comic way back in 2008? 3:08 He clearly didn’t read Any Juni Ba’s creator owned work. 6:00 So he didn’t read Compass, an image comic with Muslim archaeologist protagonist that promote by Greg Recka himself? That premise you read, sounds exactly what Stephanie Williams would write. Hahaha Black Hitler is that real? Vita Ayala….. ugh. Speaking of Werewolves from East African Culture did anyone read Bitter Roots? Did anyone Read Farmhand? Both horror genre with Black Protagonist. What your thoughts on those comics? 7:10 I hate New Iron Fist. He only good as Swordmaster. Pei should been the New Iron Fist. Pichetshote is being oblivious that Image, Dark Horse, and Boom having been doing these stories for years. And most(not all) did in fact focus on good story telling. If Pichetshote tries too hard and focusing on marginalized audience alone will ended like bad stories like White Savior from Dark Horse or Save Yourself from Boom. I read those two I can say they are awful and dated. Here is a bonus, Rogue Gallery from Image is also terrible. Basically a story about Toxic fans. It is so bad. Good art but bad story. I hope their TV adaption gets shelved. 8:48 Or Daredevil a man who is blind. It not like constantly make himself being blind is his only identity. There more to it and it get more an audience. All types of people. I didn’t like Iron Fist because he is white. I like him because he good story telling and adventures. His supporting cast. His friendship with Luke Cage. Danny being a Teacher to Victor Alvarez and Pei. And best of all his powers. But know Danny Rand being Iron Fist is problematic because he White and as twitter said only Asian do marital arts. They should watch that Everyone hates Chris episode with Asian kid saying just because he is Asian doesn’t mean he is good at math. I don’t like MCU Iron Fist Show. Only one thing I like from that show is Davos. Best Character.

Sounds like mainstream writers from failed TV shows and other woke shit

Stories featuring "marginalized" characters...when that's about every story they make nowadays, I don't think they qualify as marginalized characters anymore.

If the description of a story starts by explaining the character’s background or sexuality I stop reading. I won’t be picking up any of these books.

I dont care who the creator is, I care if the story is good.

Tiresome

LOL

i think you are overreacting. I would buy any one of these comics.

Hard pass...

This stuff is just dump like why do you have to put this right out front write good stories not this garbage

This take is BOTH disingenuous and inaccurate. I’m really not sure where to start. 1. Just to get this out of the way. People complain about legacy characters being replaced by new diverse characters. You tell people to create their own original diverse characters and properties. Then when those new diverse characters are created they still fucking complain… It seems what some people really want is for original diverse characters to just not exist at all or not be acknowledged as such. It’s disingenuous bull. 2. The point of the imprint is to tell ORIGINAL stories from different perspectives. A Japanese “James-Bondish” spy thriller book set in Japan is going to look and feel very different than a fucking British or French one. This is blindingly obvious… That difference helps make the story unique and potentially interesting… A horror story told from a South African background is going to look very different than one told in Transylvania in Eastern Europe… I’m not sure how the hell that is even difficult to understand. 3. Again, you’re wrong about the success of stories that include “diversity” as a major driving point. Yes, if that’s all a project talks about then it will not be successful…Sure. BUT there are plenty of projects that highlighted specific groups to major success… Black Panther and Wonder Woman being two easy and clear examples of successful diverse movies. Hell, half of Disney’s 90’s renaissance was based off of this idea. Aladdin, Mulan, Pocahontas, etc are examples of diversity done “right.” Now, maybe diversity is not a major selling point in modern comic book shops, idk the data on that.. BUT, unlike what you’ve claimed we have NOT had a plethora of ORIGINAL diverse characters that are NOT also legacy characters in comics over the past decade. Making a new “black Iron Man” is not at all the same as what this imprint claims to be doing… Making original characters and properties. Regardless, the truth is, there aren’t even that many comic book readers around to get a meaningful measurement in the first place. Using an incredibly niche, insulated, and seclusive market to argue against the importance of diverse stories is flawed to begin with. Especially for indie titles. 4. All that being said, having an imprint of ORIGINAL stories and characters being told from DIFFERENT perspectives sounds like a great idea. It allows new stories to be told that might look and feel different. Whether or not it’s successful honestly has virtually nothing to do with either diversity or the “quality” of the story at this point. The book will only be successful if it’s adequately marketed to a large enough audience, either inside or outside of the normal comic book store audience… Monstress Invincible Deadly Class Lazarus Black Science Criminal Briar Grim Klaus Once and Future Are all great original books that currently have a very limited audience. The quality of the books doesn’t help much when no one knows about them in the first place. Alternatively, if you compare them to just a few new manga titles that I’m reading, they pale in comparison to success. Gokurakugai Kaiju No 8 Jujutsu Kaisen Kagurabachi Chainsaw Man These many books are honestly no better than the indie comics I listed. But they have a much BETTER marketing strategy and AUDIENCE. Kaiju No 8 just had an anime released this year based on the manga. Thats what’s driving more people to watch it… Only then does the quality of the story start to matter… In conclusion… Each one of the “diverse” comic books listed sounds fairly interesting. And in the United States, stories about ORIGINAL diverse backgrounds and characters can be very successful. BUT they cannot be successful without adequate marketing regardless of how “good” the story even is… My opinion.