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Me Am Chinese

Grady Hendrix

16:11 / 22.06.07

I was just reading this interview on Newsarama with Joe Casey about his new miniseries IRON MAN: ENTER THE MANDARIN and despite being full of geek-wank details there isn't a single question about the biggest thing of all: how do you revive a Fu Manchu stereotype and put him in the archenemy position in 2007 without being a total wanker?

No one mentions stereotyping Asians, the relevance of the Mandarin, or why he's being dusted off as Iron Man's biggest foe at a time when the US is making pee pee in its pants as China becomes a global superpower.

Can it get any more insular and ridiculous? I know superhero fans aren't known for giving a crap about anything beyond precious continuity, but surely a site that styles itself as writing about comics might give the slightest damn?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

16:25 / 22.06.07

how do you revive a Fu Manchu stereotype and put him in the archenemy position in 2007 without being a total wanker?

Well, theoretically, if you approached it from a sufficiently postmodern stance, perhaps...? But Marvel isn't exactly known for being sensitive to those sorts of self-aware perspectives. I think if they weren't so married to their sliding time-scale you actually could get away with it, if Tony was allowed to have his full, uninterrupted background and position as an old Cold Warrior -- you could do something potentially interesting with where they were and where they are and how they relate to each other up against global politics. At best, I'd wager we'll get a slight revamp of the Mandarin to make him less of a Fu Manchu stereotype, but I'm not holding my breath.

I should really reread American Born Chinese again, that filled me with hope.

Blake Head

16:43 / 22.06.07

Well to be fair, the series is meant to actually be set in the past (of Marvel's slidy present), so there's potentially room for Iron Man and the Mandarin to be presented as having a certain sort of relationship then, and having a different one now, if not hope. Casey's Iron Man: The Inevitable had, in my opinion, a good take on a modern Stark / Iron Man having to deal with the actions of his past / past antagonists, though this might not necessarily replicate that.

Your point about mainstream comics journalism not being interested in any of those issues holds I think.

Spaniel

17:08 / 22.06.07

When Ryker first created the Corps, he basically decided to revisit what worked before—and that meant using the five original gamma powered characters as templates (Let’s call them OGPs for short. And that would be Hulk, Abomination, Leader, Harpy and Doc Samson. And no, we don’t count She Hulk because, ya know… she’s sort of just the Hulk with boobs)
~Frank Tieri @ Newsarama

Nice one Newsarama!

I'm not sure their line is so much writing about comics as being sycophantic towards, well, just about everyone in the industry.

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

18:28 / 22.06.07

"But Marvel isn't exactly known for being sensitive to those sorts of self-aware perspectives."

But Joe Casey is. Seriously, I'd be cringing at this book if it was by anyone @ Marvel other than Casey.

Hell, I'm leary of how the Mandarin has come back in the core Iron Man title.

Still, it would have been nice if the interview addressed any of those issues.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

05:06 / 23.06.07

Tony Stark should so draft Prince Philip into his never-ending war and give him some battle armour. The Mandarin wouldn't stand a chance.

Mario

14:05 / 23.06.07

Well, Jeff Parker did a decent job redeeming Yellow/Golden Claw (aka Master Plan Chu) over in Agents of Atlas....

sleazenation

19:40 / 23.06.07

You see, when I read the abstract I thought you were talking about journalism in the form of comics...

I figured that the reason for the poor state of comics journalism was that there was not enough money in it to sustain a professional press.

Grady Hendrix

03:28 / 24.06.07

I think these Yellow Peril characters can be done well, but you have to be a total bonehead, or living in a universe so insular that the best thing that could happen to it is complete and total destruction, to be doing an interview with someone who's bringing back an Evil Oriental Madman and not ask them, "Any concerns that you're exploiting a vicious stereotype most often used to villify an entire race in order to pad your paycheck?"

I guess "it's only comics!" Next up: Steppin Fetchit and the Elders of Zion get together to battle the dreaded Pickaninny. Newsarama wants to know: is this in continuity?

Spaniel

11:19 / 24.06.07

I think you've nailed it there for me, Grady. The fact that the Mandarin is being brought back is a bit of an unknown quantity at this point, but what is known is that Newsrama never fail to miss an opportunity to ask anything like a hard - dare I say journalistic - question, and, well, I think that says something unfortunate about the industry and the fanbase.

grant

14:55 / 01.08.07

So how'd this turn out, anyway? I haven't been in a comics shop in months....

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