It's Just Hair, Folks....

Mighty Avengers is a very special treat and if you're not reading it, you're missing out on some damn good reading with a lineup mostly comprised of heroes of color. If someone had told me I'd be reading a comic that builds on the Blue Marvel's story in such a compelling way, I'd have laughed right in their face. For all the fanwhining about a lack of focus on diversity and gender politics, this title (and some others) is one that breaks a lot of those rules.

One of my personal favorite things about this book (other than Luke Cage) is the addition of Monica Rambeau. Every once in a blue moon, someone finds a decent venue to bring her back and this is probably as good as premise as any. She's one of these characters that has basically had her entire history built upon being "that hero that's quietly been around for years." One major complaint has been Spectrum (as she now calls herself) now appearing with relaxed hair after most of the character's lifespan being her with either a fro or locs. One comment I read even went so far as to say that Marvel had "whitewashed" her (which, by the way, is ABSOLUTELY NOT what whitewashing means).

You know, as a nerd of color, I tend to get excited about and welcome when "our" issues are addressed in comic culture. That's an enormous part of why I signed on to work at Black Nerd Problems. However, there are a couple of issues that get way too much airtime from the Black Blogsphere I prayed would not creep into comics. Chief among them is the "natural hair vs. permed hair" wars. Extreme "natural" ideologues shout down the people who perm their hair and those who perm their chastise the "naturals", believing them to be elitist. This argument is older than many of us realize and, to my great disappointment, isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Now, we're not going to talk about that because I don't have the time or the energy this week to open myself up to yet another brand of trolling. We WILL talk about the merits of attaching such a debate to a fictional character.

Spoiler Alert: There are none.

It's the same problem as I've explained previously about Superman. Once you begin inventing values for a character (which, often times, means you're attaching your own) because they can't speak for themselves unless the writer makes it so, you start internalizing the narrative you've had a hand in creating. And it's a rather flawed narrative. I mean, as far as I can tell (and you're free to correct me if I'm wrong), I've never read a comic in which Monica Rambeau said anything that would leave me to believe she stood on either side of the natural/perm argument or that she even acknowledges it at all. I mean, Luke Cage used to have an afro, he shaved all his hair off and I don't remember there being any backlash about that.

Then again, it's best to not get me started on the strange double standard forced upon women, fictional or otherwise in nerd culture. That's a whole other post

Honestly, I think making Monica/Captain Marvel/Photon/Spectrum's hair was a fiercely bold move on Marvel's part. Because if you want to accurately depict people of color in your medium, you have to capture all sides of the spectrum realistically. Some of us stand fierce to certain hairstyles, some of us use our hair to make statements, some of us just don't give a shit. But like Monica, ALL of us can't, won't, and shouldn't be defined completely by our hair. Because it's just hair.