In The Margins — Eight Most Important Black Comic Characters Part 1

Welcome to In The Margins, a column dedicated to spotlighting comic creators and characters who belong to often marginalized groups. All too often in our society, the focus falls upon the same individuals, generally those who identify as cisgender heterosexual white males.

In this space we seek to celebrate these creators and characters and what they represent within the sphere of comics and society in general.

February is Black History Month, which is a fitting time to begin this new column. We’re going to do something particular this month with the column. I’ve chosen eight Black comic book characters that I view as truly important. There are so many others that are also important, naturally, but each of these have a very particular reasoning behind their choice.

Each column entry this month will focus on two characters. We’re kicking it off with some biggies as we turn our focus to the weather goddess herself Ororo Munroe, Storm, and the architect activist with amazing will power John Stewart, the Green Lantern.

Storm

Truly one of the greatest characters in comics.

Oh, I guess that’s not really enough now is it (though those words sum up Storm’s importance and overall my love for the character).

There’s a million reasons to love Ororo and to put her on a list like this — One of the most powerful characters around, a true blue leader, a caring friend, a kind soul, who is also a badass who fights hard, and one of the most prominent X-Men characters around.

It’s that last one that really stands tall. Not only is Storm one of the most prominent X-Men, she’s one of Marvel Comics’ most prolific and well-known female characters period. Which, not to diminish her in any way, isn’t saying a ton with Marvel’s spotty track record when it comes to any women appearing in their books.

So many eras undercut how important and powerful Storm is as a character. Making her the leader of the X-Men, while I’m a big time Cyclops guy, was inspired and it fits her so well. It’s why so many writers struggle with her because if she’s not the leader, they don’t know what to do with her. The character is so naturally a perfect fit to be a leader. Who wouldn’t follow that woman into battle or anything else?

Having a powerful Black woman as the leader of this team and as a presence within the Marvel Universe is a big thing. While there are still issues around how Marvel depicts her (the coloring issues throughout the last decade alone…), there is no denying the presence that the character has. She’s part of basically every adaptation of the team in other media. She’s always a senior member of the team and a guiding spirit for her comrades.

There are many things about the current X-Men comics that I’m against, but Storm having her own series and being on the Avengers are not part of that list. Generally, many of the X-Men cannot support their own long-term solos because the X-Men are a package deal family soap opera situation. Ororo is one that I argue very much could have a long term run that would even rival Logan.

Current X-Line leadership might crap on and try to distance from the Krakoa era all the time, but it was a period of time where Storm fans ate well. Leader of Arakko with her whole book and journey, oh gosh do I miss it.

Green Lantern

Ask who is Green Lantern to a large part of a particular generation and they’re going to instantly say John Stewart.

A large part of that comes from the fact that Stewart was the Green Lantern for the 2000s DC animated universe Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series. Try not to think of the character while hearing Phil LaMarr’s distinctive voice. While it was Hal Jordan that got the tap for the much-maligned movie and the short-lived Green Lantern animated series, Stewart remains one of the top Lanterns in the rotation. He also appeared in Young Justice, Teen Titans Go!, and even had his own animated film Green Lantern: Beware My Power a few years ago.

Tapped as Hal Jordan’s backup originally, the character was a big change from Jordan in a lot of ways. There was naturally some pushback from the White man about how Stewart (surprise, surprise) had issues with authority figures and the system. There whole first adventure involved a racist politician, a Black assassin, and it all being a staged thing by the politician.

After taking over for a briefly retired Jordan, Stewart eventually got his own ring upon Jordan’s return. There was a bunch of the stuff around that time with murders, extradition to an African nation prison, breakouts, fights again apartheid, and more. During one of the missions John was meant to protect the planet Xanshi but arrogance and a yellow metal bomb led to the planet’s destruction. Millions died and the guilt and shame colored Stewart’s stories for a very long time.

Despite all that, the character has remained one of the top Green Lanterns. Leading his own books or Corps books multiple times. Even during the period of time that the Corps were destroyed, they still found room to use Stewart, such as one of the short-lived Darkstars alongside some other former Lanterns.

Having such a powerful Black character amongst the Corps has meant a lot. Yes, the Corps are essentially a police force, so there are a lot of things that brush up against this, but it still means a lot, especially since with his architecture activist mind John comes at things very differently than Jordan, Guy Gardner, or Kyle Rayner.

It’s been noted many times in canon that Stewart’s constructs are some of the most powerful in the Corps. That’s because unlike others, his are not generally hollow inside. They are considered and conceived from the inside out, down to the most intricate details. His architecture brain is always working and using it to his absolute advantage.

We’re about to get a whole new Stewart version in the upcoming Lanterns live action series from DC Studios with Aaron Pierre taking on the role. It’s John Stewart’s world and we’re just wonderfully living in it.