Thursday Thirteen: Forgotten Superheroes

My adopted son is black, and is five years old. He is currently interested in superheroes. Recently he picked up a book in the bookstore with a picture of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman on the cover. He said, “They’re all white. I wish I was white.” (he actually says “lello” when he refers to white people).

We quickly ran to the comics store and searched for a black superhero. We found a Black Panther comic, and things were better. But there wasn’t a lot of choice. In fact, at the store we were at I couldn’t really find anything.

Now to be fair to the comics industry, there have been many black superheroes — just none that have made it to the status of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. The “Museum of Black Superheroes” has quite a listing. Here are some fun ones (I’m avoiding the ones you may already know here, such as Green Lantern, Storm, Blade, Frozone, and Black Panther).

Anyone out there have any ideas for a cool black superhero?

  1. Black Lightning — DC’s first black superhero. He had an “electro-shield” that could repel bullets.
  2. Coldcast — He’s kind of cool because he starts out evil and then turns good. He has the power to manipulate energy.
  3. Gravedigger — No superpowers that I can see, just a really strong will. He has a really cool name though.
  4. Adept — A Chrstian woman with supernatural powers of analysis.
  5. Bishop – and X-man and a tough guy
  6. Arana – A black girl who is a “chosen one.” We can always use more of those!
  7. Black Goliath – I like this character because his super strength came about because of his knowledge of biochemistry. He is intelligent, he didn’t just happen to get bitten by a radioactive spider.
  8. Misty Knight – A female cop with a bionic arm.
  9. Onyx – A female hero and an ally of Batman
  10. Sasquatch – A female superhero who can turn into a bigfoot. Since I have size 14 shoes, I can’t help but like her.
  11. Postman – He has the power to make you forget selected events. I like the idea of the more subtle superpowers – things that don’t necessarily involve strength and invulnerability.
  12. Blob – A man who’s powers come from the fact that he’s really big and fat. If only fat really were a superpower, the US would have one heckuva Justice League!
  13. Steel – A man with liquid steel skin. A big tough guy that carries a hammer.
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