The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Benderbrau** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:14 pm

Sitebreaker wrote:
no.. she's too "dark."

Which begs the question: why are there black people in Atlantis? If dark skin is an evolutionary mutation brought on to protect the skin from intense exposure to the sun then why would it exist in people who live deep in the ocean far from sunlight?

by **Greg** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:18 pm

Benderbrau wrote:Which begs the question: why are there black people in Atlantis? If dark skin is an evolutionary mutation brought on to protect the skin from intense exposure to the sun then why would it exist in people who live deep in the ocean far from sunlight?

Black Mantis is his pops.

by **Benderbrau** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:20 pm

Greg wrote:Black Mantis is his pops.

Oh yeah, that's right.

by **Strict31** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:48 am

Benderbrau wrote:Which begs the question: why are there black people in Atlantis? If dark skin is an evolutionary mutation brought on to protect the skin from intense exposure to the sun then why would it exist in people who live deep in the ocean far from sunlight?

Actually buddy...Man first walked upright in Africa. Pale skin is the..."mutation" as you call it.

Now, I suppose you're looking for scientific logic from a setting in which human-looking people breathe water and whatever, which is fucking not possible. These fuckers probably wouldn't even be humanoid, because that form is optimized for walking on land. There ain't a single goddamn humanoid animal currently living under the sea, white or black.

So, if you've accepted this conceit of the genre, that Atlanteans look just like land-dwelling folks, but are looking for a sensible reason why some of them would be black...well, I'm just sayin'.

by **Benderbrau** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:16 am

Strict31 wrote:Actually buddy...Man first walked upright in Africa. Pale skin is the..."mutation" as you call it.

It's an adapation brought on by exposure to an environment, in this case intense UV exposure. Something that's not going to exist at the bottom of the ocean. But the point is moot because, as Greg reminded me, Aqualad's father wasn't Atlantean.

by **rdrsfn82** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:51 am

Greg wrote:
Black Mantis is his pops.

No, he's not.

Black Manta is his dad, Black Mantis sounds like a Spider-Man villain.

by **Greg** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:46 am

rdrsfn82 wrote:
No, he's not.

Black Manta is his dad, Black Mantis sounds like a Spider-Man villain.

You got me.

by **KingPagla** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:51 am

Benderbrau wrote:It's an adapation brought on by exposure to an environment, in this case intense UV exposure. Something that's not going to exist at the bottom of the ocean. But the point is moot because, as Greg reminded me, Aqualad's father wasn't Atlantean.

Strict is still right: Pale skin is the adaptation.

by **Greg** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:52 am

KingPagla wrote:Strict is still right: Pale skin is the adaptation.

When is Strict never?

by **Timbales** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:05 am

Artemis shouldn't be blonde.

by **Grayson** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:14 am

Timbales wrote:Artemis shouldn't be blonde.

Her hair is blonde because her dad's hair is blonde and he's the Sportsmaster. Maybe his recessive genes are just better athletes than Artemis mom's dominant genes.

by **Timbales** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:21 am

Sakie wrote:
Her hair is blonde because her dad's hair is blonde and he's the Sportsmaster. Maybe his recessive genes are just better athletes than Artemis mom's dominant genes.

Yeah, but her skin tone is darker like her mom's. Gene traits tend to stay together - dominant with dominant/recessive with recessive.

by **Grayson** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:34 am

Timbales wrote:Yeah, but her skin tone is darker like her mom's. Gene traits tend to stay together - dominant with dominant/recessive with recessive.

Hey, I just said that his genes may be better athletes. I never said they couldn't be lazy or well defined.

by **draco x** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:10 am

Timbales wrote:Artemis shouldn't be blonde.

Better yet she should be a red-haired Amazon like her comic-book counterpart.

by **Strict31** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:10 am

Benderbrau wrote:It's an adapation brought on by exposure to an environment, in this case intense UV exposure. Something that's not going to exist at the bottom of the ocean. But the point is moot because, as Greg reminded me, Aqualad's father wasn't Atlantean.

All that means is that he is part-human. I've known a number of mixed race folks with black dads and white moms, and they were indistinguishable from white people.

But as I pointed out, pale skin is not the base condition of humanity. Perhaps it is for human-looking people who evolved under the sea....or...perhaps an imaginary race can look like anything the writers and artists feel like.