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[HNutz]

It's probably only a small fraction of the fanbase that exhibit the behavior I was referring to, but they're a vocal fraction that have no problem complaining about crap like Black Lightning being forced into the JL or John Stewart being the JL animated GL or how outrageous it is for two high-profile black characters to marry. Now, Hudlin brought most of that on himself, but other writers like Priest seem to get crap from that vocal minority for the most insignificant of things.

I wasn't a fan of the Black Panther/Storm wedding, but that was because of Hudlin's mishandling of the situation and dismissal of everything that came before. I don't think she'd even appeared in the series until that arc began.

Now, if they would have let Priest marry them off like he wanted, I'd have no complaints. He actually took things slow and developed their relationship.

[False Prophet]

I wasn't a fan of the Black Panther/Storm wedding, but that was because of Hudlin's mishandling of the situation and dismissal of everything that came before. I don't think she'd even appeared in the series until that arc began.

Now, if they would have let Priest marry them off like he wanted, I'd have no complaints. He actually took things slow and developed their relationship.

Yeah, I agree with all of that. It seemed liked there was a group of fans, though, that seemed to focus on the fact they were black more than anything else.

Make no mistake, though, Hudlin was a mediocre writer and came across as very unlikable, especially since he was always on the defensive. Pretending to be message board posters didn't help either.

[mrorangesoda]

I apologise. It definitely came out wrong. I'll reiterate my initial point: It's an easy stick to beat comics with - "There's no black writers at the Big Two". What I'm curious isn't the "Why", its "Why Not". Writers - of ANY colour, shouldnt have work handed to them, and instead should earn it

Earn it how? By writing quality work? Does anyone seriously believe that all 52 titles are being earned through quality work right now? The article even makes the point that many of the other writers are shuffled on to other projects. Mainstream comics don't seem like a meritocracy- it's about building a network of editors to get regular work from that you turn in on time. Scott Lobdell seems like exhibit A for this- his books aren't particularly well loved and on the merits they aren't that great, but his pal Bob Harras knows he will turn in something readable on time so he's writing a handful of books. Bob Harras isn't racist, he just works in a shockingly white institution. Comics have the exact same problem as Advertising (another Madison Ave based business. I doubt it's a coincidence). The point of "affirmative action" hires in environments like these is to force network people- so the Bob Harrases of the world have a roladex more diverse than the current one. Broadening a talent pool has been shown to be a positive for other industries, so the fact that journalists/fans are raising this point speaks to the ineptitude of the people in charge (the actual people in charge, not the folks fans like to get mad at)

Now (as far as I can tell), most of the black writers who would or have written comics seem to be in film/tv/animation now. The money's better there and the institutions aren't as arrayed against them, so good for them .

Also, John Stuart was awesome on the JL/JLU. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.