User blog comment:Nausiated/Race and Racism in Marvel Comics - From World War II to 9/11/@comment-3012197-20110816003433

I really enjoyed this blog. It was very well written and insightful.

I think it's fascinating to use comic books as a historical reference to see how views have changed over the years. I remember when I began back reading old X-Men comics from the 60's, just how sexist they came across. Jean Grey is rarely referred to by her name outside of narration. Any character addressing her only refers to her as "doll", "gorgeous", or something to that effect. She is also frequently shown performing stereotypical woman's duties (cleaning the mansion, preparing the meals, sewing new uniforms). I understand that it was never meant to be offensive but it is interesting to see how things have progressed. Even a lot of the advertisements give windows into the past. I remember one ad in particular about a weight gain supplement for women, because no one wants a skinny wife. You would never see that ad in a comic today.

Anyway, great job again. I always found the Marvel's parallel with mutants and the civil rights movement fascinating but never realized that themes of race had gone back so far. If you are interested in a more modern comic dealing with race, you might want to check out Deadpool Max Vol 1 3 if you haven't already.