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Post by hawksmoor on Sept 6, 2014 9:15:36 GMT -5
Chaps - I know we're all doing our own thing here, with MRP going for a Noir Vibe, Miller going for a sort of Action/Adventure Pulpy Vibe, and Buck going for...I dunno...A Batman vibe (  ) I'm going for a Moderisation kind of thing, with classical natural elements, and magic being "updated" for the modern world. Not exactly Social Media Magic, but, sort of close. But I was wondering what peoples opinions are on things like...the dreaded Race Swap? So, For Example, Making Traci and Terrance Thirteen African-Americans? Would that upset people? Or is it a question of "Why would you do that other than for the sake of it?" Because obviously, there's that question - the question of Why would you do it? If it made sense for the story, if it opened it up to a world wide thing instead of just state side? Is it even a concern for you chaps? Anyway, hopefully, this opens up discussion points? |
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Post by C_Miller on Sept 6, 2014 21:21:20 GMT -5
I'm someone who tends to play pretty fast and loose with race and sexual orientation as well. I even am making a race swap in mine. Speed Saunders is going to be Caribbean American (black) and Kendra is going to be one quarter Caribbean American. And Ed Dawson is also going to be a black American. To me, St. Roche is to be a place of cultural fusion, so I want to build a more diverse support cast out of a bunch of characters created in the white-washed mid-20th Century.
So, it doesn't really bother me, especially with how white and male the "classic" DCU can be some times. Comics in general really. But at the same time, I do think there are characters you can't change the race of because race does effect your sociological experience and change your cultural milieu. Like Batman is defined by being old money, but when it comes down to it, even that has been something that's been added to the character. So I don't know.
I say go for it though. Especially with your characters. I don't think there is a single thing about the Thirteens that make them white. If anything, Traci has sometimes been drawn as Asian despite her very white father.
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Post by buck on Sept 7, 2014 2:11:39 GMT -5
I definitely agree with Chris on this one feel free to racebend characters as you see fit.
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Post by hawksmoor on Sept 7, 2014 9:11:49 GMT -5
Yes, she was originally Asianish wasn't she? Funny, as I wrote Traci's Comicvine page a little while ago (and most of Animal Man's actually, although some guy came in at the end and summarised literally everything so I'm slowly working through that and re-writing it. Because I am anal.)
That's good. Like you say, I am not planning on essentially writing everyone the same, but their faces and hair will be different, I'm just trying to diversify a wee bit. Like, when DC made Cassandra Craft black in Phantom Stranger.
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Post by hawksmoor on Sept 27, 2014 14:17:29 GMT -5
Sorry to resurrect this thread guys, but something MRP said about a common problem in fic made me remember this, and I thought it was more appropriate to put it here than in his comments thread.
A conversation Buck and I had briefly yesterday - about the 75 years of history etc. I really do see this as an opportunity to jettison that stuff and give it an "Ultimate" make over.
Part of what attracted me to the original Ultimate Universe was the "starting again" element. Spider-Man was built up from a new angle, same with the FF and X-Men. I think it is definitely something we should aim for here. I am attempting, and trying my best, to modernise and "Ultimise" the characters I have claimed into something that A) fits the story and B) fits the world we're building. A modern, up to date world.
Plus, I can't wait for the hate mail when i introduce the Metamorphae.
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Post by C_Miller on Sept 27, 2014 18:08:51 GMT -5
BOO!
Nah, just kidding. I completely agree. For me with Hawkman, it's not so much about modernizing the characters as much as its to streamline his history. Hawkman is a super messy character and as such, there hasn't really been a definitive run on the title. Hawkman turns 75 in January and there's been a lot of great stuff on the character, but when you start to feel trapped and a slave to the continuity, it's time to jettison some. References and continuity should flavor the work, not be the work itself.
I'm also not sure how'd I'd approach modernizing an archeology professor. I'm not sure I'd want to. Oliver Queen you can turn into a Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg type. You can make Clark into a blogger. At least at Face-value you'd modernize them there. But it's hard to modernize a character that is inherently stuck in the past.
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) I'm going for a Moderisation kind of thing, with classical natural elements, and magic being "updated" for the modern world. Not exactly Social Media Magic, but, sort of close.
