Tea-addict, Queer, News Curator, Makeup Junkie, Indian. She/they pronouns. Forever Crying over characters who deserved more. Also in love with Terry Pratchett's works. I yell about social justice and human rights, and grump over RL.
Hello sir! I'm an avid comic book fan, my favorite being kamala khan (if u couldn't tell haha). In the beginning issues of all new all different avengers, kamala khan was white washed so much I didn't recognize her (& was white w red hair in "Nova"). Other south Asians like myself are upset. Colorism is a huge issue in south Asian communities and having a dark superhero is very important to Pakistanis like myself. Will this problem be addressed? I greatly appreciate u answering this, thank u!
I don’t know that I can agree with you that Ms Marvel was whitewashed in Avengers–that implies intent. But there are different colonists with different approaches, and also a learning curve when it comes to new characters. We’ll keep working to do better.
Here are some exampled by the way of how much shes been white washed (as a comparison) @brevoortformspring:
(left) from ms. marvel (2014) and amazing spider-man (2014)
(right) from all new all different avengers #1 (2015)
and in this one while there is a difference between Bruno (white) and kamala, she is still a very fair and light brown, where as kamala is usually much darker (like in her original comic and previous comics listed above)
I do appreciate you @brevoortformspring answering my message and listening to this issue! I have stopped supporting any comics where Kamala has been lightened considerably, and hopefully if shes returned to her natural shade, I will be able to read her comics again :)
You didn’t send me along these examples when you asked your question. And I think you’re maybe stacking the deck here a little bit by selecting panels that reflect what you want rather than the work as a whole.
For example, above should be two other Kamala images I grabbed from Google, from her earliest appearances. I think it’s fair to say that these are more of a kind with what we’ve been doing in Avengers.
What I would suggest is that this is not some unconscious whitewashing racism being carried out by Sonia Oback and Dave McCaig and the Avengers team, but rather the kind of thing that happens when a new colorist works with unfamiliar characters. This isn’t just true of Kamala–pick your character, somebody has colored them off-model somewhere.
It’s a valid point and something to be watched out for. But for heaven’s sake, don’t attribute an honest mistake to malice afore thought.
While i do agree kamala isnt super dark, she is still lightened. It is also the fact that she has very light brown hair that makes her look even lighter, so even if you say that her skin isnt lightened “that much”, then what about her hair that makes her look more ambiguous/white? Pakistanis don’t have very light hair, the majority (99%) have dark brown or black hair.
I wouldnt be contacting you/making a big deal of this if it wasnt an issue. It would be wasting not only your time, but mine as well.
I never said your intention was malice or that the people behind this comic are evil people. I’m just saying that to please keep this in mind and if you guys claim her skin tone is the same as it is in the original comic, then could you darken her hair like it is suppose to to make her look like shes suppose too?
Also Kamala wouldnt be the first to be significantly lightened. This happens constantly-from Ororo/Storm who is very dark being lightened in some comic series, from monet st croix being lightened from her first appearance vs later appearances in xfactor investigations, it happens a lot. Me and many other fans did not want to add kamala to the list.
The reason why this isn’t a simple issue of “coloring them off-model” is like i said, the issue of colorism. Fairness and whiteness is already so highly valued in South Asian communities that having a darker character with a large nose and dark hair was very important for us. Already, Indian and Pakistani beauty industries lightened their models considerably because darkness and dark skin is associated with negative traits like being “dirty”. Fair and Lovely, a skin bleaching industry is booming in India.
So, to us fans who do not know the intent of the company, we worried that what was happening was yet again, this character was being given Eurocentric features (smaller nose, for ex) and lightened in order to be more “beautiful”.
I do not take your response as attacking or angry at me, and I hope sincerely that you do not take mine as that. I just want you to please understand where I am coming from and why this was a big issue for me and other kamala fans.
