The TRUTH About Black Characters & Creators | The Lanterns Effect

I haven’t watched Lanterns and I’m not reviewing it. I want to talk about the conversation around it: why black characters in mainstream entertainment so often lead with hardship, why that’s become predictable enough to be boring, and what it costs the characters themselves.

My character Isom is named after my great-great-great-grandfather, Isa, who was born a slave and died a property owner. Knowing that history is part of why I write the way I do. Isom and Sydnee Bloodruth are black characters, but being black is not their defining trait, because if you want people to stay with a character for years, they have to be someone you relate to first.

There’s also a real pressure on creators here, and it isn’t only coming from audiences. The people funding this material expect a certain framing, and creators know what gets them called a sellout. I’ve been called worse for saying original characters should be interesting first, while running a company whose lead character is among the best selling black characters in independent comics by actual sales.