Marvel's white editor apologizes for his fake persona as a Japanese author

MARVEL'S new editor-in-chief issued a statement last weekend in The Atlantic apologizing for pretending to be a comics author of Japanese descent and playing that character off as real.

After two weeks when his indiscretion was exposed, the controversy hasn't died down prompting C.B. Cebulski to issue an apology for using the pseudonym Akira Yoshida for in 2005 to sell stories to Marvel comics.

Cebulski is off to a rough start in his new position as Marvel's new editor-in-chief after it was revealed that he had been writing under the Japanese pseudonym Akira Yoshida. 

As Yoshida, he was praised for his ability to write for American audiences. 

C.B. Cebulski

“I stopped writing under the pseudonym Akira Yoshida after about a year,” Cebulski told Bleeding Cool, that broke the story on Nov. 28

The response from Asian and Asian/American writers was as it could be expected saying that the reason Marvel editors liked Yoshida's stories was because he "exoticized" his Asian characters by writing them as what white people expect Asians to be.

It should be noted that Cebulski admires Japanese culture, speaks the language and gathered his knowledge of samurais and ninjas by watching Akira Kurosawa movies.

In 2015, The New Yorker’s Hua Hsu observed that the poet Michael Derrick Hudson, who was criticized for publishing under the pseudonym Yi-Fen Chou, had engaged in the practice of “Orientalist profiteering.” 

“When it comes to such hoaxes,” Hsu wrote, “it seems somehow easier to fake Asia, a land still distant and inscrutable to many Americans; while other hoaxes work because of their thoroughness and care, the Asian-themed sort often get by with only a few details, as long as those details seem just ‘Asian’ enough.”

Although there are a couple of Asian/American writers in the business, most AAPI are employed as artists. Apparently, it is easier to draw characters of whatever color than to have stories with Asian themes.

Marvel is particularly sensitive to this with their Dr. Strange and Iron Fist as examples of white characters extracting freely from Asian cultures. Marvel has also created an alternative universe with a pantheon of superheroes of color in the lead roles including Kamala Khan, a Pakistani/American Muslim girl and the new Ms. Marvel; the queer Asian/American heroine Cindy Moon, who has the powers of Spiderman; or Ta-Nehisi Coates/Brian Stelfreeze’s Black Panther.

While the characters may be diverse racially and genderwise, the stories come from white authors with attitudes towards racial issues what they "think" a person of color would act or say.

And that's the crux of the anger directed towards Marvel and Cebulski. They might talk a good game about diversity, but they don't put it into practice.

Marvel hasn't issued an statement about the new editor-in-chief's insensitive impersonation. Cebulski issued this statement:

I’m truly sorry for the pain, anger, and disappointment I caused over my poor choice of pseudonym. That was never my intention. Throughout my career in anime, manga, and comics, I’ve made it a point to listen and learn from my mistakes, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to do with this misstep. Building honest relationships with creators has always been important to me, and I’ve continued to do that in my new position. I’ve spoken with talent close to this issue, and have had candid and productive conversations about how we can improve the industry and build better stories, while being mindful of the voices behind them. My passion has always been about bringing the best talent from across the world to work on the best stories in the world, and I’m hopeful that fans and creators alike will join us in that continued mission.

Nice words.  But those words are meaningless until Marvel lives up to its ideals in the real world.

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Wonder Woman battles WWII internment of Japanese Americans

This version of Wonder Woman might be better than Gal Gadot's movie Wonder Woman.

IF COMICS are not on your list of reading material, you're missing out on a quiet, but influential, revolution shaping the world view of millions of young readers.

On Friday, (Aug. 25) the same day that Donald Trump signed a memo against recruitment of transgender Americans for the U.S. military, Texas was preparing for Hurricane Howard and on the eve of Women's Equality Day (Aug. 26), DC Comics released Bombshells United, a group of female superheroes in a reimagined alternative universe (in contrast with to the universe where Batman, Superman, and Aquaman and a whole phalanx of male superheroes dominate.)

Marguerite Bennett, one of the most influential writers in the comic books today, has a very simple mission for her stories:

"Women as people - crazy, right?"

This year, the team of super women is tackling the missing chapter in America's history books: The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. 

Indeed, the first story arc of Bombshells United is all about America’s failure to protect the rights of up to 120,000 Japanese/Americans when the federal government imprisoned them in internment camps for the duration of World War II.

In Bennett’s foray into WW II and Japanese American internment, she has cast Cassie Sandsmark and Donna Troy, as second generation Japanese/Americans whose friends and family are being held against their will.

Bennett was inspired to tell this story in Bombshells United after a trip back to her family home. She was flipping through a younger cousin’s history textbook and noticed that the chapter on World War II made no mention of Japanese American internment during the war. Perturbed, she asked to see another cousin’s high school level history textbook and found that that book made no mention of the tragedy, either.

According to Bennett, she felt that the story of the internment camps was being erased from American history. That “inspired these feelings of horror and rage and … motivation, I suppose. If this was the kind of thing that was being ignored and scrubbed out of the story (of World War II) ... if (the war) was being increasingly turned into good guys versus bad guys and one side is completely innocent and never did anything wrong … that needed to be addressed.”

She didn't want to be accused of misappropriating material that should be told by a Japanese American. She felt like she might "overstepping." However, she ultimately felt compelled to use her position as the writer of this deeply popular and historically-based series to “highlight something that should never ever be forgotten or removed from our national narrative.”

Marguerite Bennett 

Initially, Bennett expressed some reservations about whether she was the right person to tell this particular story. She said that she felt like she might be “overstepping.” However, she ultimately felt compelled to use her position as the writer of this deeply popular and historically-based series to “highlight something that should never ever be forgotten or removed from our national narrative.”

So, Bennett did a whole slew of research, talked to Asian/Americans writers and historians, read several novels about that era and visited Manzanar when she talked to some of the volunteers and survivors.

She will include a reading list of source materials so anybody who wants to learn more about this neglected chapter in American history can do so. She emphasizes that in her comic book, it is the Japanese/American community themselves who seek Wonder Woman as an ally. “I wanted to avoid a white savior thing at all costs, so I hope the power dynamics are very clear about who’s calling the shots in this story.”

Bennett said in a comicbook.com interview, “Japanese Internment needed to be addressed and kept current, especially in discussions of immigration policy and … you know, just watching history repeat itself.” Indeed, in the time between Bombshells‘ launch and now, it looks like America is heading towards repeating the same mistakes made in the past. When Donald Trump got elected as 45, Bennett began to see the whole Bombshells and Bombshells United in a new light.

While Bennett wants the comic book to be entertaining and fun, she also hopes the book proves to be an “inspiring” opportunity to learn about the history of the world – both the good and the bad. She wants readers to understand that while they may not necessarily ever have to fight an alien space god or some all-conquering evil entity, they still “have the chance to make a difference.”

'Bombshell United' super heroines

Besides  telling the story of Japanese/American Internment to a whole new generation, Bennett is able to portray a universe where women are in charge of their own stories. “I didn’t want it to be a story where (the premise was) ‘oh all the men are off and away, so I guess the women will have to do something,'” Bennett explained.

"From the start, this was an alternate history, so I didn’t want the characters spit upon or trodden under foot for the sake of selling a retro vibe," said Bennett. "From the very beginning I wanted to make sure that none of our heroines was in any way derivative of a male counterpart – the women come first in this world.

In the DC (and Marvel) universes, she says, "it tends to be a team of five dudes and one woman, and she then has to be everything, and no woman can ever be everything. With a large cast, a large number of women, they don’t have to be icons and idols, they can just be themselves," she explained. "It’s so refreshing to create the women as characters, and not as liabilities or ticking time bombs."

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Filipina American actress is the newest superhero

Sharon Leal plays a White Martian in 'Supergirl,' as depicted in the comics, left and center.

BOTH MARVEL  and DC are diversifying their comic book universes by introducing superheroes whose alter egos are characters of color.

As part of DC Comics' Rebirth, major changes include a super-powered Lois Lane, a Latina Green Lantern and a 17-year-old Superman who hails from Shanghai.

Marvel has introduced a host of Asian superheroes in their new incarnations including Silk, the  Totally Awesome Hulk, and Ms. Marvel.

Yet, none of these characters have made it to the movies or television.

Unannounced, and perhaps, unintentionally, a Filipina/American has been introduced this season into the CW Network's Supergirl. Sharon Leal plays a martian in the fantasy universe of Supergirl, so technically, she's not really a Filipina. She's not even of this planet. So maybe we're stretching things here.

When Leal's character, M'gann M'orzz arrived on Earth, she introduced herself to the other superheroes as a fellow Green Martian who had escaped Mars during the civil war between Green and White Martians. However, it was eventually revealed that she was a White Martian and had disguised herself as a Green Martian because of the stigma against White Martians as a barbaric race only interested in war.

Before learning her true identity, she was a member of the Teen Titans (not yet introduced in the TV series) and took the name “Megan Morse” as a high school student.
But the actress playing M’gann M’orzz is definitely a Filipina, born and raised in the Philippines.

“Some of my fondest memories of living in the Philippines are being in the water playing on inner tubes. I also remember my mother taking me to the open markets where I ate fresh mango and coconut. I had a huge addiction to tamarind anything..ha!" she recalled. 

"And my grandfather used to walk me to the sugarcane fields and I’d eat those like there was no tomorrow! I also remember getting my nails done at some of the nail salons there, which was always an event. My ears were pierced there with just ice and a needle…ouch!”
Thinking about home made, Sharon admits that her family has played a large part in her life. Sharon’s owes her hearty appetite to her Kapampangan mom, who loves to cook Philippine dishes for her son.

“My 10-year old son has the palate of a true Filipino… he fills up on rice and fish and loves all the food my mom prepares. I love that about him…  It’s my heritage really coming through and being filtered into an otherwise Americanized child. It’s a beautiful thing!”

“My favorite (dishes) are, of course, adobo and I have a real taste for dishes that are only appreciated by true Filipinos such as dinuguan and the treat balut. I also love fried banana lumpia (turon) which I just had this last Easter at my mom’s house. Yum!”

Because she is half-Black, most of her roles have played to that part of her heritage. The only Asian role she has had was in Miss Saigon early in her long career. 

As a White Martian in Supergirl, she would become 8-feet tall, be stronger than humans and have the ability to shape-shift into other beings and have the ability of flight.

But it is a human talent that Leal suspects earned her role in Supergirl. Her singing talent that will be in full display when the producers do a musical cross-over with the cast of Flash later this season.

Super girl airs on the CW, 8 p.m. EST, Wednesdays.