People across social media are letting their voices be heard about the frustration they are feeling because of stereotypical artwork that DC Comics released just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month.
One image was even allegedly changed without the original artist knowing. In the artwork, Jorge Molina, a freelance illustrator for DC Comics and Marvel, created a cover featuring Green Lantern holding a Mexican flag in one hand and a lantern in the other. Apparently, someone from DC Comics decided to replace the lantern with a bag of tamales.
“HAAAAAAARD to keep my mouth shut,” Molina tweeted. “All I can say is one has my signature and the other one doesn’t, go figure.”
Molina’s original artwork was created as a homage to late Mexican painter, muralist, and sculptor Jorge González Camarena and his mural Madre Patria.
There were other examples of DC Comics’ tone-deaf attempts to celebrate Latine culture through comic-book art. This includes an image of Hawkgirl dressed as a waitress and carrying plates of food at a restaurant called Platanitos Fritos; another of Jessica Cruz, a member of the Green Lantern Corp., standing over a pile of defeated supervillains and holding a taco in her hand; and another of Blue Beetle, who will become DC’s first Latino superhero to star in his own movie next summer, jumping off a building with both hands filled with tacos.
Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, who created the Puerto Rican superhero La Borinqueña, didn’t find anything positive about DC Comics’ decision to represent Latine culture in this way.
“So, [DC Comics] thinks these Hispanic Heritage Month covers of their Latin superheroes eating ethnic food is a good idea,” he tweeted. “I’ve never seen Batman eating filet mignon, Wonder Woman a gyro, or Superman tuna casserole, but this is what happens when we aren’t on the editorial team.”
Miranda-Rodriguez was far from the only person offended by the artwork. Below is a look at some of the other tweets calling out DC Comics for what Screen Rant referred to as a “travesty.” After the Batgirl/Leslie Grace debacle and now this, it’s going to take some massive work from DC to get back in the good graces of many of its Latine fans.
