Ever since I started reading comics as a kid, I’ve always been amazed by characters like Batman and Spider-Man along with their incredible adventures. But as the years went by I began to notice the lack of diversity between superheroes.

In general, heroes in DC comics are white with little to no diversity. However, some characters, like Martian Manhunter, break this stereotype. He’s a green martian who, in order to blend in among humans, disguises himself as an African-American male. While the amount of diversity has seen a significant increase in previous years, it is still not common, a perfect example being John Stewart, one of only two African-American Green Lanterns among millions of others. 

The Marvel Universe sadly suffers on the diversity front as well. Most of the characters, just like in the DC Universe, are white. Even though they might be different religions, few to no characters state it, and this can lead to a lot of stereotypical and racist assumptions since most of the characters look the same. Some, of course, break this mold. Miles Morales, the first ever African American Spider-Man was introduced the same year Obama was elected president. This change was the latest in the reboot to the Marvel Universe “All-New All-Different Marvel,” when Sam Wilson, originally known as Falcon, took the mantle as first African-American Captain America.

African-Americans aren’t the only ones lacking representation in comics. Even though characters like Nova (Sam Alexander), who is Latino, have finally received their own solo comics, it’s worth noting just how long it has taken for them to finally get some recognition since they’re always pushed to the sidelines. More recently, The Fantastic Four, starred Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, so it is safe to say that more diversity in comics may very well be in the works.