Set Phasers to "Racist"
Posted at 10:04 AM Oct 28, 2008
Remember the good old days of the far-off future, when Uhura was white and Sulu was a black man with an inexplicable Japanese last name? Of course you don't, because you never owned A Mirror of Futility, a Star Trek comic and record set for kids from sometime in the '70s. Says Comic Mix (who believes the first story might have been drawn by Neal Adams):
And it's not a random fluke, either—because in the second story drawn by the late great John Buscema, "The Time Stealer", it happens again. (It also features an appearance by someone who looks very close to Conan, but that's another story.)
Clearly, Star Trek has always has licensing problems. Still, you have to wonder how this happened—did no one who worked on the comic ever watch the show? Did the character roster fail to point out that Sulu was Japanese and Uhura was black? Did the makers just hate Japanese men and love the white women? Or all of the above?
Comments
CODE BLUE No entering a quadrent under any cercomstance and GERRAL ORDER 24 withina 24 hour period to wipe a planet clean out from orbit
Posted 10/28/2008 at 08:00:21 AMHey FLU-BIRD...
Posted 10/28/2008 at 09:11:48 AMWhat in THE crusty fuck are you blathering about?
The more likely explanation is that they were still working in what's known as "the Marvel method," that is, the artist is given a barebones breakdown of what should be happening where, while in a completely separate location the writer scripts it out. The two are smooshed together, usually at the last minute while an editor raves insanely and waves around a cigar. Don't even get me started on where the colorist and letterer were in this process.
Posted 10/28/2008 at 10:36:30 AMRemember that Neal Adams thinks the Earth is hollow, shrinking, and has some other intelligent race living inside it - and wrote a huge comic story attempting to popularize that view.
Incredible artist? Absolutely, we all revere his artwork. Not quite in tune with reality? Demonstrably!
Wouldn't be surprised if someone at the publisher thought it was "Mr. Zulu" and wrote it that way, which might explain drawing him as a black guy. Uhura as white... who knows?
Posted 10/28/2008 at 11:09:31 AMPower Records, for licensing reasons that only an attorney could make sense of, were required to not use any likenesses of the tv show characters other than Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty. The artwork was already finished when the artists were given the order, so instead of redrawing the Uhura and Sulu characters, they lazily colored Uhura white with blond hair and drew an afro over the Sulu art. Even the animated Trek's M'Ress wasn't safe, as she was redrawn to resemble a Orion slave girl instead of her established cat-like appearance. This is the gospel truth and not speculation. Several years ago I worked under one of the color seperators for Peter Pan Records and he gave me the lowdown, shaking his head the entire time.
Posted 10/28/2008 at 11:54:19 AMHere are some comparison pics -
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/treksulu1.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/treksulu2.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/trekuhura1.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/trekuhura2.jpg
The John Buscema issues look to be drawn after the initial Passage To Moauv issue, accounting to Black Sulu looking more...well, black.
Posted 10/28/2008 at 12:42:59 PMAmazing! What wonders of knowledge the Internet brings!
I guess this sorta goes with the saying, "if it looks like a conspiracy, it's probably just incompetence."
Posted 10/28/2008 at 02:40:37 PMHere are some of the doctored panels, followed by the originally intended pics -
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/trekuhura3.jpg
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee347/shortbuscomix/treksulu3.jpg
Posted 10/28/2008 at 03:36:33 PM