Orpheus

[francisco]

This character is a she or a he? Is she/he dead or alive?

[Magnus2k]

He and dead.

[francisco]

Why did they bothered in creating him in the first place? The guy don't have more than two years of existence and is already dead.

[S.A. Parvaze]

Oh, you know, they were trying to make Gotham a little more demographically acceptable...and it flopped.

[francisco]

You mean because Orpheus was black?
Well, you might be right. As a matter of my main problem with the comic industry in general is that most of the time when a company creates a comic character that just happens to be from a ethnic or cultural minority they make a big deal of it. Orpheus couldn't be just a new member of the bat-crew, no he had to be the new "black" member of the bat-crew.
Then you have those moronic “fans” who think that they won’t be able to relate to a character that is not of the same ethnicity or culture. I think they are all Kryptonians and playboy millionaires.
:rolleyes:

[123456897]

sucks that he died.

He had real potential being a slightly more gadget dependent version of batman (like mr. terrific).

he had an arm computer, sonic guns on his wristbans capable of considerable force, his helmet had good scanners.

Lots of potential.

[Blake Petit]

Okay, I gotta say this -- I never saw them make a big deal out of the fact that Orpheus was black. Granted, I didn't read the original mini that introduced him, but in subsequent appearances he was just another hero in Gotham that had a tenuous working relationship with Batman. Heck, I didn't even realize he WAS black until I finally saw a panel in "War Games" with his mask off. And even then, nobody talked about it. Being black was a character trait, but it wasn't a plot point, and that's how it should be, I think.

[Cardiac]

Didn't he basically run a prodominantly black neighbourhood?

[Blake Petit]

Honestly, I don't know. That's how little an issue they made of it.

[Kevin Reeves]

Yeah, he got a pretty raw deal. I like Onyx, though. Maybe she'll be more developed by the writers as time marches on. In fact, isn't she still in Gotham? I think so! There's hope for the positive black Gotham role model yet.

[Kevin Reeves]

...besides prominent businessman Lucius Fox, of course. And the delightful Shondra (Sandra?) Kinsolving of spine-healing fame, who I think may still be in a mental health facility somewhere rebuilding her psyche.

[Bad_Monkey]

Originally posted by Cardiac
Didn't he basically run a prodominantly black neighbourhood?

The Hill is a low income area of town. Not necessarily a black neighborhood, but a poor neighborhood.

[123456897]

They made a big deal about him being black in his oppening mini. He was supposed to be something that black people (in the actual comic world) could look up to and associate with. Also while the hill is low income he seemed to be focusing most of his attention on getting rid of black gangs, at least in the mini.

After that he became much less ethnicly centered.

And I see i'm not the only one to notice that as soon as one black hero is killed of another takes their place.

Anyways, wasted potential.

[Blake Petit]

Like I said, I never read the original mini. But really, I don't care if a character is black, white or paisley, I just want an interesting character. I'm not saying that Orpheus wasn't, I'm just saying that I don't take race into account when I'm reading.