Cloak & Dagger (2010) #1 cover by Mark Brooks | Marvel Images | Downloads & Extras | Marvel.com
The return of a Cloak & Dagger solo series is a good thing, but it also gives me a moment to reflect on C&D's place in Marvel comics.
Cloak and Dagger's 1982 appearance coincides with Ronald Reagan's conservative revolution taking hold. There are many elements of the Reagan revolution that bear examination, but the legacy from the "war on drugs" continue to affect us today. The explosion of crack cocaine and the gang culture related to it had a powerful effect on American cities. While many people don't remember, the origin of Cloak and Dagger was very much a reflection of this societal concern.
Tyrone "Ty" Johnson (Cloak) and Tandy Bowen (Dagger) met as runaways in New York. Experimented on by criminal trying to create synthetic heroin, they were given superhuman powers. Not surprisingly, they were retconned to be mutants (the drugs only awakened their power--less chance of questionable drug message). Regardless, the early appearances and motivations of Cloak and Dagger are filled with a context linked to drugs and subtext of race, gender, and power.
As I have written about in the past, Marvel's initial introduction of African-American characters was both a reaction to and an amplification of the civil right movement's demand for social equity in the 1960s. By the 1970s, Marvel creators and editors reacted to Black Power criticism with the creation of characters such as Luke Cage and the transformation of characters such as Bill Foster aka Black Goliath. While creators hoped to make these character relevant to the black power's emphasis on the struggle to protect the community, in practice these character presented fractured understanding of the crusade against structural racism voiced by African-Americans in the 1970s.
In many ways, the commercial success of African-Americans in the media throughout the 1970s demonstrates the confusion within mainstream society about African-American agency in the aftermath of the end of "de facto" segregation. Marvel, like other media outlets, moved back towards a more conservative social stance emphasizing individual responsibility as key to societal success. Like much of the American public, the complexity of African-American critique against structural barriers built upon race privilege was missed. African-American characters could not and did not disappear from media, instead their agency and actions was filtered through cultural assumptions all too often tied to stereotypes of African-American motivation and desire. These assumptions are not necessarily conscious to the creator (and perhaps to the readers), but the tropes of race and culture remain in these depictions.
In the case of Cloak and Dagger, the pairing of black male character and white female character can be understood as playing on classic concerns about miscegenation that work to powerfully to define black and white identity in the United States. In their origins, Tyrone (Cloak) is seized by a strange hunger which is only eased in the presence of Tandy (Dagger), who glows with a brilliant light.
Thus, one major trope of the C & R relationship is Cloak's(a young black man) constant need to consume Dagger (a blond white woman)---metaphorically. Worst, Cloak's transformation has made him beastly, often depicted on the verge of loosing control and consuming any and all wrongdoers. At the same time, Tandy's transformation has made her into an angelic being of light. Indeed, only Dagger's light can control Cloak's darkness, playing (subconsciously) on classic white stereotypes of African-American men coveting white women and extending it into this super-heroic pairing.
Whatever the symbolism, Cloak and Dagger stated goal is to stop drug dealers and protect runaways. While the Cloak & Dagger have supported long running series, they have made constant appearances pursuing this goal. Those appearances in the 1980s and 1990s continued to link the characters to the fight against drugs and struggles to support and protection youth against exploitative elements in society.
Throughout these appearances, the relationship between Cloak and Dagger has remained in question. Heroes and villains constantly try to separate Dagger from Cloak. Romantically linked, their relationship remains marred by Tyrone's need to feed on Tandy's light. There are many unhealthy relationship in comics. So, at some level this is not unique (Scott Summers.....nuff said). On the other hand, the subtext of race represented by Cloak and Dagger remains one that draws my attention. To be sure, Cloak and Dagger are only one example of the intersection between race and culture in comics in the 1980s. There are other examples and many of those examples are positive. Still, in the world of superhero comic, Marvel remains the place where identity has been a factor shaping stories in explicit way.
While the C & D have made appearances in recent major storyline such as House of M, Civil War, and Dark Reign they haven't had a solo series until now. The return of the Cloak and Dagger in their own book probably means a return to New York and the problems posed by drugs and child exploitation. It will be interesting to see what we get from the new series.
The return of a Cloak & Dagger solo series is a good thing, but it also gives me a moment to reflect on C&D's place in Marvel comics.
Cloak and Dagger's 1982 appearance coincides with Ronald Reagan's conservative revolution taking hold. There are many elements of the Reagan revolution that bear examination, but the legacy from the "war on drugs" continue to affect us today. The explosion of crack cocaine and the gang culture related to it had a powerful effect on American cities. While many people don't remember, the origin of Cloak and Dagger was very much a reflection of this societal concern.
Tyrone "Ty" Johnson (Cloak) and Tandy Bowen (Dagger) met as runaways in New York. Experimented on by criminal trying to create synthetic heroin, they were given superhuman powers. Not surprisingly, they were retconned to be mutants (the drugs only awakened their power--less chance of questionable drug message). Regardless, the early appearances and motivations of Cloak and Dagger are filled with a context linked to drugs and subtext of race, gender, and power.
As I have written about in the past, Marvel's initial introduction of African-American characters was both a reaction to and an amplification of the civil right movement's demand for social equity in the 1960s. By the 1970s, Marvel creators and editors reacted to Black Power criticism with the creation of characters such as Luke Cage and the transformation of characters such as Bill Foster aka Black Goliath. While creators hoped to make these character relevant to the black power's emphasis on the struggle to protect the community, in practice these character presented fractured understanding of the crusade against structural racism voiced by African-Americans in the 1970s.
In many ways, the commercial success of African-Americans in the media throughout the 1970s demonstrates the confusion within mainstream society about African-American agency in the aftermath of the end of "de facto" segregation. Marvel, like other media outlets, moved back towards a more conservative social stance emphasizing individual responsibility as key to societal success. Like much of the American public, the complexity of African-American critique against structural barriers built upon race privilege was missed. African-American characters could not and did not disappear from media, instead their agency and actions was filtered through cultural assumptions all too often tied to stereotypes of African-American motivation and desire. These assumptions are not necessarily conscious to the creator (and perhaps to the readers), but the tropes of race and culture remain in these depictions.
In the case of Cloak and Dagger, the pairing of black male character and white female character can be understood as playing on classic concerns about miscegenation that work to powerfully to define black and white identity in the United States. In their origins, Tyrone (Cloak) is seized by a strange hunger which is only eased in the presence of Tandy (Dagger), who glows with a brilliant light.
Thus, one major trope of the C & R relationship is Cloak's(a young black man) constant need to consume Dagger (a blond white woman)---metaphorically. Worst, Cloak's transformation has made him beastly, often depicted on the verge of loosing control and consuming any and all wrongdoers. At the same time, Tandy's transformation has made her into an angelic being of light. Indeed, only Dagger's light can control Cloak's darkness, playing (subconsciously) on classic white stereotypes of African-American men coveting white women and extending it into this super-heroic pairing.
Whatever the symbolism, Cloak and Dagger stated goal is to stop drug dealers and protect runaways. While the Cloak & Dagger have supported long running series, they have made constant appearances pursuing this goal. Those appearances in the 1980s and 1990s continued to link the characters to the fight against drugs and struggles to support and protection youth against exploitative elements in society.
Throughout these appearances, the relationship between Cloak and Dagger has remained in question. Heroes and villains constantly try to separate Dagger from Cloak. Romantically linked, their relationship remains marred by Tyrone's need to feed on Tandy's light. There are many unhealthy relationship in comics. So, at some level this is not unique (Scott Summers.....nuff said). On the other hand, the subtext of race represented by Cloak and Dagger remains one that draws my attention. To be sure, Cloak and Dagger are only one example of the intersection between race and culture in comics in the 1980s. There are other examples and many of those examples are positive. Still, in the world of superhero comic, Marvel remains the place where identity has been a factor shaping stories in explicit way.
While the C & D have made appearances in recent major storyline such as House of M, Civil War, and Dark Reign they haven't had a solo series until now. The return of the Cloak and Dagger in their own book probably means a return to New York and the problems posed by drugs and child exploitation. It will be interesting to see what we get from the new series.
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