By Michael Fitzgerald Troy

Picture it: Harlem, 1973, a beautiful, young African-Americanw oman bursts onto the scene to fight crime. Daughter of a young junkie prostitute that was beaten and raped by a pimp, the girl wished to escape the torment and vindicate the harsh treatment she and other women like her faced in the socially changing times. In a time of women’s lib and civil rights, the country needs a strong black woman to use her Afro of truth and fight for justice and the African-American way. It’s a word, it’s a plan, it’s… Wonder Sister? Not so much? This may be how Wonder Woman could have been done in the ’70s by the socially conscious Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. Their Green Lantern and Green Arrow run was, and still is, legendary. I believe it was the 1st time a sidekick (Speedy) was turned into a junkie. You never saw Robin free-basing in the Bat cave after all. Sweet Christmas? I know, right?

With the new blaxican Spider-man shooting webs of controversy over in the Ultimate line of Marvel comics, diversity in comics has been a hot topic lately. I think comics, more than most forms of entertainment, have been pretty forward thinking when it comes to diversity. The X-men exist based on diversity. Their character, Storm, an African (A blue-eyed, silver-haired, African Goddess, albeit), has been one of the most popular X-men for 30 years plus. I agree with diversity in comics. I disagree with forced diversity. Both Marvel and DC seem to be making efforts to appeal to a broader audience. Marvel seems to be a melting pot, and while DC in the past was peppered with diversity, it seems to be making a concentrated effort to branch out with the new 52, having prominent African-American titles with Static Shock and Mr. Terrific, a lesbo in Batwoman, and Scott Lobdell is supposedly introducing “a gay” in the Teen Titans. I think, historically, comics are a paradigm to the happenings of the world, and as we become more diversified, comics should too. Will we ever see a Wonder Sister? Probably not, but I can dream.

Michael Troy is a deeply superficial person. Born in the midwest in the ’70s, Michael came to Los Angeles to pursue his bi-polar career path as an actor and artist. 2005 saw the release of Michael’s first published book, Homo-Hero’s Big Book of Fun and Adventure (www.greencandypress.com). Michael has contributed to the Lady Gaga comic book from Bluewater Productions and has his hand in various other upcoming projects. Michael has performed stand-up comedy at all of the major comedy clubs in Los Angeles and is making his triumphant return to the main stage of The Comedy Store in September. Michael offers an off-beat sense of humor as the star of such youtube cult classics As The Gays on Film (www.youtube.com/fullfrontaltv), A Minute With Margot, a loving tribute to Superman legend Margot Kidder (http://www.youtube.com/user/rktcommander), and currently hosts a vlog style series Lethally Blonde over at www.monsterburg.com. Sitting alongside industry heavyweight Phil Jimenez at the “Divas and Lassoes” panel for the 2010 San Diego comic-con, Michael maintains and cherishes his “underground” status. A staunch believer in Blonde Ambition, Michael hopes his new comic about shallow blonde super heroes in Los Angeles, The Blonde Squad, will set the world on fire (or at least brighten it a bit). Check out Michael Troy and Lethally Blonde updates here!!!