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DC Comics criticized for using controversial stereotypes for Hispanic Heritage month

Many fans have been unhappy with DC Comic’s way of celebrating the Hispanic heritage

By Katarina Hall

August 30, 2022 9:40am

Updated: August 30, 2022 2:03pm

DC Comics' cover art created to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month has received an extraordinary amount of pushback, with critics saying it is promoting racist stereotypes.

The comic powerhouse released seven alternative covers for upcoming comics to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15 through October 15.

However, many fans have been unhappy with DC Comic’s way of celebrating the month. Critics say the covers are racist because they mostly only reference Hispanic food, which they feel are stereotypical choices.

One of the covers, for example, shows the superhero Green Lantern holding a bag of tamales.

Jorge Molina, the Mexican artist behind the artwork, spoke out in a Tweet on Saturday, saying that the image that was being circulated is not his original creation.

"HAAAAAAARD to keep my mouth shut....all I can say is one has my signature and the other one doesn't, go figure," he tweeted.

Molina’s original cover paid homage to the artwork of Jorge Gonzalez Camarena, a famous Mexican muralist. The original work shows the Green Lantern with the Mexican flag and an apparition-like image of an eagle eating a snake.

“It was a great honor to have the opportunity to pay tribute to my country and roots," Molina said, despite his submission being held up “due to legal issues.”

In addition to a bag of tamales that was added to the Green Lantern cover, the images shared on social media also changed the Mexican flag for the message “Viva Mexico!”

"What are we doing here DC? This is the cover you're going with for Hispanic Heritage Month? A floating bag of tamales in space?" said one of the critics on Twitter.

"Seriously I cannot get over how pathetically uncreative these covers are when it comes to visually representing Hispanic heritage," said another Twitter user. 

“How this image got promoted by DC is a mystery to me, don’t know if it was a mistake or in the end they decided to go for it. There is a variation of this cover but I’m so glad this one is out there for the world to see since this was my original idea, pay homage to Camarena,” said Molina.

A spokesperson for DC Comics told Newsweek that the image showing Green Lantern holding the tamales was incorrectly reported to be the official DC cover for the upcoming issue. He added that Molina’s original version would be used. 

"It is part of DC's internal creative process to receive and develop multiple versions of comic artwork from our artists," the spokesperson said in an email. "Some are released as variant covers, others are never used."

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