Indian Comics Irregular #21

Somewhere in the southwestern US, a man drives his pickup onto "Chekota" land.
A map brings him to a hidden cave. Using a book on the Chekota (helpfully
subtitled "Totem Rituals" and "Shaman Handbook") he summons three elemental
spirits from the supernatural plane.

So begins the TOTEMS comic book (the independent title, not the Vertigo title).
And who are these "totems" (defined as "spirit guides that resemble animals.
Kind of")? Boom-Boom Badger, Pony-Girl Colt, and Yu Hsing Panda, the sexiest
Native spirit guides you've ever seen.

Let's ignore the blunder of giving an American Indian spirit a Chinese identity.
Or of locating "totems" (a Northwest Indian concept) and "shamans" (a Siberian
concept) in the American Southwest. That the creators attributed three
voluptuous spirits to the fictional "Chekota" tribe is probably a good thing.
Native people might be appalled if someone claimed this was part of a real
Native belief system.

It's useless to diss the umpteenth comic book pandering to juvenile male
fantasies. That could occupy a critic for a lifetime. The goal here is to
address the use of Native images and ideas in the popular media.

Some readers may think, "Why take this matter seriously? It's just a comic
book. If the Chekota tribe doesn't exist, who cares what its nonexistent
beliefs are?"

My rejoinder to that is: What if a comic depicted a generic Christian belief?
Namely, that Christ came back to Earth...as a voluptuous Easter bunny girl? Do
you think any Christians would have a problem with that? How about all of them?

The point is, you either respect a people and their culture or you don't. I've
met the TOTEMS guys and they meant well, but their effort falls into the latter
category. Perhaps unintentionally, they've made Native spirituality into
superstitious mumbo-jumbo. Or worse, pinup fodder.

For more on TOTEMS, head to members.tripod.com/~Totems/Cartoonf.htm.

"Aztec," the Novel

Read a Native-themed bestseller recently: "Aztec" by Gary Jennings. The book
lived up to its NY Times blurb, which described it as "a dazzling and hypnotic
historical novel." Though it indulged in flights of fancy--the protagonist
Mixtli discovered vision-correcting lenses, for instance--it seemed culturally
correct overall.

The most interesting part was its depiction of the Spanish conquest. If
"Aztec's" account is accurate, Cortés essentially lucked into his victory. He
just happened to fulfill the prophecy of Quetzalcoatl's return, which the
gullible Motecuzóma half-believed. He just happened to bring a slave infected
with smallpox, which decimated the Aztec population. And he just happened to
arrive when vassal tribes were chafing under Aztec rule, thus willing to fight
for him against their fellow Indians.

Cortés didn't expect or plan for these advantages. Without them, the Aztecs
would've demolished him and his small band of soldiers. So much for the
inevitable triumph of Western civilization over "primitive" people.

Rob's rating of "Aztec": 8.5 of 10.

More PEACE PARTY Orders

I'm happy to report our second reorder from a nontraditional vendor--62 copies
for Many Nations. Vendors, please note. PEACE PARTY is selling to fans of fine
Indian-themed products.

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics
members.xoom.com/peaceparty