Comics Alliance Presents The Harvey/Renee Index of Superhero Diversity

10 Harveys: Cannonball, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Hyperion, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Starbrand, Thor, Wolverine.

10 Renees: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Captain Universe, Falcon, Manifold, Nightmask, Shang-Chi, Smasher, Spider-Woman, Sunspot.

+3 Harveys 

Because all Renees are grouped together, the Harvey/Renee Index should only be viewed as a broad measure of representation. It is not a substitute for detailed analysis. For example, look at the biggest single team in comics right now. The main Avengers book and its spin-off, Avengers World, currently draw on the same pool of 20 characters.

The Index shows us that Harveys are over-represented in this team by three heads; it doesn't show us the extent to which women are under-represented. They account for only 25% of the roster.

The black line in the graphic shows where a demographically representative team would split between Harveys and Renees. Avengers has three Harveys to the right of that line, so it scores +3 Harveys.

0 Harveys.

4 Renees: Batgirl, Black Canary, Condor, Strix.

+1 Renee

A representative four-member team would have one Harvey, but three members of this team are women, and the one male, Condor, is Native American, so they're all Renees. The Birds of Prey score +1 Renee.

3 Harveys: Mr Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing

1 Renee: Invisible Woman.

+2 Harveys

Some teams ought to be Renee-heavy and some teams ought to be Harvey-heavy. The over-all landscape ought to offer balance. For example, the Fantastic Four is always going to default to a Harvey-heavy line-up because it's built around an established family dynamic.

It would be difficult to introduce diversity to the comics version of the FF. But having a few Harvey-heavy teams isn't a bad thing, so long as there are also a few Renee-heavy teams. It's when the whole landscape tilts towards Harveys that it arguably looks bad.

5 Harveys: Captain America, Havok, Thor, Wolverine, Wonder Man.

4 Renees: Rogue, Scarlet Witch, Sunfire, Wasp.

+2 Harveys

In the current storyline some of these character are dead or inactive, but we suspect that's only temporary.

0 Harveys.

8 Renees: Blue Marvel, Falcon, Luke Cage, Power Man, Ronin (not pictured), She-Hulk, Spectrum, White Tiger.

+3 Renees

Kicking Spider-Man off the team means that it now has no Harveys at all.

0 Harveys.

6 Renees: Rachel Grey, Jubilee, Karma, Monet, Psylocke, Storm.

+2 Renees

Note that Birds of Prey, Mighty Avengers and this X-Men roster are all Renee-heavy because they were designed and pitched to readers as minority-dominated teams. Only one team book features a Renee-heavy roster that hasn't drawn much attention:

1 Harvey: Cyclops (not pictured).

10 Renees: Celeste Cuckoo, Irma Cuckoo, Phoebe Cuckoo, Benjamin Deeds, Emma Frost (not pictured), Goldballs, Hijack, Magik (not pictured), Tempus, Triage.

+3 Renees

This count assumes that Magneto has permanently left the team, though another recent departure wasn't counted in case it doesn't stick. Brian Michael Bendis's new X-Men recruits include one woman (Tempus), three persons of color (Goldballs, Hijack, Triage), and one gay man (Benjamin Deeds). The team also includes five previously established female characters.

Of course, this team and title currently shares real estate with another X-Men team, one that almost cancels out its diversity.

4 Harveys: Teen Angel, Teen Beast, Teen Cyclops, Teen Iceman (not pictured).

3 Renees: Teen Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde, X-23.

+2 Harveys

The cast of All-New X-Men is inevitably less diverse because it's built around the five original X-Men from the 1960s, who were 80% straight white men. On aggregate, though, Bendis's two X-Men teams still emerge with a score of +1 Renee.

3 Harveys: Green Arrow, Hawkman, Steve Trevor.

4 Renees: Simon Baz, Catwoman, Katana, Martian Manhunter, Stargirl, Vibe.

Harvey/Renee Neutral.

This count is based on the assumption that Martian Manhunter still presents as a black male in his civilian identity. We're not actually sure he has a civilian identity in the New 52, so that may be incorrect -- but the team would still be balanced if we discount Martian Manhunter and count this team with eight heads instead of nine.

2 Harveys: Drax, Star-Lord.

2 Renees: Angela, Gamora.

Other: Groot, Rocket Raccoon.

+1 Harveys

This may be a good time to explain some methodology. How do we categorize characters who don't have a typical human appearance? We've decided that if a character has an alternative human identity, we should categorize by that identity, whether it's an identity they've chosen, like Martian Manhunter, or one they were born with, like the Thing. (Chosen identities are prioritized over birth identities.)

How do we categorize characters who appear human but aren't, such as aliens, Atlanteans, or robots? If a character presents as a white, non-Hispanic cisgender straight male, like Namor, Black Bolt, or Thor, he's a Harvey. If a character presents in a way that would allow readers who are female and/or LGBT and/or people of color, to identify with that character as a woman, an LGBT person, or a person of color, the character is categorized as a Renee.

Rocket Raccoon and Groot of the Guardians of the Galaxy do not pass either test. They're both presumed straight and male, but they have no recognizable human racial identity. Rocket Raccoon and Groot are thus set aside, and the six-person Guardians of the Galaxy roster is counted as a four-person team.

2 Harveys: Guy Gardner, Rankorr.

1 Renee: Bleez.

Other: Skallox, Zilius Zox.

+1 Harveys 

Supergirl recently became a Red Lantern, so if she joins this particular team of Red Lanterns it will have two Harveys and two Renees, which doesn't change its score. Both a three-person team and a four-person team should average only one Harvey.

2 Harveys: Gambit, Quicksilver.

2 Renees: Polaris, Danger.

+1 Harveys 

X-Factor's new roster is still expanding issue by issue.

2 Harveys: Red Hood, Arsenal.

1 Renee: Starfire.

+1 Harveys 

3 Harveys: Phil Coulson, Hawkeye, M.O.D.O.K.

3 Renees: Black Widow, Nick Fury Jr., Spider-Woman.

+1 Harveys. 

3 Harveys: Beast, Iceman, Wolverine.

3 Renees: Firestar, Northstar, Storm.

Other: Nightcrawler.

+1 Harveys 

Nightcrawler formerly presented himself as a white man when using an image inducer, but he long ago ceased doing so, and we have no way of ascertaining his actual race. He was born blue, and his father is a demon and his mother is a shapeshifter.

4 Harveys: Batman, Flash, Jimmy Olsen, Sandman.

5 Renees: Aquawoman, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Mr Terrific.

+1 Harveys 

This still feels like a very loosely affiliated team, so this should be considered a rough count.

5 Harveys: Justice, Nova, Scarlet Spider, Speedball.

4 Renees: Haechi, Hummingbird, Sun Girl, Water Snake.

+1 Harveys 

Another roster that's still settling, but we've now met all the characters in the team.

4 Harveys: John Constantine, Deadman, Frankenstein, Swamp Thing.

4 Renees: Black Orchid, Nightmare Nurse, Pandora, Zatanna.

+1 Harveys 

You might be thinking, "Wait a second; isn't John Constantine bisexual? Doesn't that make him a Renee?" It would, but as far as we can ascertain the New 52 version of John Constantine has never been established as bisexual. Characters will be presumed straight and cisgender until established otherwise by the text, regardless of author intent or reader interpretation.

5 Harveys: Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman

2 Renees: Cyborg, Wonder Woman.

+3 Harveys.

This team still scores +3 Harveys if one includes reserve members Element Woman, Firestorm, and Other Firestorm.

4 Harveys: Captain America, Jim Hammond, Namor, Winter Soldier.

0 Renees.

+3 Harveys. 

5 Harveys: Deadpool, Punisher, Red Hulk, Red Leader, Venom.

2 Renees: Elektra, Mercy.

+3 Harveys. 

The Thunderbolts roster includes one character from a minority group that we're not including in the Harvey/Renee Index. Venom, aka Flash Thompson, is a person with a disability, having lost his legs in combat.

We looked at including people with disabilities in the index, but it was difficult to find real world data that would allow us to understand how that should be represented, and even harder to work out how to quantify disabilities in superhero fiction, which allows characters to manage disabilities using advanced, alien, or mystical technologies not available in the real world. If you have thoughts on how we might address this, please leave a polite message to let us know in the comments.

(We also excluded religion from the index because so few superhero characters present as religious.)

6 Harveys: Beast, Black Bolt, Mr Fantastic, Iron Man, Namor, Dr Strange.

1 Renee: Black Panther.

+4 Harveys

It's probably not a shock that a group that calls itself the Illuminati should be the most Harvey-heavy. Marvel could probably invite some women and a few more people of color into its big brain club.

2 Harveys: Cable, Fantomex.

3 Renees: Marrow, Psylocke, MeMe.

Harvey/Renee Neutral

This book appears to score Harvey/Renee neutral based on its most recent issue. We don't know much about new X-Force member MeMe right now, but we know she's female, so she qualifies as a Renee.

The final tally is +9 Renees... and +31 Harveys. These superhero teams combined have a Harvey population of 46%, compared to 33% for the U.S. population. The final tally in Marvel books is +8 Renees and +24 Harveys across 16 teams. The final tally in DC books is +1 Renee and +10 Harveys across seven teams.

(To the best of my knowledge, neither the New Guardians nor the Green Lantern Corps have three or more qualifying members -- a defined central team of three or more human or near-human members --  but working out the rosters of those teams was challenging. If you think we got that wrong, or if you spot any other mistakes in our assessments, leave a polite note in the comments. We will ignore and probably delete the impolite ones.)

DC and Marvel have both made good faith efforts to publish more books with heroes of color, female-led casts and LGBT leads, but straight white non-Hispanic cisgender men are still significantly over-represented at the expense of other groups in the titles where diversity is easiest to achieve.

Some readers may be OK with that. They may believe that superheroes should honor their roots as a genre largely established before the Civil Rights Movement, Second Wave Feminism, and Stonewall. Other readers may prefer to see diversity that is, at minimum, representative of the country that produces and consumes these stories. Some readers may even prefer representation that showcases Renees at the expense of Harveys, as a form of redress for past imbalances or as a representation of the world outside the U.S.

But this data isn't meant to tell you what to think. It just tells you how it is. This data also doesn't show us if the way these characters are written is nuanced, balanced, or positive. It only shows us that, right now, these fictional worlds fall short of the diversity of the real world.

We'll be checking in regularly to see how that landscape changes.

Harvey and Renee graphics by Dylan Todd, using artwork drawn by Michael Lark.