For decades, comic books have been in color, but now they truly reflect all the hues of American society.

幾十年來，漫畫書一直都是彩色印刷，但直到今天，他們才真正反映了美國社會的多元色彩。

The new Captain America is black. A Superman who is suspiciously similar to President Barack Obama recently headlined a comic book. Thor is a woman, Spider-Man is part-Puerto Rican and Ms. Marvel is Muslim.

最近新問世的“美國隊長”（Captain America ）是黑人。超人最近登上了漫畫書的頭條，他看起來很像奧巴馬總統。雷神托爾（Thor）變成了一位女士，蜘蛛俠則有波多黎各血統，而驚奇女士（Ms. Marvel）是個穆斯林。

Mainstream comic book superheroes — America's modern mythology — have been redrawn from the stereotypical brown-haired, blue-eyed white male into a world of multicolored, multireligious and multigendered crusaders to reflect a greater diversity in their audience.

漫畫書中那些主流的超級英雄享有“美國現代神話”的美稱。他們已經擺脫了老一套的棕發藍眼的白人男性的固有形象，轉而變成來自多種民族和有著多種宗教信仰的斗士，且男女皆有。這反映了漫畫書日趨多元化的讀者群體。

Society has changed, so superheroes have to as well, said Axel Alonso, editor in chief at Marvel Comics, who in November debuted Captain America No. 1 with Samuel Wilson, the first African American superhero taking over CaptainAmerica's red, white and blue uniform and shield.

漫威漫畫公司總編阿克塞爾·阿隆索（Axel Alonso）表示，社會在變，因此超級英雄的形象也需要隨之改變。他在11月份首推美國隊長1號（Captain America No. 1）塞繆爾·威爾遜，首位非裔美國“超級英雄”，接過美國隊長的紅白藍三色制服和盾牌。

"Roles in society aren't what they used to be. There's far more diversity," said Alonso, who has also shepherded a gay wedding in the X-Men, a gender change from male to female in Thor and the first mainstream female Muslim hero in Ms. Marvel.

阿朗索（Alonso）說，“如今社會的人物形象不再像以前那樣單一，而更加多元化”。他在X戰警（X-men）中設計了男男婚禮，將托爾改成女性形象，還創造了第一位主流的穆斯林女英雄“驚奇女士”。

The change to a black CaptainAmericais already having an impact outside of comics.

美國隊長變為黑人形象，其影響力早已輻射到漫畫界之外。

Even before the first issue was published, unauthorized images of the black Captain America were shown at a town hall meeting in St. Louis following the funeral of Michael Brown, who was 18 and unarmed when he was killed by a white police officer. This Captain America had his hands up saying "Don't Shoot," a slogan protesters have used to highlight the number of African Americans killed by police.

在第一期漫畫出版之前，民間版的“黑人美國隊長”形象就已經在圣路易斯州（St.Louis）的市政廳會議上出現。未帶武器的黑人少年邁克爾·布朗（Michael Brown）被白人警察槍殺一案引起了極大的抗議。抗議者們在其葬禮后，手舉黑人美國隊長說“拒絕開槍”的標語，意在強調被白人警察槍殺的非裔美國人數量之多。

The new diverse comic characters are far from the first: Marvel introduced the world to Samuel Wilson as the Falcon, the comic's first African-American superhero, in 1969 as a sidekick to Captain America. In 1977, DC Comics introduced Black Lightning, a schoolteacher who gains electrical powers and becomes a superhero.

新的多元漫畫人物也不是首次出現。漫威公司在1969年推出了第一個非裔美國男超級英雄“獵鷹”（the Falcon）形象，作為美國隊長的同伴。DC漫畫公司（DC Comics ）于1977年推出“黑色閃電”系列漫畫，講述了一位學校老師獲得閃電超能力并成為超級英雄的故事。

And Marvel isn't the only company looking at diversity. An alternative black Superman, one who is president of theUnited States, is part of a team in DC Comics' "The Multiversity." DC also brags of having more comic books featuring female leads than any other company, including Batgirl, Catwoman, Batwoman and Wonder Woman, the longest-running comic book with a female hero.

漫威不是唯一一家追求多元化人物形象的公司。在DC公司推出的“多元宇宙”系列漫畫中，美國總統就是一個黑人超人。DC還宣稱它比其它公司有更多包含女人物形象的漫畫，比如“蝙蝠女”、“貓女”、“蝙蝠女俠”以及女性為主角且發行時間最久的漫畫“神奇女俠”。

（翻譯：eileen7 編輯：Helen）