Because it's about time someone did!
Cloak and Dagger appreciation.

Just had this sweet poster framed. Ty and Tandy are 2 of my favorite comics characters and I'm curious why are they not a bigger presence in the X-universe or at all really? They have activated x-genes even though they and nemesis say they are not mutants. I always thought during the schism era they would've made great teachers allied with Scott.




I like the look of that poster quite a lot, but I think Cloak and Dagger are problematic characters because of (1) how they seem to play into certain racial stereotypes [black man = threatening darkness, white woman = pure light] and (2) how revealing and implausible Dagger's costume is.
Kate Beaton just recently did some short comic strips critiquing/satirizing Cloak & Dagger. I'm not sure if links are allowed in comments here, but I'll try: http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=398
I don't mean to say that there aren't, or can't be, good Cloak & Dagger stories - just that it's maybe more difficult for creators to write & draw them well because of the aforementioned issues.
I feel those are pandering shallow arguments. Only an issue if one lets it be. Good read though.
Really?
OK, first of all, I didn't even make any actual arguments in the posts that you're responding to; I merely noted the existence of certain issues. So I think it's unfair to describe anything I wrote as "pandering and shallow arguments."
Second, if you think what I wrote is shallow, you really should offer something deeper than the bare assertion that you feel that it is shallow. It's hard to get any shallower than that.
Third, the claim that something is "only an issue if one lets it be" is just wrong, and it seems to me that the wrongness of it is pretty obvious. Neither you nor I have the power to "let" these issues exist, any more than we could somehow forbid them from existing. All we can do is notice them, say something about them, or ignore them. If I were to take what seems to be your advice and start pretending that there is no sexism or racism in comics, that wouldn't make anything go away; it wouldn't change a single panel of any comic that's ever been published. History happened whether we like it or not.
But perhaps I'm misinterpreting you; perhaps what you're saying is that even though sexism and racism do exist, we can choose not to care about whether comics are sexist or racist, and if we decide not to care about those issues, then in some sense they no longer are issues. If that's what you're saying, then it's really just a tautology (if an issue doesn't matter to me, then it doesn't matter to me) and provides no reason why I, or any reader, should choose not to care about sexism and racism. Moreover, it's not so easy to choose not to care, especially if one happens to be a member of a group that is the target of such prejudices.
Lastly, when we ignore, disregard, or decide not to care about sexism and racism in comics, we make it more likely that more comics with sexism and racism in them will be produced. The more people notice these issues and call attention to them, the more likely it is that we'll end up with better comics being produced. Comics are better (all other things being equal) when they don't use sexist or racist tropes, because in addition to being offensive, sexist and racist tropes are also old, boring, lazy, and unoriginal.
Jeez, I didn't even get around to responding to your use of the word "pandering." I mean, really, who do you think I am pandering to, and what possible reason would I have for pandering to anyone?
Oh mate I meant no disrespect. Sorry if it came off that way. I guess it did seem a bit hostile. I just hate the attribution of current racial or gender norms to past characters or stories as a reason why they can't/shouldn't work or hould be changed for today. My choice of words there was incredibly off-base though. I apologize for that.
Thank you for responding in such a polite and cordial way. Apology accepted.
Mutant was a short hand for "I don't want to explain their powers" for years. C&D have been traditionally Spider-Man supporting cast so they will show up there. I can only think of two X-Men arcs with them in it ever
As I understand things, Cloak and Dagger is one of those concepts that everyone agrees is fantastic (uncomfortable racial stereotypes aside), but the comics just don't sell. This is also why they were made mutants. The ongoing title was suffering low sales, so was trying to hitch itself to the success of the X-franchise. It was not part of their origin, and kind of makes a hash of things when you try to shoehorn it into their concept.