Jade Canary: Bird of Prey
Comics, like most western media, has had a diversity problem. With origins in the late 30s and early 40s, born of pulp fiction magazines, comics character creation relied heavily on stereotypes. Asian characters were treated particularly badly. We still have trouble today creating Asian characters who are not martial artists, or wise old Eastern mystics (also kung fu masters somehow). However, a martial arts based character, depending on the martial art, probably should be Asian. Richard Dragon was one of those characters, with his own title, in the early 70s. In 1975, Lady Shiva made her first apearance in Richard Dragon #5, created by Dennis ONeil, and Ric Estrada. Like most stereotypical Asian characters, Lady Shiva is a master martial artist, an assassin, has a mentor/teacher named O'Sensei, and has a daughter with a dude named King Snake, and has aliases that include names like the Paper Monkey, and the Jade Canary. Over time, the Lady Shiva character has been refined a...