Tech's Day 10 in Black History Black Heroes in TV: Vixen

Hellooooo, Vixen. Ah, a black hero in the DC universe more like her comic book counter part; yea I'm still looking at you Mr. Terrific. Anyway a bit of history from the comics. A warrior in ancient Ghana known as Tantu asked Anansi the spider (remember him from the Static Shock episode clip?) to create a totem that would give the wearer all of the powers of the animal kingdom, only if it was used to protect the innocent. The totem made Tantu Africa's first legendary hero. The totem was then passed down through Tantu's descendants eventually making it to the McCabes family and to the current holder Mari Jiwi McCabe, well current in the present time line but her grandmother Amaya Jiwi also holds it on Legends of Tomorrow. Confused? Me too. We will get to all that in a bit, but first lets talk about Mari McCabe.



Now the interesting thing as seen here in the picture Vixen of the DC TV universe had her back story told in animation that was shown for free on the the CW Seed (where you can watch season 1 and 2). Here we see appearances by the Flash, Arrow, and the legends of tomorrow with their actors doing the voices. Then later Vixen appeared in live action on Arrow with her voice actress playing her... well seems her hair has grown since the animated season one and then season two the hair is back short... Maybe she does have something in common with ol Curtis...

Now after she appeared on Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow season two wanted Vixen on the team, but her actress was not available full time so, whats the next best thing. Go back to the 40's and recruit her in her prime grandmother Amaya who was a member of the hero team the JSA aka the Justice Society of America. She only joins the team because the reverse flash kills her then boyfriend hour man. This makes me wonder because Mari was born in Africa where her parents gave her the totem before they were both killed when their village was taken over and Mari was sent to America and was raised by her foster dad.

So, Amaya was with the JSA young and fine and in America in the 40s with no signs of an African accent. So I wonder after her JSA days does she go back to or decided to go live in Africa? Who knows, they haven't explained it yet. Now we have Amaya time traveling and going on adventures, even being in the Invasion team up where she fought along side all the other DC TV heroes in the present time, but Mari was nowhere to be seen and the Flash, Arrow, and the other heroes didn't acknowledge that this was a different woman (yet equally attractive) with the same name and powers.

Ok, fine they look similar but still, where was Mari? I have a theory since Amaya seems to not care about changing her future or the timeline where in the latest episode she sleeps with fellow team member Citizen Steal. Now you may ask whats wrong with that? One, they were in the past where the legends had to stop former team member Rick Hunter from killing George Washington. Two, team member heatwave had been kidnapped along with Washington. Citizen Steal found himself falling in a freezing river so Amaya needed to warm up. Ok I was like she will use the totem hold on to him and create a super hero warmth by summoning the power of animal with some body heat, oh no, no, no. They got it on. Keep in mind Heatwave and Washington are still in trouble and being in the past I am sure they didn't have protection... wait Citizen Steal's power is to cover himself in impenetrable well steal. Maybe he... never mind the fact remains she already changing her future. What if poor Mari isn't born? Oh and after they did the do, the slept for an hour! You have a team mate and America's first president in danger, in danger of messing up America's itself future! Oh no we good lets sleep it off... Anyway through T.V magic they make to them but after Heatwave and Washington pretty much rescued themselves...


Ok, rant over.  Vixen both versions have the power to call on the strength and attributes of every animal in the animal kingdom.  Like gaining the power of a bear, or breath under water as a fish, or fly like an eagle and so on and so on. So,  I wonder if the two Vixens will meet or will any other team members or heroes of the DC T.V universe say anything about it.  I recommend watching season 1 and 2 of the animated series to get her full backstory that has great action story and some soap opera twist.  Vixen has always been shown in media as part of a team with no story of her own until now so check it out to see Mari and you see Amaya not care about the time line every Tuesday on the CW after the Flash which airs at 8 p.m. Easter time.