REFLECTIONS
Veregge now has illustrated more than 100 comic book covers, consulted on other Na- tive comic stories and is even creating his own American Indian character. He says, “I’m hav- ing fun again.” Even a couple of Avengers have praised Veregge’s work through social media. Robert Downey Jr. commented “Love it!” on Facebook about his portrayal of Iron Man, and Mark Ruffalo posted a detail of the NMAI murals that includes the Hulk on Instagram, exclaiming, “This is beautiful!” Yet what really matters to Veregge is that
the murals can reflect the viewer and offer possibility. “I wanted kids to go to in there and see a character who is like them or where they are from,” says Veregge. “That they see a positive representation of who they are—and who they can be.” That is just what happened to 10-year-
old Daniel Cupido. Daniel’s mother, Onica Cupido, writer of “The Mommy Factor” blog, was born in Guyana and has lived in New York for the past 30 years. Cupido strives to expose her son to a wide range of cultures and frequently takes him to NMAI because its exhibits show that “Native American cultures are living. They are still here and are portrayed in a positive way.” Daniel says that seeing one of his favorite characters, Red Wolf, in the “Of Gods and Heroes” exhibit this past February, “was really cool,” because that comic book “taught me that superheroes might be Native Americans, too.” So while the Avengers’ battles thundered
across IMAX screens this year, Veregge’s mu- rals have made their own big statement: a multiverse of heroes are out there. “We have created such a narrow view of who we think a people are that it makes it harder for the next generation to break down those barriers,” says Veregge. “I believe in Gene Rodenberry’s infi- nite diversity in infinitive combinations. That we can appreciate those differences—not just embrace them but find out how we can learn from them, how we can benefit from them as a species. I don’t think we do that enough. That is why I make my art. When I have op- portunities such as this, I want to make sure that it is part of that in some small way.” X
Anne Bolen is assistant managing editor of American Indian magazine.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 41
© 2018 MARVEL
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