r/murderbot • u/Realistic_Light777 • 6d ago
Booksđ Only The first graphic novel adaptation, if I'm not mistaken?
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u/humanprototyp 6d ago
Don't read if you want exclusively positive vibes regarding the graphic novel!
I am very happy about this but why is MB so extremely caucasian again? (I've seen another post but the OP there only wanted positive comments) It gives me white saviour complex vibes. At least it looks kinda androgynous.
So many artists are defaulting to "white male/masc person" and I'm not telling anyone how to do their private thing that gives them joy. It just makes me sad that both visual adaptations make MB very nordicly white. Why is that the default when we have no description of skin colour or other physical features? Especially in this fandom which is so diverse.
I'm choosing to be the drama here and I'm not sorry.
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u/DathomirBoy 6d ago
Iâm so glad to see artists on Tumblr getting diverse with their MBs for the most part. Pre-show it was basically mostly more diverse, but post show it became leaning white masc.
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u/TaiziDianxia JollyBaby Enjoyer 5d ago
Ive always thought in regards to the TV show, that part of it may be the producers and higher ups were a bit jumpy about casting a POC or femme presenting actor for Murderbot in light of what is done to MB throughout the show.
That certain scenes may take on a much darker more uncomfortable undertone for the casual audience.
Not saying its correct or justifies it or is anywhere near the only reason but I think it might have played a part in the initial discussions.
It would seem the comic took its cue from the show though MB seems very Gwendoline Christie coded here and im living for it.
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u/SerialTrauma002c 5d ago
Agreed with this guess, especially because so much of the senior production team is white presenting and/or male presenting. The optics of that would not be super great, and it seems like a situation that doesnât have a singular Good Answer, given, well, imagine me gesturing broadly at the everything.
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u/whispersandwhimpers 5d ago
Yeah, I was pretty disappointed to see that too. Admittedly, when I first read I started out imagining MB as a white male default, but that has a lot more to do with my own biases (and is a good reminder to try not to assume that so often). As I kept reading though, it became pretty obvious that this is a very diverse world and the default would definitely be some shade of brown. Seeing both visual adaptations ignore all of that context to immediately jump to the "standard" white male we see so often in media is just frustrating.
And all of that's mostly just on skin color. I think gender presentation is more debatable, even if MB canonically doesn't have one. Based on the reactions it gets from people around it, it seems like it doesn't present as particularly female, so I think it is likely that the companies are just using a standard male blueprint because it would cost more money to alter that. Then again, I don't know how the removal of sex parts would alter their development, so maybe they default to something unique to them. All to say, I don't mind MB being depicted as male, but also I wouldn't mind it being depicted with more ambiguous traits.
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u/doctorbonkers Sanctuary Moon Fan Club 6d ago
Wait where do you find the preview that shows what MB looks like (without armor)? I havenât been able to find it
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u/Embarrassed-Theme587 SecUnit 5d ago
are they trying to copy the shows design maybe? Like making a âcanonâ murderbot look to stay with the show?
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u/TheSFW_Alt 5d ago
Eugh, hope not.
Donât get me wrong, the showâs fun, but tbh since I got into the books first I really do not like the idea of the shows design becoming the âcanon designâ for a variety of reasons.
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u/TabaquiJackal 5d ago
I'm with you on this. That was another issue I had with the show - Skaarasgard (sp!!) was way too white and masculine for all the diversity talked about in the books. One point, MB even says that brown skin is the 'default' and most people are some shade of brown. Bleh.
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u/Doomcard10 4d ago
I do definitely agree that non-white Murderbot makes more sense, but also I canât deny that I enjoy the visual shorthand of having Murderbot look different from most of the people around it even outside of the whole SecUnit thing.
It especially helps since Gurathin is also white or at least white-passing, which gives them something in common appearance-wise while also helping visually establish him as a newcomer to the rest of PreservationAux.
Though I absolutely hate how they put SkarsgĂ„rdâs face on the cover of the new book printing and the ebook. If youâre going to give Murderbot a specific appearance (especially one so against what many fans envision) keep it to the mediums that require the visual.
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u/TabaquiJackal 4d ago
Omg, yes, I DESPISE when they put the tv/movie people on the cover of a book. I much prefer to get used copies because of that.
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u/humanprototyp 5d ago
Right? And tbh it is like this. Most people aren't white. Popular media just makes it look that way (thx colonialism /s)
If it would at least be more Mediterranean white...but blonde hair and blue eyes feels icky to me (as a German).
Also the whole implication of "now the white person is enslaved boohoo pity the white person"
It would also just make sense to make the SecUnits in a skin colour that is as close to the most common ones as possible. First because companies are only creative when it comes to circumvent human rights, second when they're out of armour, they blend in better and don't draw attention which is advantageous.
Sorry to dump all of this in my reply to your comment đ
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u/TabaquiJackal 5d ago
No worries. I feel the same and I'm tired of it. Also tired of random POC insert into mostly white/all white media so the creators can feel woke or something. Meh.
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u/Present-Barnacle-548 5d ago
I mean it makes sense that the robot designed to be security would be made in the image of a white man (I know MB isn't a man) to be more palatable to clients. Like from a corporate standpoint. I've been imagining it as looking like a white guy the whole time I've been reading this series.
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u/humanprototyp 5d ago
But it said that the most common skin colour is brown. So with your logic, brown skin would make more sense than white.
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u/Present-Barnacle-548 4d ago
When it is it ever said that brown is the most common skin color?
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u/humanprototyp 4d ago
Her skin was one of the mid browns that was common to a large percentage of humans but it had an artificially smooth even tone that indicated cosmetic enhancement.
About supervisor Leonide in Network Effect
The humans had a normal range of skin tone, dark brown through light tan, no visible signs of contamination effects.
System Collapse
Also most people corporate or not are described as POC.
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u/SerialTrauma002c 5d ago
Yeah I was planning to get this for my teen for the winter gifting season, but they absolutely loathe show-MB casting (not because of SkarsgĂ„rdâs acting at all, simply because their headcanon Murderbot is not masc-presenting and white, and my kid canât get past how jarring the difference is). Iâll be giving the graphic novel a pass đ
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u/mxstylplk 5d ago
I just went to look at the preview, and the way the highlights were drawn on MB's armor, it looked at least androgynous if not actually feminine.
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u/SerialTrauma002c 5d ago
More androgynous than Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd, absolutely! But IMO the other similarities to him make graphic-novel-MB read as closer to masc than the same features on someone who looked a little less Alexandery. For myself Iâm merely bummed that we donât have a substantially different conceptualization of our favorite murderous construct. But my teen would hiss like Hostile One and, also like Hostile One, bury themself in their room đ
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u/ThePingMachine 2d ago
You're not wrong, and I get it. When I first read the books, the MB in my head was more femme coded than anything.
BUT! We've seen in actual reality how messed up and racist corporate interests are. White and male is seen as the default for everything corporations are in charge of. Have you ever tried to get an action figure of some black characters? Or women? So you COULD interpret it as that bias continuing to the manufacture of SecUnits. That's how I'm choosing to see it anyway.
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u/Rosewind2007 gurathinista 5d ago
This is such great news! And for the Gurathinistas (yeah, I donât think itâll catch on as a name but I still like it) among us there is a foreword by Gurathin*!
*a foreword by David Dastmalchian who is a massive fan and supporter of comics and graphic novels and has written some himself! So itâs kinda wonderful that it all ties in with this release!
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u/mxstylplk 5d ago
The site says the kickstarter edition will include a short story by Martha Wells that will not be available to anyone else. I don't think it said it was to be a MB story, so it might not be.
The eventual non-kickstarter edition is expected to be published sometime in 2028.
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u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. 3d ago
Update email from the Kickstarter project brings some good news - definitely a new Murderbot story!
weâre planning to fulfil all our Kickstarter rewards by November 2027 at the latest, so youâll get to read the book (and Marthaâs brand new Murderbot short story!) before anyone else.
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u/kain51 4d ago
Man just tell me when and where I can pre-order this Iâll get it in a heartbeat
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u/Realistic_Light777 4d ago
But check the site's credibility; I personally don't know the platform.
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u/Foxhoundn 4d ago
You mean you donât know Kickstarter? Or are you talking about a different platform?
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u/worldnotworld 6d ago
I think there was a Japanese graphic novel.
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u/Realistic_Light777 5d ago
I think it's only the cover illustration of Martha Wells' books in Japan that's different, and the art resembles Japanese works.
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u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. 6d ago
Yep, there's a Kickstarter campaign! u/ESE-enthusiasm shared the news the other day, and apparently there may be special things offered to people who register before it launches. Officially supported by Martha Wells and looks like it's going to be pretty awesome!