But, wouldn't adding a Muslim character to the Corps be similarto adding a Black man--The Falcon--to Captain America's book?It's social politics 101 (in GL's case, at the cost of the book itself,but that's not what I'm talking about here).

So, with all the Gay, Muslim, Female, Trans-, whatever, peoplenow populating comics, how is this any different than adding TheFalcon back in the day?

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Adding Black characters was correcting a long-standing offense.

Now, I have an Arab-American character in TRIO, and I did not bother to make a point of him being a Muslim. I hoped the readers would ASSUME he was a Muslim, and therefore it would not be necessary to state it unless so doing was a vital part of the story. In the same way we don't announce that So-and-so is Jewish, or Catholic, or Buddhist, unless that's an important element of the story.

In the case of this Nu52 character, what with his spotty background and tattoo, it would seem his being a Muslim is the worst kind of tokenism: the "creators" don't seem even to have done any research on what it means to be a Muslim.

If DC is going to make a publicity stunt out of this character -- which they have -- diluting him seems pointless. Or is the point to make him "safe"?

"It's okay everyone! He's a Muslim, but not a SCARY Muslim."

When the New 52 began, writers were told to “write as if they were writing fan fiction."

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Which is pretty much what they've been doing for the last decade or so anyway.