The comic book world is no longer a straight white man’s world: several diverse comic lineups made headlines this week with their uncommon characters.

We reported yesterday that The View was the first to debut the new, female Thor. Within 24 hours, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report reported that Captain America, Steve Rogers, will pass his star-spangled shield on to Sam Wilson, a black character known as the Falcon. Sexuality has also had its time in the comic spotlight; Riverdale’s Archie Andrews was recently shot dead while saving his gay friend, Kevin Keller.

A growing number of people have criticized comics for their lack of diversity, as many characters have not changed since their creation in the early 20^th century. Until recently, the changes have come, but slowly and with backlash. DC Comics outed Alan Scott’s Green Lantern as gay in 2012, showing him kissing his boyfriend. That led to some issues with Christian-based groups. Last November’s Ms. Marvel switch led to fear of cultural stereotype enforcement. The original blonde-haired, blue-eyed superhero was replaced by Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in New Jersey.

Die-hard fans have called these line-up changes gimmicks. Comic book execs agree that they are meant to bring in new readers, but also to break stereotypes and include different groups of readers. For example, Peter Parker was replaced in 2011 by black Hispanic teen Miles Morales. It was not quite as successful as the original. However, Axel Alonso, the editor in chief of Marvel Entertainment, said the character had helped bring in new readers. He told the New York Times: “When you see Spider-Man strip down his mask and he looks like you, you are more inspired to pick up that book.”

Their goal of making it less predictable as to who’s behind the super hero mask is moving in the right direction.