Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Death of the Black Superhero.

Aight so i just picked up three of the re-released Milestone comics trade paper backs (Static, Hardware and Icon). Upon reading I was thinking wow they had a really good thing going here not only do I like reading this, I'd love to write it. Upon DC's transportation of the Milestone characters into the universe proper (New Earth) I wondered when the hell are they gonna give these guys their books back? After reading somethings about Gail Simone' s desire to use Rocket( I think she would do great with the character) and Geoff Johns previous desire to use Static on the Teen Titans before he was introduced on the team, I started to think that something strange was going on. Here we have a universe of heroes (and not just the black ones) as diverse as they come (Look at the Donner and Blitzen) folks from all walks of life fighting for the greater good, people who allow a connection from any fan of comics, where ever you are from and no one gets any shine. I have to wonder why is that? So I look towards Marvel the house of ideas and say oh they have heroes I can relate to right here, Luke Cage, Dr.Voodoo, Night Thrasher ect. Upon closer inspection, i realize that none of these people have their own comic books (Dr. Voodoo's book just got canceled) So if i wanted to read about any of these guys I'd have to buy a team book, with other heroes i may or may not care about. Not to mention the most prominent among them is a ex-con turned hero (Although Luke was framed.) and a tin plated step-and-fetch-it (Thank you Rodey) who display the two ends of the black stereotype the 'thug' and the 'sell-out'. Sorry I'm not that cut and dry and most of the people i know aren't that way either, I relate more to Dr Voodoo (again series canceled) or Patriot (Young Avengers) who I'd love to see more of, Or maybe Falcon if he was made more interesting on his own as opposed to being Cap's best friend, and when are they bringing Adam the Blue Marvel back? Now I'm not going to bash the house of ideas anymore because they are on point (I love their Black Panther stuff and while i am not yet the king of a nation, i someday wish to be thanks to T'Challa) I'd just like to see a few more brotha's with books or at least one. (I know sales have something to do with it too) So i return to DC, It's safe to assume that many little children know Static Shock via the animated series so i suppose we can also assume that said little children have or will grow up and might be inclined to buy the comic in single issue form ( Because he's the non bitch version of Spidey) I mean give at least one person of color with a comic (You just killed Ryan Choi, give someone something ) And before we get into the fact that the current Azreal is black and has his own book, let me paraphrase both my brother Kerry and a sports caster who referenced OJ Simpson, The man is black in color only, he will rarely meet with black characters and even rarer will he deal javascript:void(0)with issues that plague the black community. (Not talking about drug dealers, I mean the Willie Lynch syndrome, if you don't know what it is look it up.) I write this because I'm angry and have nothing better to do than create my own character and hope my artist friends have the time and commitment to draw them. I'd like to thank Dwayne McDuffie and Kevin Gervioux for creating and writing these characters ( You guys give a young brotha hope.) Thank you that is all.

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