Fear of a Black Cape

The following was most recently inspired by reading a review of the events of "the Black Panel at San Diego Comic-Con International (SDCC) 09, a conversation that repeats itself in my comics shop and the letter X.

I'll summarize for you so you don't need all the background.

The "Black Panel" is an annual event at SDCC hosted by a guy named Michael Davis. The purpose/feel of the panel is to provide support/promotion for projects related to Black Culture specifically in comics.

When I put it this way, it seems pretty decent and useful but I also want to see it in it's best possible light. If you're putting a panel together with Denys Cowan and Reginald Hudlin on it I'm fine with it. Even better if you're including Jamal Ingle, Kyle Baker and Dwayne McDuffie. I'm pretty sure that you could easily honor people like Nichelle Nichols and have a high quality panel that really sets the tone for panels like it at other shows.

Of course you don't have to have a panel like this at all. If you're a person of color and into comics culture then there no end to the areas of disappointment you've had to face to either feel represented or to break into the industry. The answer, IMO is to hone your craft no matter the obstacle and get out there and do what you have to do to make it work.

Then again you could easily turn a classy panel like I described into a minstrel show full of chicken, watermelon, punctuality and laziness jokes. Then throw in some "Them" vs "Us" references, promote projects by rappers etc, and you'll have what I've seen more than once in the comics industry. I think this is a less than professional way to handle business.

If you make it to the point where you can host, organize and or moderate a panel on the state of minority affairs in the comics industry, please do me the favor of doing so as if you a) have a brain and b) have respect for the business. Panels such as these can and should be used as promotional/information sharing tools and they shouldn't be circus side shows.

Now for those conversations I keep finding myself having.

All I want are good comics. I'll be the judge of what's good though. I don't watch UPN, BET or listen to Urban Radio either. That's because they don;t offer me anything that I find useful in the least. I have no problem supporting creators of color when solid work is being done in the industry. I do not however support glorified fan fiction in my comics.

I was talking to a guy recently about how cool he thought it was that Black Panther and Storm of the X-Men were married. My position was that the whole thing made no sense to me logically and that clearly we were dealing with a case of Reginald Hudlin remembering a conversation from his youth in which he must have said, "Man If I were Black Panther, I'd get with Storm. That girl is BAD as HELL! Damn!!!" Nevermind the fact that their paths would probably never cross.

If BP were going to marry a black super personality in Marvel comics, then he'd have a better chance of meeting Monica Rambeau (Photon), a former Avenger and current member of Nextwave and the Marvel Divas comic or Misty Knight, cyborg chick detective and former GF of Iron Fist. Both spend most of their time in NYC and have Avengers ties, directly and indirectly. Storm, on the other hand is part of a team that is anything but public and she's either in Upstate NY or has moved out to the West Coast with all the other mutants, hated around the world for just being different.

Hudlin was having a Jay-Z and Beyonce moment. Storm MIGHT be Marvel's most popular female character Black America would crack the internet in half over it's collective knee if BP married a white super chick so it damn well had to be Storm but that doesn't change the fact that this is glorified fan fiction. Why couldn't Hudlin create a strong black female character whom BP could fall in love with and marry, who could become a significant character at Marvel for years to come?

I have heard arguments that the BP and Storm pairing is great considering the state of black super dudes in mainstream comics but I'm calling bullshit on complaints about the state of black characters in mainstream comics. If people were willing to actually do the leg work, they'd see that representation is out there. Something has changed though.

Hip Hop/Street culture has helped to put forth an idea that we're only being represented if black character look and act like black people act on television and in the media. A comics starring rappers who have super powers which match their music industry personas would get more notice than a long running DC super team with FOUR black characters including it's leader (JSA and Mr. Terriffic).

The only complaint I'll really allow for mainstream comics involves no male black X-Men...ever (I really don;t count Bishop since he had to come back in time from the future) and no better characters in the Legion of Superheroes than, Tyroc, Invisible Kid II and Kid Quantum II. Small potatoes to some but it's noticeable to me. I won't list all the black characters in mainstream comics BUT I will say that you have:

Luke Cage leading an Avengers team
John Stewart as a prominent Green Lantern
Black Panther himself
Jim Rohdes as that other Iron Man guy who will now be played by Don Cheadle in the next Iron Man movie (in my book this counts as 2x as black)
Steel as a big time superman supporting character as well as his niece Natasha.
Cyborg, fan favorite member of the Titans
Mr Terriffic, Jakeem Thunder, Amazing Man, and Thunder, daughter of Black Lightning
The JLA has Black Lightning, John Stewart and Vixen
The current run of Astro City (READ ASTRO CITY!) stars Charles and Royal Willams as agents infiltrating an evil spy organization (Pyramid) in order to track down the killer of their parents.
Everyone who wants to read a great sci fi comics should also read Ocean by Warren Ellis.

Like I said, not a complete list but good enough to have people only holding on to their old feelings about representation because they want to and not because it's really the case. In fact if people start mentioning characters I've left off, it would just be making my point for me.


Now I know plenty of people that want to see more African mythology and Black Historical allegories used in comics and because they don't see these things, many mainstream comics fans become indie comics creators and make these comics themselves. This is perfectly fine and I'll validate the hell out of it. To a point. Please don't tell me that this is the only outlet out there for blacks and creators of color because the mainstream won't let us in.

a) I'm having a hard time separating this "original material" I'm seeing from people disenfranchised by the industry from the material it's derived from.

If you are pissed that your voice isn't wanted by "The Man" then why do you try so hard to repackage the same stories "The Man" has spent decades selling us but with a black twist?

b) Please master the craft that you are trying so hard to display. There are a lot of talented people of color working in mainstream comics and these are not people who took a negative portfolio critique or maybe even several rejection letters or unreturned phone calls as a message that there was no place for them. They, as near as I can tell, just kept at it.

Comics is not a business for everyone. The 15 largest publishers in the business can only have some many people under it's employ so you will have to compete. Becoming bitter and not honing your skills to a true professional level of story telling is not the answer.

All Hail Ben Templesmith!

Hello All,

First I'd like to say that this week marks the official one year anniversary of Third Coast Comics! The official celebration will take place next week on Saturday, August 15th.

To Help us Celebrate we are bringing in famed Gothic Comics artist, Ben Templesmith to sign everything from his own highly acclaimed work (30 Days of Night, Fell, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Welcome to Hoxford, Groom Lake and the upcoming Choker), to anything you happen to put in front of him.

He's up for sketching slightly odd versions of all of your favorite characters and will spill all sorts of industry insider information with his Australian accent to boot.

Ben is Signing from 2:00pm to 6:00pm after which he's joining us for our Comic Book Meetup session in our Courtyard.

I don't know about you all but I'm pretty damn excited about all of this.

This year has beaten my previously chosen potential occupations of astronaut, pro wrestler or heavy metal drummer.

Nasa said they didn't need a masked percussionist so I'm bringing you Ben Templesmith instead!

Come by and meet him on August 15th at 2:00pm

I Hate Anime..well not exactly...

I end up in conversations sometimes with what I can only think of as the lonely step children of geekdom, Anime Fandom, in which folks ask me about how I feel about Anime.

I tend to, in order to stop the conversation going to places where I'll just get stared at with looks of incomprehension, just say that I hate anime.

Blink...blink...

I end up having to explain (because I am always told that I've never seen good Anime) that I've see lots of Anime. I'm older than people expect. Not so old that I was there when Astro Boy was created but old enough to have seen Ultraman (yesn not Anime but I'm making a point) when it was aired on what is now an all Spanish speaking channel in Chicago.

I was an 80's kid and that means that I was there for the Anime that is spoken about in hushed whispers and the non Anime that was pretty damn influenced by it and that 20 somethings today all seem to love with the same reverance that my generation had for Speed Racer and Captain Harlock.

I've decided that the only responsible thing to do (since my Netflix TV show queue has pooped the bed on me) is to list the Anime I really liked and challenge Anime fandom to stop Cosplaying for a minute and to get their hands out of their big baggy pants and suggest things like these things.

After we're done, you can put your little wings back on and continue watching that stuff with the swords that look like boat oars and such.

Here's the list:

Akira

Appleseed

Baki the Grappler

The Big O

Bubblegum Crisis

Cardcaptor Sakura (yeah I can't explain this either)

Crying Freeman

Dagger of Kamui

Fist of the Northstar

Ghost in the Shell (all)

Gigantor

Golgo 13

Lupin III

Macross (whichever one came 1st)

Megazone 23

Ninja Scroll (again, the 1st one)

Patlabor

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (This is my favorite!!!!)

Space Battleship Yamato

Vampire Hunter D



Note: I got the titles from this list from some website and I know it's not complete because there are titles I've seen that it didn;t mention. That shit is annoying. Grown ass men shouldn't be out searching web for lists of anime but if we are you should be completist about it. You're making anime fandom look bad.

Now then, I want folks to suggest ohter things I might like BUT I need to be able to find it or trust you enough to meet you in public where you will trade movies for beer.

Got it?

Also, I know Fist of the Northstar is on the list as is Grappler Baki but that does not mean suggest the bloodiest shit you know of. Keep in mind that I have watched me some Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask was my boy so I understand what STORY and DRAMA are, you freaks.

I also included the Big O because I like me some Giant Robots. You'll do well to note that there is no Gundam or Escaflowne. That's because I need to be able to tell my big robot characters apart. Just because I like big robts doesn't mean I want 20 of them on my screen moving at 2 million frames per second.

As a rule, I'm gonna say, no singing or cooking. I was scarred by a bad Minmay experience. If you suggest something with singing and/or cooking, I'll send my boy Baby Seal to fix your little red wagon and you DO NOT want that.

I didn't include Cowboy Beebop either, because it was ass.

Now I'm going to say something CONTREVERSIAL:

I want to avoit Anime with talking animals if possible or where people have cat ears or fox whiskers or where men tun into women if they have to wash. I'll avoid it and you should too.

I am also not going to make this a life mission. I'm just killing time so more cool ass TV shows can be released on DVD and then I'm going back to my cave with my whisky and Foreman grilled meat.

Ok ready? Go!

My Favorite Things

I get asked this sometimes and my answers don;t really change all that much so I thought it'd be a good idea if I committed them to website.

These are ALMOST in order so if you want to yell at me for where I place things, go ahead. Yes, I meant to put The Great Darkness Saga ahead of everything else. Deal with it.

My Favorite Comics stories are:



Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga
The Avengers: The Korvac Saga
The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
Sandman: Seasons of Mists
Thor: The Walt Simonson Era
The Uncanny X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Bratpack by Rick Veitch
Ronin by Frank Miller
Uncanny X-Men: God Loves; Man Kills

My Favorite Series Ever are:



Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude
Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
American Virgin by Steven Seagle and Becky Cloonan
Starman by James Robinson and Tony Harris
Queen and Country by Greg Rucka
Global Frequency by Warren Ellis
Fell by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith
Wormwood: Gentlemen Corpse by Ben Templesmith
Hellboy by Mike Mignola
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

My Favorite Ongoing Series are:



Secret Six by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott
Justice Society of America formerly by Geoff Johns
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard
Incognito by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Madman by Mike Allred
Captain America by Ed Brubaker and Luke Ross
Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
Rasl by Jeff Smith
Zombies That Ate the World by Guy Davis and Jerry Frisson
REBELS by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin


Yes, there are some omissions just because there always are. For instance, Miracleman isn't on my list anywhere. The reasoning is because most comics fans are never going to read/own it and I'm tired of giving it lip service.

Searching for it now will give you more info about why you'll never see fit again that about the story itself. I'm over it and more than willing to promote stories you can find...well...except for the Great Darkness Saga, which is out of print :)

Miracleman is now the perfect example to comics geek, pop culture "one-up-manship".

It's like, "You never read Miracleman???? You poor doomed soul. You should have been there!"

In music, it's the equivalent of Woodstock and if you're from Chicago, it's fucking Riverview. I'm willing to let it go...or I can rant all day about it because it's worth mentioning.

Go buy the stories I did mention and read good shit!

Terry

Two Steps Forward Three Steps Back

Yeahhh...about that characters evolving and passing the torch to the next generation. I remember when I believed that, years and years ago.

Hal Jordan was dead, and the Last Ring was taken up by Kyle Rayner. "You will surpass him," the King of Dreams told Kyle, in Morrison's JLA.

Oliver Queen was dead, and the mantle of Green Arrow was taken up by his lost son Connor Hawke.

Barry Allen was dead, and Kid Flash had to live up to his legacy.

Jason Todd was dead, and Tim Drake was determined to prove himself a better partner for the Batman.

Superman was dead (briefly) and it took 4 people to fill in for him. I could go on.

Where are they now?

Kyle Rayner, off in space somewhere, while Hal Jordan, back from the dead, is the focal point of the GL mythos again.

Connor Hawke, no longer able to shoot an arrow but now gifted with a healing factor he got from being spliced with DNA from Plastic Man. Meanwhile, Oliver Queen, back from the grave, married the girlfriend he had in the 70s and is the one true Green Arrow.

Wally West, aka Kid Flash, had his book cancelled, was replaced by Bart Allen, who died, replaced by Wally again only to have his book cancelled a second time. Barry Allen, back from Speedster Heaven, is the one true Flash back in Central City.

Tim Drake was replaced by his girlfriend who was capriciously killed and later unkilled. Jason Todd, who was capriciously killed in the 80s, is now unkilled.

John Henry Irons spends less time as a superhero and more time as a replacement for Professor Emil Hamilton. Kon-El Kent was killed off and thanks to a lawsuit couldn't even be called Superboy when it happened, the Eradicator only shows up on Kryptonian High Holy Days, and the Cyborg Superman is...um, something happened to him in the Sinestro Corps War but I can't be bothered to remember what.

I could bring up Thunderstrike, Ben Reilly, Danny Ketch, whatever the hell Rhodey is now, The Manhattan Guardian, the v3 and v4 Legions, and whichever Doom Patrol is in continuity this year, but it's late.

The shared universe of Marvel and DC have gotten very good at the illusion of change, but in the end it all boils down to what the writer liked reading when he was 12. Because that's what you're going to get on the page. Marvel's brought back every 70s character from Angar the Screamer to Zzaxx, and all the Superfriends killed off in the 80s and 90s are running around again. I can see the 90s revival coming on the horizon--Darkhawk has had TWO #1 issues this year and it's only April.

Darkhawk. Sheesh.

The "growth" you're talking about is nice while it lasts, but it doesn't stick. Only Dick Grayson seems immune, but the year's not over yet.

Meanwhile I eagerly await Charles McNider/Vic Sage/Karate Kid/Ted Kord: Rebirth, The Kraven Clone Saga, and the All New All Deadly Brother Power the Geek.



Oh shit they did that one.

Another Step in the right direction

This week DC released the second issue of Batman: Battle for the Cowl and reading it, I was reminded of why it is I thought this three issue mini series had such potential. For years many of us have been reading comics and trying to find ways to continually identify with the characters that brought us to the dance.

It doesn’t matter if it was Superman’s quest for Truth and Justice or Spiderman’s embodiment of the “Everyman Hero” to Captain America’s Man out of Time or Batman’s mission to eliminate injustice making him an iconic creature of the night.

The classic comic book characters of the Silver Age of comics contained something either significantly tragic or stunningly brilliant that attracted people like myself when I got into comic collecting.

Then one day, and I can almost pin point the day, something changed and possibly not for the better. Part of it was publishers missing the boat on opportunities to have their characters evolve and some other part was that I evolved enough to want to really be able to accept and want change.

I cheered when Tony Stark was deemed too drunk to be an effective Iron Man, passing his armor to his loyal buddy, James Rohdes. I was thrilled when Hal Jordan moved on (I won’t discuss how so Jordan’s fans can sit on their hands and keep reading) and his ring was passed to a much more contemporary Kyle Raynor. My favorite evolution of a character may be undone soon but with Barry Allen’s death back in the 80’s, the mantle of Scarlet Speedster was passed on to his nephew, Wally West, the former Kid Flash.

The beauty of these changes for me was that the new players had a chance to not just fill big shoes but to walk in directions that more established characters like Stark, Jordan and West really couldn’t because of who they were and the era they represented (Hence the freak out of Jordan fans when he…well…nevermind all that).

Currently the big deal is that Bruce Wayne is dead (or just not around anymore) and Gotham needs a protector against the likes of that which has threatened it like evil clowns, reptiles, thieves, former DAs, acts of God, and bus loads of crazy people. FINALLY, his cowl will not only be picked up by Dick Grayson, the first Robin, but it looks like the mantle of Robin will be handed down to Damien, Wayne’s loose cannon of a son (long story).

Now I’m not really looking at this as just another costume change or something like that. I’m looking at this as a way to actually see Batman grow for a change. Grayson has long avoided the issue of someday becoming Batman but let’s face it. It’s his job to take over the family business and if this is done right, this can be some of the best comics work since Jack Knight reluctantly became Starman back in the 90’s. The reluctant heir to the thrown can be a great vehicle as long as there isn’t too much whining. It’s not like Grayson is a rookie or anything but no one can really what it’s like to be Batman until they’ve worn the suit and tried to do what Batman did. We’ll also have the benefit of watching Grayson grow into the role as opposed to reading Batman for the past 10 years and have the realization that no matter who or what the obstacle was, Batman was well prepared and all the stuff between preamble and conclusion is just a formality.

I’m hoping that I get a change that makes me feel like I felt when I no longer had to watch Pierce Brosnan’s 007 and could enjoy the flawed but deeply emotional and dangerous Daniel Craig’s 007.

If you want to read something else like it then I recommend the Current run of Captain America by Ed Brubaker, in which former sidekick Bucky Barnes is found to be alive, (again long story) and has now taken over for the assassinated Steve Rogers. Essentially you get a real sense of just how heavy that shield is when carried by Barnes, who has to overcome his own programming and a personal agenda that may at times get in the way or representing the same ideals Rogers did.

I still call these changes, steps in the right direction. If comics readership is getting older then it’s a safe bet that we have seen all we need to really see of whatever fit is the Silver Age was taking us on a tour of. If there is a younger comics audience to tap and indoctrinate then writers and publishers may need to find ways to make older concepts new and not just by changing the characters outfits and methods. We can see right through that. Sometimes the best thing to do is put someone else in the driver’s seat and let him take the wheel and keep it for a long time.

This isn’t really a new idea and it’s the way life is supposed to work anyway. You had your living at home for cheap and listening to the bullshit your parent tossed your way because you were living under their roof yadda yadda yadda right? Then you moved out, got some cool roommates, learned that they sucked and either were too neat or were pigs and moved out again, borrowing money from the bullshit parent to do it or working that extra gig for the cash to make rent or to pay those loans back.

Now you have you shit together (or close enough not to be like that sibling or friend from high school or college who still hasn’t leaned shit) and WOW, you may now even be a shit talking parent or are headed that way.

This is just how it goes for many of us and I’m still reading comics and wondering about how now that I don’t really need to see my own angst and rebellion reflected in my favorite characters, how can I see the growth that I notice in myself and my peers reflected in my favorite concepts?

Well I’ve been enjoying the hell out of watching Bucky Barnes go through it as Captain America and I’m hoping I get the same from Dick Grayson and crazy little Damien as Batman and Robin.

Vertigo gets it!

I've been saying for some time when asked about whether I thought floppy monthly would ever go the way of the 8 track tape (no) and cellphones that don't do anything but make calls (yes).

There are a tone of comic book titles out there and many do well by today's standards. When I hear someone lamenting modern sales compared to the sales of bygone eras, I snicker. We aren't guaranteed to always make the money we made in the past and IMO publishers spent a good amount of effort giving us substandard product to make that money and retailers should have known it.

Personally this period in comics is the most diverse the market has seen in a long time and if retailers do their job and attract the appropriate market while publishers listen to that same market, then the medium with survive and thrive.

Vertigo gets it.

In August they are releasing 2 new titles under the banner of Vertigo Crime but instead of making 2 new monthly titles which will enjoy healthy 1st issue sales that will have dropped off like a major league split finger fastball, they are releasing them both as Graphic Novels and bypassing monthlies altogether.

Filthy Rich by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos isn't about a character fans already have a measure of loyalty to and loyalty is one thing that helps sales of monthlies as well as well known creators. I have no doubt that I could move this comic if it were a monthly but I'm kinda glad I don't have to. Instead I can devote that one spot on my shelf to some indie title that needs the exposure more than a DC/Vertigo title. In this case, I could make space (hypothetically) for a title like Four Eyes (Once upon a Time in America with Dragons). Instead of making shelf space for Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'edera, I can give that space (Hypothetically) to Terry Moore's Echo, which is simply a well done Terry Moore property with an interesting female lead but with super powers (unlike Strangers in Paradise which had well developed characters and more drama than day time TV).

The main point is that major publishers would do well to consider introducing new properties in GN format for a while and save the monthly comics for that which already works. It could prevent them from having to cancel a series by issue #32 even when the title, characters and creators are well regarded.

I think a lot of indie creators pushing new titles could benefit from this too. I've only got so much space in my shop and I am pretty picky about what mothlies I'll add to the rotation based on what I perceive to be the tastes of my clientele and my abilty to sustain interest in it.

One doesn't have to be overly picky in order to consider the strain on their comics budget put there largely by Marvel and DC comics. Many of my customers will avoid unknown properties in order to still afford the old stand by titles but would support a well done indie original graphic novel in a heartbeat.

A step in the right direction by DC.