Hey Kids Check Out the New Comic Books Villains, Black Man & Robbin' aka Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton! Does It Ever Stop?

Stephen A. Smith on Arenas
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Wow...you guys know how I feel about this frabernackle bulls&%$! More in a few moments...I have to exhale first...

Ok, I've exhaled (sometimes it can take a few days....) and it really can be a difficult endeavor to write about absolute idiocy. One could say overstating the obvious is an exercise in futility. I'm pretty sure our readers-sports and non-sports fans alike-have heard about the alleged Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton altercation that occurred in the Washington Wizards locker room. If legend and/or hearsay stand somewhat near the truth, the altercation ended up with guns being drawn over a $500 bet...in the Wizards locker room. So now once again, we have young Black multi-millionaires (Arenas specifically has a 100 plus million dollar contract) risking their livelihood (and freedom) over negligible money. I will let our commenters respond to this nonsense.....I will delve into this further on our upcoming Afronerd Radio broadcast but in the interim, I would like to hear from other voices on this matter.

Happy Belated New Year Folks! Back On The Grind....Check Out Tuesday's Comic Shoppe Broadcast at 7pm ET

You know the routine...The Comic Shoppe returns tomorrow for another event-filled talkfest featuring myself and my colleagues, Max and Daryll. So to keep it simple, join our own special Just Us League to discuss the following pulp oriented projects: our impressions of a recent article highlighting the 30 most important comics of the decade; the final approval of the Disney-Marvel merger; Marvel's push for a female oriented comic book line in 2010; the team Comic Shoppe's thoughts of trends to look forward to this ensuing new year and of course our favorite graphic novel reads from the previous weeks. Feel free to call us live at 646-200-0104 or via email/IM-thecomicshoppe@yahoo.com. And as always....make mine the Comic Shoppe!

The Comic Shoppe's Predictions for 2010!

The Death of Cool or The Passing Of the Inimitable Percy Sutton

A few words and ruminations on one of my heroes, the great Harlem entrepreneur and politician, Percy Sutton coming up in a few....

OK, it's about a week and half later but you know what they say, "better late than...." I would be remiss if I didn't say a couple of words about one of my personal heroes, Mr. Percy Sutton. From the onset, someone ill informed or unenlightened might ask, why the bereavement for an individual closing in on 90 years of age? The simple response-an individual with the class, intelligence, sticktoitiveness and political acumen of a Percy Sutton is still sorely needed in the Black community. I have stated this many times in Afronerd.....we lose are cultural foundation with the passing of such giants-a loss that just appears to be irreplaceable. Sutton was one of those figures that I was introduced to at an early age. I am forever in my father's debt for informing me of key figures in African-American cultural and political history. Irrespective of this blog intermittent conservative bent, I was reared on erstwhile progressive icons such as Adam Clayton Powell, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer, W.E.B. Dubois, Frederick Douglass and of course, Mr. Sutton.

It also appears that true renaissance men (and women) are becoming a dying breed. Not only was Sutton well educated (attending a variety of institutions...my alma mater of Hampton University, notwithstanding) but he was able to fit in being a Tuskegee airman, an esteemed attorney (the aforementioned Malcolm X being one of his clients), politician, entrepreneur and media mogul; accomplishments garnered by the time he reached his mid 50s. So I tip my hat to Mr. Sutton and his family, I just wish that some of our youth were more aware of his political significance as opposed to the intricacies of faux "heroes" like Curtis Jackson or Lil' Wayne......sigh. For more information pertaining to the passing of Percy Sutton, check out this excerpt, courtesy of the AP:

The son of a former slave, Percy Sutton became a fixture on 125th Street in Harlem after moving to New York City following his service with the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. His Harlem law office, founded in 1953, represented Malcolm X and the slain activist's family for decades.

The consummate politician, Sutton served in the New York State Assembly before taking over as Manhattan borough president in 1966, becoming the highest-ranking black elected official in the state.

Sutton also mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and mayor of New York, and served as political mentor for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's two presidential races.

Jackson recalled Sutton talking about electing a black president as early as 1972. Sutton was influential in getting his 1984 campaign going, he said.

"He never stopped building bridges and laying the groundwork," Jackson said Sunday. "We are very glad to be the beneficiaries of his work."

In a statement released Saturday night, Gov. David Paterson called Sutton a mentor and "one of New York's and this nation's most influential African-American leaders."

"Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul," Paterson said. "He will be missed but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfill their own dreams and ambitions."

President Barack Obama called Sutton "a true hero" to African-Americans across the country.

"His life-long dedication to the fight for civil rights and his career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible," Obama said in a statement.

In 1971, with his brother Oliver, Sutton purchased WLIB-AM, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York City. His Inner City Broadcasting Corp. eventually picked up WBLS-FM, which reigned for years as New York's top-rated radio station, before buying stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio between 1978-85.

The Texas purchase marked a homecoming for the suave and sophisticated Sutton, born in San Antonio on Nov. 24, 1920, the youngest of 15 children.

Among Sutton's other endeavors was his purchase and renovation of the famed Apollo Theater when the Harlem landmark's demise appeared imminent.

For the Sutton piece in its entirety, click on the link below:


Percy Sutton, Harlem political pioneer, dies at 89

Ok..We're Back.....Finally! Stop by For a Special Year End Wrap Up Edition (Wed-7pm ET) of The Comic Shoppe-Here's A Preview, Courtesy of Daryll B.!

Again, Again.....please accept our apologies for the lack of entries for the past couple of weeks but there's a lot coming down the pike with interviews and my questioning the pursuit of another advanced degree and add the holidays in the mix.....well you get my drift! But enough with the excuses...stop by the Comic Shoppe tomorrow at 7pm as Daryll, Max and yours truly discuss all things pulp as the decade comes to a close. Feel free to call us "live" at 646-200-0104 or via email/IM-thecomicshoppe@yahoo.com. See you guys at the shoppe and without further ado, here's a preview/synopsis of tomorrow's discussion thanks to the Comic Shoppe's own Daryll B:

You know, it pretty amazing going back and looking over the past year at what was the best of the best. I go back and see everything I hated on and what looks to be awesome is all that is left. It actually sounds bleak when I phrase it like that but as you will see, I had a method to my madness phrasing my theme like this:

TV Show of the Year: Usually this category would be easy for me but towards the end of the year a lot of good science fiction TV hit the airwaves. As you folks know, I loved the SciFi Channel's Eureka, Warehouse 13, Sanctuary and Battlestar Galactica. CBS's The Mentalist, USA's Psych, and FOX's Bones all had their moments of strong TV. CW had Supernatural eclipse Smallville as their top fantasy show and ABC had Lost regain its footing while adding V to its schedule and giving Pushing Daisies a proper sendoff. From across the ocean, Hex is the heir apparent to Buffy while Torchwood and Doctor Who continued the British trend of strong sci-fi. For NBC's Heroes, it was an effort to regain its lost momentum as FOX's Dollhouse is trying to finish up strong. Weeding out the candidates I could only choose two shows which stood out as my top pick and runner-up.

NBC's Chuck is flat out funny and week after week it was on I had to make it must watch TV. However, that did not make my top spot; that honor goes to FOX's Fringe. Part X-Files, part Twilight Zone with a dash of The Outer Limits and then a dessert of Firefly's dysfunctional yet strong, family team dynamics. All of that is thrown in each episode of Fringe and in my opinion, it doesn't get muddled. Those who watch for the greater conspiracy are treated faithfully each week to something more enlightening / confusing and those who just want to watch a single episode can watch without getting too confused by the weirdness. Great TV and I am going to enjoy it as long as I can.

Movie of the Year: Again a very varied category when it comes to science fiction. I loved Coraline and Monsters vs Aliens while the Unborn had its moments in the beginning of the year. Drag Me to Hell and Orphan had very genuine scares from territory that I thought was already well mined. Watchmen was nearly picture perfect from the book but as a result went about 15-20 mins too long or else it would be in my top 2. For their limited budgets, Thirst, Paranormal Activity and the Fourth Kind were very decent while for the expansive budgets 2012, Ninja Assassin and Avatar had very lush, semi realistic looking science fiction but again I could only choose 2. In animation, the TMNT franchise had a great crossover and homage to their complete history in the ultimate mash-up. DC had great efforts in Wonder Woman and Green Lantern while Marvel gave me a decent effort in Hulk Vs. Those who had heard the show over the last year already know where I am going with my top two.

My runner-up, Let The Right One In, seemed like any other indie international coming of age teen movie. Love, hate, jealousy, confusion, and angst abound throughout the film except for the fact one of the youngsters is a pretty vicious vampire. Yeah I call this the Anti-Twilight and it definitely had me looking at a few shadows after watching it. Let me tell you that this is so not good when taking the NYC Subways after Midnight to get home. However my top spot had to go to my surprise movie of the year: Star Trek. Before its release, I had such a feeling of dread about watching this as an admitted Trekkie. JJ Abrams and the leaks about major changes angrily scared me to no end. But you know what? It worked. It was fun. And kudos to the crew and actors involved for capturing the old fun of the franchise and putting a new spin on old mythos.

Comic of the Year: A-Ha! Finally a category I think I can feel comfortable with, especially with reading through 60% crap week in week out. The art of making a great comic series consistently seems to be a lost art but the quality crop of books beginning from almost the end of last year on my list ALMOST made up for the aggravation. Getting my own biases out of the way first, I am an admitted Terry Moore fan so I loved his Echo and his run on Runaways for Marvel. Chris Giarusso left Marvel to return to his G-Man roots and did not lose his trademark humor. I was sad to see Jay Faeber end Noble Causes but am loving his Dynamo 5. Boom Comics' Incredibles is incredibly fun and they brought back the Muppets to comics successfully. DC has found something special in Batgirl believe it or not while their Green Lantern franchise can be considered to be carrying the company more than Superman and Batman. Image's founders have reunited but books like Walking Dead, Chew and Phonogram continue to carry the company. Top Cow, Aspen and comics in general lost a great guy in Michael Turner but Fathom surprising has re-found his audience. Marvel is undergoing a Dark Reign and has super powered people running all over the place in its Avengers titles and the X-Men are expatriates now. (bad joke I know.) And unfortunately I would have have Captain Britain and the M13 here if it didn't get canceled. Dynamite has a superstar in the making with Leah Moore and their faithful adaptations of properties like BSG, Zorro, and The Good, Bad, & The Ugly. However I could only go with 2 books for my top spot and as nerve-wracking as it was, I cheated myself and went with 5.

Gail Simone's Secret Six is flat out, consistent fun. These deviants and anti-heroes are must reads every month. That is if I could call Bane an anti-hero. Yep, the guy who broke the bat is on the team and he has depth. But the star here is Rag Doll. He's like the psychotic Spidey from the Marvel Exiles series mixed with Plastic Man. You know it is improper, but you have to see more of his antics. Say what you will about the violence in Image's Invincible, but it may be the best superhero book in pure essence on the stands today. Sure it takes a lot of leeway with the lives of its characters but the storytelling is top notch. Marvel has a gold mine In the Incredible Hercules with its humor and the buddy dynamic of Amadeus Cho with the Lion of Olympus is so good that Marvel made sure to put them on the Mighty Avengers for more exposure.

Alas I could also mention Tiny Titans and Secret Warriors but my heart is now settled on two books. Marvel's Nova has become the spine of the cosmos for the company. He may be their answer to Green Lantern but make no mistake, the everyman spacecop has been amazing to read. To knock him out of the top spot for my book of the year took a book with a golden reputation...and sure enough the character has 'gold' in his name. My book of the year is Booster Gold from DC. Nostalgia combined with time tripping and good old fashioned storytelling made BG a must read every month for me. DC's most over (self) hyped superhero is the one with the most humanity and heart. Go Figure.

So there you have it, my picks for the best of 2009. I am pretty sure you folks will disagree with me on all of these but the important thing is that we have such a varied landscape to have selections from. So until 2010 Fantasy Fans, keep dreaming....and watching....and reading...and fantasizing!

- Daryll B.

Just A Few More Ruminations........What Tiger Could Learn From Mariah Carey & Is Ghetto Culture The Only Way To Wealth For People of Color?

I just happened to catch this clip of Mariah Carey's appearance on the new George Lopez late night show and it interesting as to how the subject of race is discussed in a public forum. As much as I always found Lopez humorous, I've never been compelled to ask someone about their racial designation. I've always been able to figure it out on some visceral level but the asking reeks of crudeness-in my opinion. But then there is my "nerdic" side that might also be instrumental in providing an answer (i.e. coloration around the elbows/knuckles; prognathism, national origin, etc)....Again, it can be "figured out." But does it really matter? Ideally, no. But in the real world, once one's race has been determined.....yes.

What's striking is that Ms. Carey has established her comfort level with a Black identity (although her phenotype might confuse some folks) and yet Tiger Woods (with a more phenotypical "Black" appearance) came up with another answer to the race question. Of course, that's his right but I'm wondering how he feels now with the unrelenting media scraping at his cleats. Earlier this evening, I happened to catch a glimpse of the re-airing of a Tiger Woods interview with Larry King (circa 1998) and it was billed as what Woods was like before the scandal. Did Tiger pass away or commit murder? I'm confused....again, I hope Mr. Woods received the same carbon copy email that Ms. Carey received at some point in her career.

MTV Cribs - MTV Shows

And now a brief diatribe pertaining to how the promotion of thuggery and minstrelsy are still being presented as the sole avenue for obtaining minority wealth. I understand that we have a POTUS of color but it still appears that the minstrel industry is still steamrolling ahead as the preeminent aesthetic for young Blacks and Browns who seek material acquisitions. Why isn't it evident that while we are in the midst of a historic presidency, we can no longer allow this imagery to continue without a counterbalance? There seems to be no outcry to show alternative Black culture as a means to success. Perhaps I will address this on the next Afronerd Radio broadcast but I grow wearisome over this truncated depiction. Any thoughts?

Sometimes Ignorance Has To Be Highlighted For An Alternate Perspective-2 Cases of Male Restraint

Unfortunately, holiday preparedness and festivities were the cause for tonight's Afronerd Radio preemption but I still would like to squeeze in this tidbit for our readers/radio listeners to chew on. I would be remiss if I didn't give the customary (and appropriate) disclaimer that a man should never put his hands on a woman but these clips certainly would make the casual observer scratch his/her head in befuddlement. And I know what you guys are thinking....does this tangentially relate to the Chris Brown-Rihanna incident that occurred earlier this year? I'm also reminded of the Chris Rock, Bring the Pain routine when he posits that the golden rule of there never being a reason to strike a woman might not be completely accurate. He further stated that there could be a reason to strike just about anyone, hence throwing an elderly man down a flight of stairs. I always added a caveat to Rock's joke by stating that the reason for attacking the elderly person makes sense if he's Adolph Hitler. Again....the paradox centers on a plausible reason. Again, I would never allow myself to get caught up in a Chris Brown style situation but what are your thoughts about these two videos? Will we ever get to a place in our culture where we can tell the complete truth about what can transpire between the sexes? Check out the second video:

I Think It's Time To Open Up Hollywood's Accounting Ledger As One Uruguayan Makes a Kick Ass Film Short for $300!! Oh & Afronerd Radio Next Week!

And you thought the last media sensation-Paranormal Activity (allegedly made for approx. 15K) was made on the cheap! Well, I guess neophyte filmmaker, Fede Alvarez didn't get the Paranormal email, as his film short, Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack) was reportedly made for $300. Now what makes this story even more interesting is the twofold process that Alvarez employed to gain notoriety. He first uploaded his film to Youtube which garnered a million plus views. Then he signed a 30 million dollar movie contract (courtesy of Spider-man's Sam Raimi) with Ghost House pictures to produce a full length effort in his native Uruguay and neighboring Argentina. It has been rumored for quite some time that the movie industry's finances have been speculative at best, but when you look at the quality of Mr. Alvarez' film (made for the price of a video game console), it makes one wonder just how much are the budgets really for Tinseltown's most popular CGI laden filmworks.

Holy, Sh&%t!, Batman......It's The Iron Man 2 Trailer.....Hey, Check Out Cheadle As War Machine!

Apologies for the Cancellation of Sunday's Afronerd Radio But There's Always Next Week! Eric Holder Channels Dr. Cosby! I Can Dig It....

I can take the fair share of barbs from those who have a problem with the terms Black and conservative being used in the same sentence but it is frustrating when I have proclaimed on countless occasions that I am not a right wing ideologue. Perhaps the greatest indicator for my positioning would be my support for President Obama and his stance on the need for more fathers of color to address the fractured Black familial institution. Now it appears that the attorney general, Eric Holder has put his Cosby-esque spin on the same subject matter. While visiting his old stomping grounds in Queens (NY), Mr. Holder essentially told a predominantly Black church congregation that the greatest deterrent to poverty would be the active involvement of the father in communities of color. Mr. Holder, I couldn't agree more....here's more on Holder's visit to the big apple, courtesy of Mainjustice.com:

Holder Calls On Black Fathers To Take Responsibility

Attorney General Eric Holder called on absentee black fathers yesterday to take an active role in their children’s lives, Newsday reported today.

Holder, a Queens native and the first black Attorney General, urged the 400 worshippers at the Memorial Presbyterian Church on Baldwin Turnpike in Queens, N.Y., to orchestrate a “spiritual awakening,” according to the New York newspaper. The Attorney General said a father’s involvement in a family can help combat poverty and crime in black neighborhoods, according to Newsday.

“Too many men in the black community have created children and left them to be raised by caring mothers. These women do a wonderful job, but we ask too much of them and too little of our men,” Holder told the congregation, which included members of his family, according to Newsday. “It should simply be unacceptable for a man to have a child and then not play an integral part in the raising and nurturing of the child.”

Holder’s comments hearken back to comedian Bill Cosby’s speech before the NAACP in 2004, in which he sparked a national debate by urging African-American fathers to take responsibility for their children. And on Father’s Day 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech in whcih he said “too many fathers” are “missing from too many lives and too many homes.”

The nation’s top federal law enforcement official steered clear of domestic policy matters during his speech in the church, Newsday said. But, outside the church, more than 50 people protested his decision to try 9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists in a New York City federal court, according to the newspaper.

Holder met with federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and other officials earlier last week to discuss the upcoming trials.