Keeping it copacetic and succint, stop by tomorrow evening for an "afronerdic" spin on pop/fantasy/sci-fi culture at The Comic Shoppe with our motley crew-Daryll B, Captain Kirk and Dburt. Call in live with your questions or protestations at-646-915-9620 as we discus the following issues: Marvel Comics acquired the rights to Marvelman (Mick Anglo/Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman's take on Fawcett's Captain Marvel) with much fanfare but what happens now?; rumors are spreading that a major villain slated to appear in next year's Avengers film is Thanos; it appears that DC is going reboot crazy with revitalizing long dead heroes; our predictions for Friday's X-Men: First Class release and lastly, our graphic novel reading suggestions from the previous weeks. It's the beginning of summer folks...pull up a chair and enjoy a lighthearted pulp discourse.
Afronerd Radio Presents The Comic Shoppe!
And while you wait, check out the (ever poignant) musings of The Comic Shoppe's Daryll B:
Hello AfroNerd Readers and welcome to this very special episode of Daryll B.'s blogs. This one is inspired by a conversation I had with the boss Friday Night in which my love then hate of this particular issue has gotten brought to light. So to set up my rant, it is time for the audience to get to know this "geeky, yet evil" black kid....
Born in Brooklyn but raised in Queens, NY by parents of Trinidadian descent....
One sister who is far more smarter and successful than me.....
8 years served in the United States Army and even though I consider myself a screw-up, surviving Basic Training and A.I.T. is still the thing I am proudest of in my life....
I love sports and professional wrestling. I think that there is more drama in a well played athletic contest between two athletes/teams that there ever will be in any "reality" show that you can think of (or so I say producers' fabricate). Professional Wrestling has always been my soap opera but there is no denying the physical and mental toll that these athletes go through to please the audience but...
If you have heard the show, my passionate love of comics, fantasy, and science fiction will be no surprise to you all. What will be a surprise is that this love got inspired by A Christmas Carol. While others were looking at the messages and symbolism, I was inspired by the Ghosts and Time Travel.
While I am a Hip-Hop Head by nature, if you see my ipod, you will see more rock songs than rap. My life I grew up among rappers around Jamaica and Hollis, Queens however my first concert ever was a Metallica show. I have always had a little rock in my blood and believe me it freaks out some people when they hear me attempt to drunk (or tipsy) sing Enter Sandman or Sweet Child of Mine at the bar. My friends are used to it by now....BELIEVE ME. Most of the Daryll pics on the internet are of these (strange) situations....
Which leads me to my topic today: Comics Alliance this week posted up the video to Best Love Song by T-Pain ft. Chris Brown because it is a Scott Pilgrim homage/clone. Obviously the director and/or the artists loved the feel of the film to shoot this fun video that resembles Pilgrim so much. Then after the second time of me watching it, something perturbed me. I couldn't quite put a finger on it. So I watched it again...and again....and again.... and EUREKA! I GOT IT....
Here are two high profile black R&B artists, doing an homage to a quirky, fun little comic book movie, singing/battling over this woman they are fixated on, and there ISN'T A SINGLE BLACK PERSON ROCKING IN THE CROWD. *Scratches Head* Yep you heard that right. I see an Asian Gal. I see a fine Latina/Italian mix Gal on a dude's shoulders that is rocking out and stripping. Unfortunately, I don't see any black people grooving to this performance. Sure towards the end of the video you'll see one Black Guy kicking game to a couple of gals against a wall 3 minutes in. You'll also see one during the final guitar battle that is standing to the left of the object of their affection. But for every shot of the rocking crowd, I dare you to spot one of us. This is an R&B video and I know that T-Pain and Chris Brown have large Black followings...
Which leads me to a certain stereotype that I have run headlong against in every part of my life and I don't know how this came to be... Black people and fantasy/science fiction. They are not supposed to mix or better put, if you like these forms of entertainment, you are "less" black than others. Who the hell came up with this one? And the thing is, I have run into perpetrators of this stigma on all sides. Whether it is me geeking out to a show/movie or me just reading comics/novels on a bus/train, I have heard the snickers and seen eyes rolling. I have just phased that out, however this video just stirred those outcast feelings up all over again. Dear Hollywood/Nashville/New York/Atlanta, I have news for you: Black People are just like all other races in terms of entertainment: we want good, quality stuff. However, I find that we as a people feed into many of these stereotypes ourselves. Look, I can't tell you what to watch or what to read or what to vibe to, but I can ask of you all to keep an open mind or else we will continue to be forced into these stereotypes by those that can.
Links:
As an admitted wrestling fan, I find Chris Sims comic book comparison of Randy Savage quite compelling...
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/05/27/ask-chris-58-macho-man-memorial/
Elsewhere on the site, David Uzumeri revels in Mark Waid's ability to modernize an origin without cheesing it up...
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/05/26/mark-waid-captain-america-review/
Over at 4th Letter, Gavok assembles Esther and Was to give opinions on each of Marvel's Point One issues to this point....
http://www.4thletter.net/2011/05/the-point-one-collaboration-experiment/
Then he goes solo to review one of my guilty pleasures.... "Let's Get Dangerous!"
http://www.4thletter.net/2011/05/4-elements-darkwing-duck/
At Spinoff Online, Graeme McMillan starts an interesting debate on the state of 3D movies...
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2011/05/28/why-3d-isnt-dead-just-changing/
While Carla Hoffman at Robot 6 offers her thoughts on the accessibility of comics and related materials to outsiders..
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/05/the-fifth-color-the-fight-for-your-first-comic/
And Chris Arrant wonders about who the next Marv Wolfman comic character to achieve multimedia success will be..?
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/05/comic-strips-to-comic-flicks-marv-wolfman-movies-they-haven%e2%80%99t-made-yet/
Finally, Tom Bondurant gives us all a DC character history lesson while thinking about Flashpoint...
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/05/grumpy-old-fan-robin-the-flash-changes-and-rollbacks/
Hmmm, I think that should do it for me this week. As always for any questions and rebuttals, I can read your comments here or at wolfpackorion@yahoo.com. And remember this, entertainment is about enjoyment and science fiction is about pushing the boundaries of your ideas. No one can keep your mind down as long as you Keep Fantasizing!
Until next time AfroNerd Readers!
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