First a Preview for Next Sunday's Afronerd Radio (special 2pm airing) & 2morrow's Comic Shoppe: The Apes have it; DCnu; Catwoman, Supes Reveals

First off, the preview-don't forget to mark your calendars because Afronerd Radio welcomes co-authors, Rodney Kellum and Shawn Ousley to stop by this upcoming Sunday to discuss their latest, controversial book entitled, What yo nayme iz?: What not to name your child. I'm sure that our loyal listenership has been keenly aware that Afronerd Radio has been highlighting the deleterious affect that nonsensical and ghettocentric names are having on Black progress...well, these gentlemen are sure to give further evidence of this phenomenon...stay tuned. And then there's The Comic Shoppe.....


Where there's fire, there's smoke and undoubtedly crew at The Comic Shoppe discussing all things pulp, pop, sci-fio and everything in between. Stop by Tuesday at 7pm eastern to hear Captain Kirk, Dburt and Daryll B wax on the following topics: Rise of The Planet of The Apes takes in 54 miilion at the box office and wins over naysayers and critics to boot!; more problems (how many Robins can a Batman mentor in the DCnu) with encroaching 52 book reboot for DC; more talk of a DC vs Marvel video game when a head honcho at Capcom says it would be HIS dream project (as well as every other gamer); Cat Woman and Superman live action pics reach the net; more fallout over a Spiderman of color-Newsarama.com's piece on race and superheroes and lastly, our favorite/suggested graphic novel reads from the previous week. Call in live with your questions and/or participation at 646-915-9620 or via email/IM-afronerdradio@yahoo.com.

And now some words of wisdom from The Shoppe's Daryll B.

Hiya once again AfroNerd Readers! Before I get into new things, let me revisit the Miles Morales situation one last time (yeah right). I want to issue an apology to my cohorts DBurt, Captain Kirk, Steve, and all of the internet listeners. I let my emotions sweep up my common sense and control, making me not much more than a rambling idiot. I promise to you all that I will remember from this point on to funnel my passion into the broadcast while maintaining poise and respect that is needed to hear us rationally debate the topics.

Now going even further back, when DBurt re-branded The Comic Shoppe under the AfroNerd label, we had the announcement of the new Young Justice Animated Series debuting with a Black Aqualad. I posed this question back then: "If we are going to leisurely change races of characters, why can't we have a Black Robin or an Asian Superboy? How would comic book fans take to the news? Would it encourage the best or the worse tendencies in us?"

I guess I don't have to wonder about these questions anymore huh? To hear some comic book fans reactions about this, I am just glad that they weren't running the country during the 1860's or the 1920's or the 1960's, when the major strides in equality were made or else we would be no better right now.

Now I am saying this as a stereotypical / prototype nerd from Queens NY who has had to hear over the past week how "Black and Latinos don't read"... Let me go through my qualification checklist:

-Lives in basement
-Surrounded by comics, cds, and tapes of all sorts of science fiction
-Anti-Social in most public situations
-Wears clothing most days proclaiming my sci-fi love proudly
-Spends a lot of time on computers
-Only feels truly at home in libraries and my local comic shop SuperHero Comics

Matter of a fact I fit most of the "socially accepted" nerd criteria except:

a) My previous military service has kept me in relatively good shape (My thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost over the weekend. Rest in Peace. You did this country proud!)
b) I am Caribbean-American (Trini born and raised) but I consider myself black.

So I sorry for those who envisioned me as Comic Store Guy from The Simpsons. The only thing we have in common are the rants. Did I take some of the reactions personally? Yes I did and I hope it conveyed how much I want this to be more than a politically correct or a cash grab move. As a black sci-fi fan, it is a long time coming and I want this to work well Marvel.....

....but again as a black comic book fan, I am used to disappointment.

Quick Hits

I'm not the only one who's emotions got them caught up. Check this out between Scott Lobdell, Ron Marz, and Newsarama and how social media helps/hurts causes:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/marz-lobdell-racism-politics-social-media-110808.html

Ty Templeton helps me laugh about all of this with his trademark "nail on head" humor:

http://tytempletonart.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/ultimate-spider-man-bun-toons-yay/

Joe Quesada gives the timeline and thinking behind Miles Morales and other Marvel happenings:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33755

On a weirder note PSAs From Panels discuss how to bring some fans back to comics:

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/05/psa-comic-book-lapsed-fan/

Newsarama gives us....well the title says it all:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/10-ways-to-piss-off-comics-fans-110808.html

Aside from all of this on TV:

Torchwood pissed me off this past week (in a good way);

Haven must have read what I wrote last blog because they had their best episode of the season;

SyFy Network on Mondays has officially done what DC can't do: they made it official that Warehouse 13, Eureka, and Alphas all share the same universe..(thank you Lindsey Wagner and her 'gloves');

The season finales of Outcasts & Falling Skies have me salivating and frustrated that I have to wait 6 months to a year for their stories to continue (Job well done!)

Whew...I spent...so until next week AfroNerd Readers: Keep Fantasizing!