THE BAD GUY PRESENTS "POP THAT CULTURE" PART 2

WHY WE DON'T NEED BLACK FACE SUPERHEROES, AND HOW RACE WASHING NEVER HELPS...IT ONLY HURTS!!!

Once again, the saga continues!!! Back with a bunch of random thoughts, complex ideas and unfiltered opinions...it's Brian Mark Williams, the self proclaimed BAD GUY. This is my newest feature, POP THAT CULTURE. And I would like to discuss the irreperable damage that is done when marketing executives and bean counters decide they want to be "woke" and sacrifice a legendary literary character to the fires of revision and cheap gimmicks. I just recently heard that JJ "Galactus"Abrams has been given the helm on the problematic SUPERMAN franchise. WHAT? WHY? HOW? That makes absolutely no sense at all. I hope you caught that part where I referred to JJ as Galactus. Do you know why I did that? Because this dude murders universes!!! He feeds on the creative energy of other franchises and the juice of existing canon...and he descends upon the cineplex like the grim reaper, seductively talented enough to craft an interesting trailer and create mass hype. Folks be running around buzzing, calling his name and waiting for his latest joint to drop but alas...once you strap into your movie seat...you get brainwashed and lobotomized by the slickest of the chopped and screwed remixes you have ever seen. You sit there and say to yourself..."I'm feeling this...this is good. But I have seen this somewhere before (and you have), your nostalgia kicks in and the blood rush goes to your brain...you're having fun. Lights come up and you're leaving the cinema...trying to remember what you just saw so you discuss it with your peoples but for some reason you come up short...you got cheated...he mocked you (so did Warner Brothers or Sony or whoever) he scratched and hacked your beloved and now you sit there...shook like another victim...he vicked your childhood, your heroes and your canon. But you financed him?!! STAR WARS and STAR TREK are smoking ruins, great masterpieces forged and built by legendary film makers...now devastated, ransacked and looted...left for dead. Then you get home and get on the internet to complain, you comment on your favorite podcast and say that JJ is a hack...you dog JJ Abrams when you're out with fandom buddies and pop culture vultures...you declare him..."a Devourer of Worlds". Yet you bought the ticket to something you already new was about to be some bullshit. Trick no good player. You can't have it your way. Are you and I the problem? Did we hero worship these cats so much that these money hungry ass studios empowered them to lord over our precious franchises with unquestioned power? Enough of this. We know what we did. We gassed these fools up. They think they can feed us anything. We played ourselves. They took our imaginations and dreams...hustled them shits and put them on the track. And now we got beef because STAR WARS got pimped? Because STAR TREK is laying face down in the gutter?

The only way I could stomach JJ Abrams doing a SUPERMAN flick is if the subject matter was concerning BIZZARO because it would have to be staged out of that particular pocket universe in the Superman mythos to ever make sense. So check it, as Abrams continues to defy the principals of gravity (failing upwards like a disoriented Keanu Reeves in the Matrix of Hollywood...dodging bullets and what not) some corporate clown with a Black Lives Matter hard on probably suggested ..."Hey, why don't we do a Black Superman? It could be a very unifying movie. We could steal some of the shine from Black Panther and Miles Morales? Yeah, yeah...that's hot...Black Superman. He's the ultimate outsider superhero...we could get extra meta with this...imagine, Superman's birth rocket crash landing in Compton? We could have the police roll up on his rocket and he gets adopted by the Bloods or the Crips or the Rolling 20's...you know what I mean. Call Michael B. Jordan. He's got the physique...he'll do it...hell he's was half the reason Black Panther was successful anyway. Black audiences will eat this up, and white audiences won't know whether to run for the hills or break out into a joyous kumbaya!!! This is ingenious and the great thing about it...when we are ready to flip back to default Caucasian Superman (and we will) we can celebrate the triumphant return of Superman proper without disturbing the equilibrium of his legacy nor have we introduced a competing character that may one day eclipse or surpass Superman in box office or popularity because Superman Black is just another shade of Superman. See what I did there?" But on the serious tip...does the team at Warner Brothers have the slightest clue what they are doing with the glue that holds their extended universe together? Superman is the adhesive of DC Comics...really he's the cornerstone character of all comic book heroes...all comic book universes. In my opinion, if there isn't a Superman comic on the stands...then what do we have to compare the rest of the superhero comics too? I would also dare say that Superman is sort of the BIG BANG of comic book superheroes. If not for his bombastic entrance into the world of funnybooks...we may have never seen Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman or The Fantastic Four. The chain reaction this character has caused in the world of entertainment was epic to say the least...his first appearance triggered a tectonic shift that has given us an ever growing tapestry of pop culture mythology that continues to this day. The reason for race swapping Superman to me is blatantly obvious during these times...and worth none of the tumult that will follow in its wake. Because if you can change the greatest and best of them all...then what does any of this stuff mean? All these years of continuity and canon can dissolve based on the sheer whim of a pretentious writer or money driven board of directors? Yes...these things can happen and not only that...it's a necessary part of life and business in the US of A. Superman was acquired to make someone money. Technically, that someone, can make Superman a cross dressing chain smoking alien gigolo if they thought it would sell tickets but I'd like to think the powers that be are more interested in the longevity of a great character like Superman and are more attuned to what his audiences want rather than strip mining him until he is a ruined hulk of a franchise. My true opinion on the notion of a Black Superman may surprise you. There's this interesting phenomenon that occurs in comics called "What if..." or "Elseworlds"...these tangential universes within the respective Marvel and DC universes give the writer's and artists creative license to experiment and play with these characters in different scenarios and alien sandboxes much different than their regular continuity. For instance...Mark Millar once wrote the seminal classic...Superman: Red Son which poses the question...what if Superman's rocket had crashed in the Soviet Union. There was also another one-shot graphic novel called Speeding Bullets that dealt with Superman's rocket crashing in Gotham and being recovered by the Wayne's instead of the Kent's. These ruminations are fun and are an exercise for writers and the audience to particpate in together as they explore what might be in a malleable Twilight Zone of permutations and alternate events if only for one issue. In this vein I could tolerate watching a Black Superman on the big screen or reading about him between the comic book pages if I knew that this was done not as a paper chase or a money grab but out of truthful introspection into why Superman hits so hard with people of all races, creeds and sexual orientations. But of course that's not why they are shifting to a Black Superman. Somebody's doing it to start some shit. To stir pots. To light fuses and create press. Why else would Warner Brothers choose one of the more divisive chapters in this nation's history to launch a Black Superman initiative? Is it to imbue the black community with some type of pride and finally recognize that we enjoy seeing ourselves depicted as heroes too? I think that may be part of the story but certainly not the sole reason for race swapping one of America's most prominent and enduring fantasy icons. I've written previous blogs about Superman before. I'm a passionate fan of Kal-El and his exploits on Earth and wherever. I respect Superman for the chance to achieve pure escapism whenever I climb into one of his adventures. I enjoy the grandeur and the epic conclusion of the planet Krypton. The Moses analogy is not lost on me either when it comes to the question of the lone rocket hurtling towards earth. The Saturday Evening Post vibes of Smallville and the saintly, God fearing couple of Martha and Jonathan Kent are like old friends to a die-hard Superman fan like myself. Whether it's the Fortress of Solitude or the Bottle City of Kandor...Krypto the super dog or Supergirl...Lex Luthor or Lana Lang...I accept Superman for it's ability to be many things to many people without having to ponder the race question. I feel that it's perfectly fine for Superman's creators to have imagined their hero as a white Jewish male because that's what they were. I might also add that we still have not seen the definitive Superman film due to the quantum leap we have taken in technology since the first Superman the Movie. You would think the perfect casting of Henry Cavill as the last son of Krypton would have provoked all kinds of visions concerning the future growth of the Superman franchise. It didn't. Warner Brothers managed to reboot Superman into a world where he is easily conquered in box office gross by a spunky and hopeful revival of Wonder Woman and a brain dead but gorgeous debacle called Aquaman. The bean counters don't get Superman because creatives like Zak Snyder don't get him... And then there's another dilemma...foregoing the creation of new organic characters of color for these superheroes because we can just as easily maintain the franchise and gain some political brownie points out of painting Superman black for a few months and then...back to the status quo.

As much as I can appreciate Hollywood wanting to tear down established themes and tropes that they have helped institute in my conscience throughout my lifetime...I have to say that there are thousands of organically grown and cultivated Black superheroes in the market place for you to use to reenact or repurpose the "Great Caucasian Superhero Story" without using Superman to foment global race riots. Seeing yourself in a character is obviously a "thing" nowadays. Everybody wants representation after the breakout success of The Black Panther and the robust success of Wonder Woman. And that's a good thing because there are a lot of stories and characters that have been ignored and left by the wayside by Hollywood...so you would think this would launch a renaissance of new stories that would not only fulfill agendas but enrich and enlighten American audiences. But hold up...wait a minute...there's an unforeseen victim that we have overlooked. A demographic that keeps getting dragged through the mud and openly accused of being way too priveleged and barely self aware of their near unchallenged dominance as the focus of real world scenarios as well as the fictional arena. White guys. Now let me start out by saying, in a sickening Stockholm Syndrome creepy ass way, I can understand why a lot of white males are alarmed and upset by the sudden societal upheaval that has spotlighted them as the villains. When all you have ever been (the captain of the team, the first in line, the heir to the throne, the alpha male...etc etc) it's jarring to be ousted from the position of power. Being the winner in every epic struggle in literature, history and even in the social strata that civilization consists of gives you a definite boost that you could become accustomed too...that you may be resentful of others if this invisible privelege and title was suddenly wrested from you. I will never forget the day they announced that Miles Morales was going to be the next Spider Man. There was some blowhard on FOX News and he was outraged as if someone had spit on him and his family. I'm not white, but I can imagine or try to recreate his vitriol that day when he learned one of his most beloved superheroes was being "BLACKFACED" for the purpose of upping the ante of the ongoing evolution of comic book narratives. I thought to myself for a millisecond that I was not too crazy about a African/Latino American Spider Man myself. I thought it was a definite cop out. Marvel has some of the greatest black characters in the comic book industry...period. But they decide to take their number one flagship character, The Amazing Spider-Man and RACE-WASH him? This was definitley a money-grab with political ramifications definitely but a risk worth taking. What is seldom mentioned when reflecting on the emergence of the most popular race swapped character of all is that at the time...independent Black creators like myself were stepping out to conventions and introducing new characters of color that could very much compete or pose a threat to the superhero industry. In 2009 and 2010 I introduced my own comic book characters...Lucius Hammer and the Harlem Shadow in that order. I attended every Black Comic Book convention that I could physically get to and made a decent splash in the pond so to speak. I remember seeing various professional artists and writers who were representing the BIG 2 at these same shows and I recalled how they watched me and the crowds around my table from a good distance. Never approaching me or asking anything about my books but carefully pepping the activity around my table and the characters I had created. Not going to mention any names but I'm certain that somebody told someone that the "cavemen have discovered fire and they're making torches with that shit!!! We gotta do something...we gotta sweep that money off the table before they get it. We need to come up with our own Black Superheroes!!!" I know anyone reading this article is going to be like..."Why Brian...you have a very high opinion of yourself and your four measely comic books that you self published between 2009 and 2011. Sure your comics are pretty good for amateur fare but you're not really insinuating that your books and the growing output of the Black Indie Comics movement instigated the creation of Miles Morales? Are you?" Yes I am. Critics and detractors may argue otherwise but the timing was just too on the nose...others may say that Milestone Comics had dropped a cohesive universe of diverse characters in the early nineties and that had influenced Marvel but I would tend to disagree. Milestone, although one of my very favorite distractions in the Nineties Black Renaissance, had failed to really capture the imagination of the mainstream and cooled off quickly. I actually enjoyed every title that Milestone dropped but they weren't sexy like Image Comics at the time. In fact there was a title called TRIBE by Larry Stroman that I actually really enjoyed during that era...but I digress. My point is...something about indie black book publishers and our energy at the time to create our own vision and produce books with our unique voice made the Big Boys notice. But this gave birth to the first ultra-successful race-washing of a major superhero franchise. And it actually worked. Miles Morales Spider Man resonates for me because Spidey has always been a character that could be any race. He certainly has a lot of characteristic traits that are associated with the young black males of this generation and there was an opportunity to go deeper with that so Brian Michael Bendis is lightweight on some genius shit for rolling dice on this one. The reason I resent Miles Morales Spider man (SM for short) is because with a little extra ambition...Bendis could have created a stand alone, organically grown black superhero that could have just as easily become Peter Parker's padawan and had his very own identity. But by tying the character to Spider Man...Miles Morales is forever linked to this particular franchise and will have to eternally settle for the status of SPIDERMAN BLACKFACE DOPPLEGANGER. He will be tethered to the white superhero image that was first created that he was cast in the image of. Do you get why that's not sexy? Like I completely understand why white fans may be perturbed at the race-washing of their traditionally white superheroes...but do you understand why ultimately Miles Morales doesn't hold up for me as Black Superhero that I'm proud to be a patron of and donate all of my spare monies to? Because at the end of the day he is subordinate to a white character that I wasn't to keen on them changing the race of in the first damn place. You did it because you want my money, you want to create a ruckus so everyone stops to look at the traffic accident and you hope that the character will endure and spin off into it's own franchise. I get it from a business perspective, but you got to admit...that shit is lazy and defeats the point of introducing a Black character into your already ample pantheon of Black characters that exist in various states of disrepair. I want Black characters that were created because someone took the time and experienced "inspiration" while inventing that character. STATIC (aka Static Shock) is a great example from MILESTONE. When Dwayne Mcduffie (Rest in peace and power big dog) created this character...he was most definitely paying homage to everyone's favorite wallcrawler. But he flipped that joint...played with characters and storylines...made it his own. STATIC was a hip-hop version of SPIDER MAN that predates INTO THE MULTIVERSE and I definitely enjoyed Big Bro Duff's take on a young, teenage black superhero. As a result of going out on a limb and birthing a new superhero of color, we very thankfully have the prospect of a STATIC SHOCK character who can be the source of endless books, movies, toys and various other products and we don't have to worry about him being tied to another franchise and people complaining about his race. I think the reasons why people get so hung up on the race-washing gimmick are multitudinous, but mine in particular is "stop being lazy"...there are way more caucasian superhero characters out there than black ones. To me this would logically lead to the creation of more black superheroes. Right? I love the character Superman...and I also love Michael B. Jordan. I can even admit that JJ Abrams given the right writer and staff might be able to build something interesting out of the premise of a Black Superman...but just like the scientist Ian Malcolm reflects early on in Jurassic Park..."Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it." I will always be a strong proponent of creating new black superheroes from the ground up because we have waited so long, people of all races, to see some diversity in the mix. Comic book superheroes should not be any different. I would challenge comic book editors and company execs to look around out here in the wilds of indie publishing and take notice of the great ideas that are churning in the minds of independent creators like myself. There's gold in these hills...but you have to look for it.

This is B Williams coming at you from the SOUL SANCTORUM...if you have any comments or ideas you want shoot me...you can always hit me up at [email protected] and www.soulhammercomics.com

PEACE OUT, COMIC BOOK FAM!!!

READ COMICS!!! READ BLACK COMICS!!!

CHECK OUT LUCIUS HAMMER and THE HARLEM SHADOW at www.comicfleamarket.com and www.soulhammercomics.com