STATIC SHOCK #8 Trailer--The Final Issue

I'm sorry that Static Shock isn't going to continue within the New 52. While diversity has been one of the themes of DC Comics relaunch event, it hasn't been successful on all fronts. Should we dismissed the overall focus on expanding the narrative universe? I don't think that would be fair.

While Scott McDaniel has spoken of classic problems associated with Static Shock's overall placement within the New 52, there is no question the editorial mandate at DC has been to broaden representation. Even with criticism associated with sexism and lack of female creators, in a medium heavily dependent on the visual, there are more characters of color and greater emphasis on diverse sexual orientation for the audience, which remains primarily male and white, to see and reconcile within their worldview.

The disappointment in the failure of Static Shock has everything to do with the historic nature of the character. One of Milestone Media's original titles and created by Dwayne McDuffie, Static Shock is linked to a historic push for multiculturalism in comics that was pioneering for its time. Milestone provided a rich tableau of characters representing all people. This legacy now rest firmly in the hands of DC since they inked a deal to merge Milestone characters into the DC Universe. The New 52 was a golden opportunity to bring those characters to the mainstream. Indeed, a Static Shock book made perfect sense. The character was one of the most popular of the Milestone stable and had a long running animated series. Still, the character could not find a wide audience and questions about how race contextualize the adventures of a teenage superhero are important to consider. Is Static a teenage superhero or a "black teenage superhero?" The differences pose by the question are important. If he is simply a teenage superhero, then he is free to struggle, as teenage superhero do, with the problems of teenageness and superherodom (yeah, those aren't words). If he is a black teenage superhero, then he must deal with those problem, but "throw a little black in there" to make it seem "real." Which may seem weird, but every black person will know what I'm talking about. The tension has a long running history linked to representation and the superhero. Still, the struggle to strike the balance between core symbolism of the medium and recognizing the impact of diverse experience remains a struggle.

To be fair, Mr. Terrific isn't surviving the first wave of the New 52, so it not just a Milestone character problem. On the other hand, I think we are all impressed by Geoff Johns handling of Cyborg in Justice League, and Static has already appeared in the page of the Teen Titans. So, there are plenty of reasons to believe that the future efforts to maintain this focus on diversity will create new opportunities to broaden the comic experience.

Mythology and Superheroes in Comics

Ohhh my goodness... When I decided on trying to analyze the mythological origins and references in superhero comics, I had no idea the can of worms I was opening up... On the one hand, it was awesome to see just how many connections there were between superheroes and psychology/mythology/philosophy, but all the information also made it terribly difficult to distinguish what I should be using and how to tie it all together. When I was talking to one of my sorority sisters about it she said, "Oh yeah, well, research essays are kind of like putting together puzzles..." and I think that really sums up what writing this paper was like for me. Fortunately, I was really interested throughout the whole process and I very much enjoyed writing the paper. Being a psychology major, I was especially interested in reading about the Jungian archetypes that had a lot of parallels with major modern comic books superheroes. I was also able to incorporate Joseph Campbell's "hero cycle...

Why blame comics for societal failure?

Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.

#FUTURES: Tomorrow Idris Elba will be the Last Man Standing

There is some bad buzz around Pacific Rim on the web. I suspect the possibility of a giant robot movie being awesome is too much for some people. The internet is full of dark corners, but until we see the movie we won't know the box office. What we can tell right now is that Idris Elba is doing his part to make the movie a success. A standout performer, Elba has made a name for himself in countless productions . He achieve wide recognition for his turn on the big screen in films such as Thor and on the small screen in the BBC's Luther . Of course, the open question about actors of color in any film is whether not they will help or hurt the box office. Will Smith recent disappointment with After Earth opens the door for this conversation. His lack of success sparks the question who will be the next "bankable" star of color. There can be only one! See what I did there:-) These sentiments reflect a Hollywood centric approach that ignores Nolly...

'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

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