'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

I had a chance to ask Brandon Easton about his new documentary, Brave New Souls over at PopMatters.  Follow the link:  Out of the Shadows: The Brandon Easton Exclusive

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The Flash could be another Arrow!!!! It is my contention that perhaps no superhero character highlights the reality of the postwar expectation and anxiety than Wally West.  While Golden Age superhero provided a reflective and aspirational narrative linked to the rise of the United States, the Silver Age Flash highlighted the strain associated with post WWII realities.   This television adaptation could be ripe with the same kind of symbolism. 

neo Jonathan Gayles' White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in American Comic Books has been picked up for distribution by California Newsreel. I'm flattered to get a mention in this interview on Left of Black.

The recent announcement that USA Network is teaming with DC Comics to bring a new series of comics revealing what happen between season four and five of the hit series Burn Notice shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. One of the highest rated shows on basic cable, the partnership makes sense for both sides. While Burn Notice is big hit for basic cable, it still relatively unknown compared to broadcast television. As the Saturday Night Live skit about Burn Notice demonstrates, most of the U.S. viewing audience hasn't seen the show. This fact highlights one of the key realities about modern media. The media landscape is splintered, with small groups of viewers dedicated to shows that most other Americans may have heard about vaguely, but haven't seen. For all the mad love for MAD MEN , the show averages little more than two million viewers per episode. In comparison, the lowest rated broadcast show can easily triple that number. Basic cable's advantage i...

If Ye Be Worthy: Thor and Identity and Idris Elba A recent essay for PopMatters.com allowed me the chance to explore race and identity through the comic lens. With Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men, the anthology on superheroes and the U.S. experience finally coming together, I can see how superheroes are linked to the American experience in complex ways demonstrated in every essay. This comes as the summer crop of superhero films continues to develop the cinematic framework for superheroes in interesting ways. With Thor behind us, we can look forward to Green Lantern in June and Captain America in July. Like Thor, both offer important windows into the symbolic power represented by superheroes, but they also raise questions about how our the symbolic power of these heroic narrative blind us to the reality our world.

'Thor' comes to the big screen: What's a Norse god doing in a Marvel comic? Some quick reflection on Thor by me were incorporated into this Christian Science Monitor article by Gloria Goodale . All in all, I think Thor is significant success for Marvel. Satisfying on its own as a summer film, the elements of the cinematic universe Marvel is building are on display in this film. Like the print universe before it, the idea of a shared universe provides the kind of excitement for film goers that it has long provided to comic book fandom for decades.

With a new Venom comic debuting today, and Spider-Man featured in the new FF: Future Foundation comic, I'm taking a moment to reflect on Spider-Man's live action effort on Broadway. The recent critical thrashing of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is more than the story of a troubled Broadway show. As any number of Broadway professionals can tell you, many shows have been marked by soaring budgets, deep-pocketed backers, and mercurial creative minds coming to a sad end. Indeed, other rock musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair prime examples, faced similar problems. Yet, few have received the rancorous focus associated with this comic book-inspired show. Even before the critical onslaught, the cultural fixation on Spider-Man: TOD was severe. Spider-Man: TOD is a natural target for unfavorable scrutiny in part because it is about Spider-Man. This to me is the core issue. Spider-Man: TOD has generated so much press because unlike other dubious productions, Spider-Ma...

David Gabriel, VP Sales at Marvel Comics announced at the ComicsPro retailer summit, Marvel's intention to kill a character every quarter. As I mentioned before, the value of killing any character in comic is not about that character's death, but about the aftermath for those left behind. This is why some comic deaths are sacred and others not. Gabriel insisted that plan to kill characters is not a cheap ploy to sell comics. This, despite the fact, that Fantastic Four #587 was the highest selling comic in the last six month. No, Gabriel insisted , as I suggested , that the point is to established a new status quo like the one we are seeing coming out of the dissolution of the Fantastic Four and the creation of the Future Foundation. Still, the timing is suspect. Marvel has committed to the 3.99 price point (versus DC holding the line at 2.99) and they are also gearing up for a new major event- FEAR ITSELF. In concept this could be a creative too...

David Liss , the new writer for Black Panther: Man Without Fear, was kind enough to grant me an interview a few weeks back. Just in time for Black History Month, the interview is available at Brink Magazine . Many thanks to William Rosemann and Arune Singh at Marvel Comics for their assistance (including the image you see in this post). Race and/in comics resonate with contemporary culture. If you have caught the first two issues of Liss' run, you recognize he has incorporated an understanding of post-colonial theory into this run of Black Panther. In some way, the run represents a return to the Black Panther as seminal black figure in Marvel Universe. Black, not African-American, thus the Panther's perspective is that of an outsider divorced from baggage of African-American cultural placement in the United State experience, but is linked to it by the persistence of race based thinking. Like President Obama, the character of T'Challa (the Black Panther's real name...

Rebuilding American Manhood: The Green Hornet Circa 2011 The good folks at popmatters.com just published a short essay I wrote on the Green Hornet . My goal here was to contextualize the new movie within the American experience. If you have been following my recent musings, you know that I think there is a link between pulp era and contemporary superhero inspired media. This article maps some elements of that relationship through a close examination of the new Green Hornet film. As you know, I like the film, but my goal was to look beyond the surface to find a deeper meaning in the cultural foundation of the Green Hornet character.

In the midst of my morning survey of pop culture landscape and I come across this story on the failure of Tron Legacy , Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , Watchmen , and Kick-Ass and the role of San Diego Comic-Con in creating or failing to create a success. Since I think seriously about comics and popular culture I have already thought about this. I know, very self serving, the professional media types at blastr.com write a story and I reply I have already thought about it /:-) Still, the analysis of the failure of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World after the great buzz at comic-con touched on these issues already. There are several factors playing in the background here. Still my reaction to this story is...duh its comic con!! If you have a comic or pop culture related movie bringing it to comic-con is the equivalent of bringing water to a person dying of thirst in the desert. Yes, he or she will be happy to see you. That doesn't mean he or she will let you move into their house ...

From Comic Book To Small Screen Jessica Jones Series In The Works I'm intrigued by the idea of a Jessica Jones series because of three things. First, the idea of female character linked to Marvel's superhero universe, but not in costume would work well on television. For the most part, that has been the successful model for shows like Smallville and Heroes. Despite NBC's The Cape coming to the small screen in January, the usually approach is to avoid the costume even if the hero has superpowers. Second, a female character has a better chance of picking up a big audience on television, especially if they follow Brian Michael Bendis great characterization. Finally, and most importantly, Jessica Jone is married to Luke Cage in the current Marvel Universe. If the series is successful, even a modest success, more people will get a chance to see Bendis' revamped and modernize version of Luke Cage on television. This would open the door to getting the character into a ...

The ruminations over new activity to bring Wonder Woman back to the small screen once again remind me of the unique place DC Comic characters occupy in our collective mind’s eye. The struggle to produce a Wonder Woman film says much about the challenge represented by the Amazon Warrior/Princess who does not need to be rescued. Despite the growth of women’s role in society, we still assume a paternal and maternal model for men and women's in society. While Wonder Woman is not barred from motherhood, she is not seeking to place herself within the familial framework in an obvious way. Indeed, the recent runs of Wonder Woman have been better in part, because they have embraced the character as who she is--warrior, diplomat, and leader. Wonder Woman is one of the key characters from DC, yet she has not had the iconic stories similar to Batman ( The Dark Knight Returns , The Killing Joke , or Year One ) or Superman ( Greatest Stories or Red Son ) in print. Instead, many people k...

I'm gearing up for a presentation on the U.S. experience and Superhero for TEDx Orlando . TED talks are about ideas worth sharing and if you know anything about me you know I am a fan of comic books. I'm a fan of many things, but comics are easy for people to understand. Honestly, given the marginalizing nature of academic endeavors, having something to talk about that people understand is not a bad thing. Despite my confused appearance, I have a pretty focused approach to scholarship . Yet, regardless of my focus, the vast majority of people dismiss academia. The old saying of "Those that can-do and those that cannot-teach" makes a lot of sense to people. It is wrong, thus proving the need for an education. Still, the United States puts a lot of stock in going out and "doing" as better than the learning and understanding achieved through intense study. Given this popular sentiment, you would think Rollins would be more well-known to the wider publi...

I recently completed a piece on No Ordinary Family for popmatters.com My goal for this piece is of course to push beyond the surface to explore the symbolism associated with comics and superheroes in the United States.

My op-ed in the LA Times touches on some of my thinking about race in comics, but if you have been reading this blog, you know there is more to my research. Here is a list for those wondering about blackness in comics. Black Panther (1966) 1st Black Superhero Falcon (1969), 1st African-American superhero Eddie March, Iron Man for one issue (1970) Black Racer (July 1971) John Stewart (Dec. 1971, becomes star GL in 1985) Luke Cage (1972), 1st Black Superhero with his own book Blade (1973) Brother Voodoo (1973) Bronze Tiger (1975) Storm (1975) 1st Black Superheroine Misty Knight (1975) Black Goliath (1975) Get his own book in 1976 Bumblebee (Teen Titans 1976) Tyroc (1976) Black Lightning (April 1977), 1st DC superhero with his own book Vixen (1978), 1st DC black superheroine This list is imperfect, but it is telling us something about race in comics. As you can see, after the Black Panther a number of black characters are introduced. The first African-American character, the Falcon is...