In Comicazi Issue #0 we break it down that DC is seriously non-brutha friendly, but when you dig deep in the long-boxes of Marvel and DC’s mainstream history, there is a pretty solid line of Black heroes and supervillians:

• Black Panther
• Falcon
• Luke Cage
• Storm
• Blade
• Isaiah Bradley
• Patriot
• James Rhodes
• Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel)
• Bishop
• Cyborg
• Black Lightning
• Mr. Terrific 2
• Bill Foster (Giant Man)
• Vixen
• John Stewart
• Thunder
• Steel
• Misty Knight
• Brother Voodoo
• Black Manta
• Firestorm
• Moses Magnum
• Derek Khanata
• Deathlok
• Kasper Cole
• Vibraxas
• Thunderball
• Cloak
• Black Racer
• Maggott
• Bronze Tiger
• Silhouette
• Rage
• Night Thrasher
• Prowler
• Rocket Racer
• BattleStar
• Alex Wilder
• Crispus Allen
• Killmonger
• Nekra
• Windshear
• Cardinal
• Cardiac
• Angel
• Tempest
• Doorman
• Natasha Irons
• Bushman
• Slyde
• Calypso
• Manslaughter
• Cottonmouth
• Amanda Waller
• Man-Ape
• Tyroc
• Black Mask
• Mandrill
• Bloodsport
• Maxim
• Triathlon
• Black Talon
• Anarchist
• Axum
• Bandit
• Joanna Cargill
• Rem-Ram
• Hammer/Anvil
• Aegis
• Amazing Man
• Daddy Long Legs
• Talisman

How many did we clock up to? 73? Believe it or not, there’s more! It’s clear that Marvel is tryin’ to win the war on diversity in Comics since 90% of the heroes and villians in the list are from the house of M (but is slippin’ when it comes to prominent Black characters having their own line — Black Panther and Blade being the only ones with a regular monthly feature).

Each week in the Dark Stars column, I’ll take look at a different Black character in Marvel and DC Comics ( get down with some Comics clue on Darkstars and why the column is tagged with a similar Comics headline).

The list is organic and will grow over time. I am only taking into consideration mainstream history from both houses, excluding joints like Ultimates, or any other Elseworlds style flavor. Rock with me as I build this collection and in the meantime drop a comment, slide me some email, or hit me via instant messenger if you want to suggest more Black characters to add to the list.

Quick on the heels of the hot fire spittin’ at the end of issue three, we take a quick time out to answer some fan mail, recommend some top flight picks from new book releases, and Aaron makes a heartfelt apology…all in Comicazi Issue No.4!

This particular Comicazi issue suffered as iTunes 7 laid the pimp-hand down on the compression to mp3 — and the quality is not on point as it usually is :/ Bahlactus has issued a “C’MON BRUH!” to Apple and promises the next issue be crystal clear — or the fruit gets it. Bahlactus has spoken.

ROM #26, GALACTUS on Galador, is a solid action packed issue! Comics writer Bill Mantlo hits you from multiple angles in this appearance of GALACTUS on the spaceknights homeworld of Galador. Artist Sal Buscema weighs in pretty heavy on this issue with battle sequences that could hold its own against the hollywood cinematic style of todays mainstream Comics.

(Click the cover for a larger version!)

Heralded by one of the illest conquerers to wield the power cosmic, Terrax the Tamer wages war on Galador against ROM and the rest of the spaceknights. Believe me when I say that Terrax could have been called Terrax the TERRIBLE because he’s a zero-to-sixty type warrior with no remorse for the planets he fells.

In this issue there are also two ROM spaceknights! The twin is named Terminator. He used to be on the dark side but now he sides with the spaceknights alongside ROM. So, with the spaceknight squadron battling Terrax on Galador, ROM and Terminator go head up with GALACTUS in space!

Dialog doesn’t suffer in this issue at all and even though it’s 18 solid pages before GALACTUS utters a single word, the flow of words throughout the issue is right on time:

Terrax speaks!

“Why do you stand in abject awe? Disperse! Go! Eat! Drink! Be Merry!..You will never sample such pleasures again!”

“Pretty speeches do not impress me spaceknights! I am Terrax the Tamer! Terrax the TERRIBLE! With my Cosmic Axe in and, I have been known to cleave the cosmic stratum itself!”

GALACTUS speaks!

“Away, Gnat!”

“Do you realize how pitiful your attempt was, failing as it did to even breach my force-field? Do you realize how insignificant you are?”

“..my hunger — growing more overwhelming with each passing second — must be appeased…even if momentarily, by the crumb that is — YOUR LIFE!“

ROM #26 is a solid addition to the ABSOLUTE GALACTUS collection. Mantlo brings the heat when writing GALACTUS in this issue and the planet eater definitely feels like an evil genius and not just a tragic sentient trying to survive. He fights. He kills. He is GALACTUS.

My own hunger for all things GALACTUS grows and there is more to come. Keeping reading (and scoop up ROM #26. ROM is based on a toyline, so this joint isn’t getting reprinted). I’ll holla next week on a new issue.  Bahlactus has spoken.

This SHOUT OUT! entry goes to Comicbook Resources (CBR) for their article on Jay-Z & Kingdom Come. If your brain immediately kicked in on the Kingdom Come vibe? It’s justified. The Jiggaman has laid down some new tracks that trackback to the DC Comics apocolyptic tale and the return of Superman post-retirement.

A giant sized powerhouse that consumes planets in an attempt to satiate an undying hunger that forever consumes him. What do we really know about him? Where did he come from? What extraordinary circumstances gave birth to a being whose sole purpose appears to be destroying other worlds, other civilzations? Are there others like him? What is the true extent of his power?

In March of 1966 when GALACTUS burst into the Comics scene in Fantastic Four #48, the true nature of his being was a mystery. Though the pages of the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer drop some science on the origins of the devourer, it wasnt until GALACTUS The Origin that we finally begin to understand Galan of Taa.

(Click the cover for a larger version! 244KB)

For the sole survivor of Taa it is clear that it’s the will of the man that surfaced the power of GALACTUS. The desire to live consumes him and the devourer is born into the new universe.

Thus did GALACTUS come to be… Of all the creatures in the vastness of the universe, there is none like me. I was present at the birth of the universe, and I shall be there at its end. Though I ravage worlds to live, I bear no malice to any living thing. I simply do what I must to survive. And why must GALACTUS survive? For, no matter how many worlds I devour… How many civilizations I destroy… It is my destiny to one day give back to the universe — infinitely more than I have ever taken from it. So speaks GALACTUS!

GALACTUS, MARVEL Super-Villian Classics. GALACTUS The Origin. 1983. [Lee-Kirby-Byrne]

To my knowledge there is no other absolute collection of GALACTUS in existence. This first capture in my collection heralds the tide of my own insatiable hustle to devour every appearance GALACTUS. Still, I hunger. Bahlactus has Spoken.