Can someone lay down a solid explanation for the sad state of artistic hustle surrounding Black characters in Comics? Especially in the superhero weight class. Is there a publishing house rule at Marvel and DC that explicitly states, “any and all Comics with Black characters in the forefront should get a busted-assed artist assigned to them“?!?

Many Black characters in Comics artistically have no flavor or presence; it’s the 90’s all over again. Aside from John Paul Leon masterfully laying down lead to paper on Static, the prominent Blacks in Comics had no solid artists breathing life into them. Why isn’t the A-list talent getting tasked with providing the necessary artistic hustle for the big-house Black characters? Do Marvel and DC hate Black people so much they have to assign us the Z-list brand artist?

With cats like Leinil Yu, and JR JR, there is hope. I recognize myself in their Black faces. That’s a crucial element to any story. When I look at a Black character, I need to be able to recognize myself to some degree. I can’t get down and appreciate a Michael Turner spin on John Stewart, when he looks like Bruce Wayne in Blackface. On the flipside, I can subscribe to an interpretation of Firestorm by Khary Randolph, or Steel if Jock was pencilling. I’m not on board with Jamal Igle — all his characters lack presence, and often feel short.

Personally, I’d like to invest my hard earned dividends in Comics featuring Black characters, crafted in a way that portrays them as recognizeably Black. Black Comics characters need the best artists laying them out, period. The Kirby era of same face Comics are dead. I’m working on putting my money where my mouth is. Stay tuned. Marvel and DC should clue up and start putting more clueful artists on the Comics featuring Black characters that truly represent Black people. Bahlactus has spoken.

TRUTH? I’m not faded at all regarding the power-move by Marvel that BY NOW EVERYONE KNOWS, BUT IN CASE YOU DON’T — Captain America is dead. My man Kevin Church has a solid post regarding his opinions on the issue (and a link to a news article regarding the event) that you should get down with. I think he’s got a pretty fair stance on the whole hustle and I think like most cats, he is taking it in good stride. I’d like to take it to the next-level and posit that Marvel should let fallen heroes stay dead.

Don’t hit us upside the head a year later with a resurrection of Steve Rogers as Captain America. We’ve all seen the end of Civil War, where Rogers surrenders, removes his mask and leaves it on the ground. Who scoops it up? but none other than Frank Castle, a.k.a., The Punisher. The true nature of an icon relies heavily on the mettle of the man. Does Castle really rock with the courage and fortitude that is required to stand as the symbol backed by an entire nation? I’m going to lay it out there and claim that he’s not even representative of that iconic stature.

Captain America is an ideal that was created with the blood of men who died for their country. Only one survived, and this black man was truly the first symbol that would become the icon we acknowledge today. Isaiah Bradley was the first Captain American, but he wasn’t the last. With Frank Castle holding the mantle of freedom, it’s time for a more qualified hero to step up. Logic dictates that The Falcon, a close friend of the late Rogers who fought alongside him, be the new face of freedom, and I’m down with that. BRING BACK TRUTH! — Red, White, and Black.

Can anyone argue that my man DOOM! is the not tightest villian ever created? To think you can get down and challenge him is madness!!! Anytime I’ve read DOOM!, I’m secretly hoping that he’s able to get over with schematics he’s cooked up in the depths of his Latverian stronghold. His twisted mad-villian for the people type hustle is strangely intoxicating. Never have I wanted any force on the black hand side to prevail as much as the original evil genius.

So i’m not usually one to put people on Front St., but, I have to ask “Is Stan Lee a Hater?” The reason I ask this question, is because it seems that everytime you turn around, Stan Lee is in appearing in some Marvel blockbuster, but, not ALL of the Marvel flicks (and sometimes, not even the BEST ones).

In three full runs of Blade, Stan Lee was mystery meat. I didn’t catch him in Elektra (the worst of all Marvel films — perhaps he knew that ahead of time???), and in the most recent Marvel cinematic hustle, Ghost Rider, my man was an absentee landlord as well.

So, why is Stan Lee hating on a Black vampire, a flaming skull, and a beautiful and deadly Greek assassin?

If he fails to appear in a Marvel flick, does that imply he doesn’t feel it’s a quality production? It’s been bugging me for a hot minute, now. For me, there is entertainment value in Blade. Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider even left me feeling like I didn’t completely waste my loot. What da dew witcha, Stan Lee? Bahlactus has spoken.

So I’m fresh back from the New York ComicCon and let me proclaim that joint was off the hook! My first experience with a convention of this magnitude was worth the effort and I’m just going to drop some science real quick on why I’ll be back next year. As a brutha who gets down with Comics, I feel that a lot of times I exist in a bubble where I am part of a small subset of Black people who enjoy the medium. At my local shop, I am one of 5 (and this is in a major city like Boston). I appreciated the fact that at NYCC, Black people from many sets came through and I was able to socialize and get down with many of them. We are obviously out there, and I enjoyed being able to rock with them.

Secondly, being able to meet face-to-face with creators I dig heavily and speak at length with them was the highlight of the show for me. A big shout out to Jonathan Hickman of Nightly News fame — he was definitely cool as a fan and I enjoyed the two days I got to rap with him and get to know that cat better. Also, I was fortunate enough to connect with Kyle Baker — we talked for a LONG time about TRUTH: Red, White, and Black, which is my favorite work by Baker (and believe me when I say that soon I will OWN some original TRUTH art ya’ll). I also got to rap quite a bit with Ron King, publisher for a new Comics-centric magazine with flavor called UVC (Urban Voice of Comics). I’m hoping they do big things with the magazine. He is tag teamed with my man Rich Watson from Glyphs — Rich is also the editor. Meeting The Mad Twiinz, Mike and Mark Davis, creators of a new flavored hero Comic, Blokhedz was on point forreal. I got an advanced copy of the Blokhedz TPB and the story is tight. Hero flavor on another format. Don’t judge that by the cover.

I also got down with quite a few panels while at NYCC. It was interesting to be in the room for DC Nation and Marvel Cup of Joe — I found that I couldn’t really relate to many of the cats in the room as they were screamin’ and whistlin’ at every third word said by Dan Didio or Joe Quesada. Maybe my hustle is not fanboy enough (in fact, I’m almost sure of it). Getting firsthand clue from the EIC’s of both houses made it worth going, but, given what they said about DC’s Countdown and Marvel’s Annihilation:Conquest, I didn’t walk away feeling like the next BIG thing from either house moved me. We’ll see how it plays out! I also attended the two Black panels at NYCC. It was inspiring to hear Denys Cowan lay down the truth. My man is taking over as the VP of animation for BET. That is not a bad thing. I finally got to see Reggie Hudlin face to face and hear words from the lions mouth about Black Panther, BET, and the state of Black heroes in Comics. I think he is the type of cat you love and hate all in the same sentence (I know I did both), but he is definitely on to something! We got to see quite a bit of what we can expect from Black creators for 2007 and I’m hoping for a huge impact. I leave it to the cats I’m linking below to get you full details on the Black panels, because I know they will handle it proper.

Big SHOUT OUT! to Cheryl Lynn from The Ormes Society — I see you Ms. Lady, keep doing your thing! I really enjoyed getting down with her face to face. Expect big things from her all year. Also, another big SHOUT OUT! to my man Rich Watson — sorry we kept missing each other at convention, bruh! Keep your eyes on the prize, especially with UVC — Funk the lil’ wizard, BOOM with the Black ish!!! Bahlactus has spoken.