Perhapanauts: Second Chances #2 (of 4)
Heroes for Hire #4
Gold Digger Max Pocket Manga V1. Story and art by Fred Perry.

So I went to the Africa Comics exhibit at the Studio Museum in Harlem last weekend. It was very good. Now the big deal about this show is that it’s the first time a show of this kind has been exhibited in the US – comics artists from all over the continent, and the work ranged from the most beautifully detailed color pages to the simplest black and white sketches.

The majority of the work had a socio-political bent to it, whether directly or indirectly, and I couldn’t tell whether that was a deliberate choice on the part of the curators or whether that’s just how many African cartoonists work. I don’t doubt that politics – local, national and international – are on the minds of many creators there, though through these tales we also do get to see more than a little of everyday life as well. (Be warned, though, few of these comics are in English.)

The art styles tend to suggest a European influence, though there was one artist that definitely looked like a Jim Lee/Marc Silvestri clone. Otherwise, the art went back and forth between lush naturalism and cartoon-like, with hardly any experimental inbetween styles, except for one which used flat colors in a very limited palette, with a non-traditional layout. That one was actually one of my favorites.

Definitely go see this show if you’re in the New York metropolitan area. The Studio Museum in Harlem is at 144 W125 St, easily reachable by bus or train. Admission is pay-what-you-want (I paid a dollar and it was fine), and the Africa Comics exhibit runs through March 18, 2007.

Why I have not written about Day Break yet: (1) I was at the Knicks game last Wednesday night when it debuted, so I couldn’t have written about it anyway (don’t have Tivo), and (2) the only knowledge I had of the new Taye Diggs TV show was from the street billboards and bus ads, and nothing about them suggested “sci-fi” to me. Anyway, I promise to plug in the TV this Wednesday, watch it, and write about it for you, now that I’ve boned up a little on it. Check out this good article about Day Break, for one.

I like Diggs, always have, ever since seeing him on Broadway in Rent. It looked for awhile as if he was gonna finally be that mainstream black romantic leading man that Hollywood has had an aversion to for many years (the lack of a black male romantic star is one of my big pet peeves), but it never quite happened. I hope Day Break lasts longer than Kevin Hill, Diggs last show – he’s a good solid actor who deserves a vehicle that he can shine in.

News from M. Torez: according to his latest newsletter, he’s relaunching Nefertiti Jones with new artists: interior artist Mulele Jones and cover artist Randolph Williams. The book’s called Southside Nefertit now, and he says he’s promoting it heavily in the Atlanta area, among other places, and is working on better distribution.

It’s early, but perhaps worth noting: Denzel Washington’s new film Deja Vu currently has a 75% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Only eight reviews are up, though. We’ll see how it is by week’s end.