2006 will be halfway over by the time you read this, so let’s take this month to look back on what we got in the realm of black comics so far and what we should expect down the road. Overall, I’d have to say it’s been a good though not great year so far. Some work has really jumped out at me and gotten me excited, but not a lot. I’ve made a few wonderful discoveries, talent-wise, and been disappointed by quite a few others as well. Still, I remain hopeful that more gems will be uncovered. (Keep in mind that there are a few titles I haven’t gotten to yet, like Lance Tooks‘ The Devil and Miles Davis or the new issue of Brodie’s Law).

Stagger Lee is without a doubt the year’s best black comic to date. The true-crime aspect of the story is the main focus – creating a narrative based on what little is known about the life of the real Stagger Lee, and that alone is fascinating. The creators, however, also sprinkle in short pieces, mostly humorous, about the history of Stagger Lee in song, a history which is just as interesting. Beautiful artwork and strong dialogue and storytelling, this is dynamite stuff. Congratulations to Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix for putting this out.

By contrast, Public Enemy is perhaps the biggest disappointment so far. I explain why in my blog. It’s not even as if I expected it to be that great a book, but given the rap group’s long history of eloquence on the microphone, speaking out about the issues that matter most to the black community, to see them reduced to being just another misunderstood superhero team is not what I had hoped for. The book could get better, but I honestly don’t hold out much hope for that. (Click here for preview pages from PE #0)

David Bircham and Daley Osiyemi’s Brodie’s Law left a huge impression on me after picking it up at the New York Comic-Con. The British duo hooked up with Markosia Publishing this year, only the company has gone through some serious financial restructuring since. Let’s hope that the changes have been to D&D’s benefit and that their awesome crime book will take off, because these guys are ready for the big time.

Eric Jerome Dickey has done an outstanding job with the Storm mini-series; better than I could have anticipated, and David Yardin’s art is a revelation. I cannot wait to see how the collected hardcover edition does in the bookstore market this fall. Marvel absolutely must not forget the black bookstores; they will provide the biggest litmus test in how well the black audience – particularly the black female audience – takes to this book. This is something I plan to examine in closer depth in my blog when the hardcover is released.

Reggie Hudlin has so far handled the wedding storyline in Black Panther ably, for the most part. I have been most impressed with his willingness to let BP and Storm, these two near-iconic heroes let their hair down, figuratively speaking, and behave like old lovers reunited instead of paragons. I think it’s important to make that distinction.

I admit I haven’t been following Firestorm all that closely since One Year Later began, but from what I have seen of it, Stuart Moore and Jamal Igle continue to impress. Jason has indeed become much more confident in the use of his powers, and while I do think there is some merit to the belief I’ve seen expressed that Jason has inherited too many of his predecessor’s trappings (the puffy-sleeved costume, Professor Stein, Lorraine, college, etc.), he still seems to me like he’s his own man.

Other highlights: Doug Braithwaite has been the unsung hero of Alex Ross’ Justice maxi-series, which continues to pull strong numbers and has gone back to press on more than one issue, which should give you some idea of the demand for this fully-painted Justice League tale… One screenwriter, John Ridley, has put together a superb period superhero mini-series in The American Way (with Georges Jeanty), while another screenwriter, Kevin Grevioux, has gotten his line of books at Alias off to a flying start… Luke Cage and Jessica Jones had their baby and tied the knot… Fred Perry celebrated fifteen years of the manga action comedy Gold Digger… The two major black comics conventions, in Chicago and Philadelphia, both had good years; you can read about them by going through the archives of my blog… And the American release of Jean-Pierre Stassen’s Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda brought this moving and poignant story the wider audience it deserves.

New talent? There’s been quite a bit to go around. Earlier this year you got to meet Mark Page of the all-ages fantasy comic Kana’s Island. I’ve mentioned cartoonist Masheka Wood here before; look for a huge interview with him and his fiancée and fellow cartoonist Mikhaela Reid in my Comic World News column this month. The team of Robert Garrett and Patrick David has gotten off to a nice start with their futuristic martial arts epic Galtow. And while neither of them are new exactly, both Steven Walters and Robert Roach have been getting noticed with their respective books, Suburban Folklore and The Roach. Plus, with the launch of the black online comics web site Paradigm, one can check out even more new talent.

Things to look forward to: the Black Panther/Storm wedding finally happens this month in Black Panther… Dwayne McDuffie’s new mini-series Beyond debuts this month, as does the latest volume of the Bluesman graphic novel… A new Blade series is on the horizon, with industry legend Howard Chaykin illustrating… A graphic novel biography of Malcolm X is due this fall… Mat Johnson has a new Vertigo mini-series forthcoming… The big Captain Africa/Purge crossover, Crimson Seed, is coming (and if you picked up the ashcan preview at ECBACC, you have a pretty good idea of how beautiful this will be when it’s completed)… Big changes have already begun for Steel in DC’s weekly mega-series 52, and they’re only gonna increase… The Boondocks comic strip will come back from hiatus this fall (no official release date on Season 2 of the animated series yet)…

…and sometime soon, we hope, we PRAY, Kyle Baker will finish Nat Turner!

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Comic-Con International is this month, and once again, I’ll follow the proceedings in San Diego as it pertains to the black comics and creators in the Glyphs blog. Also, as I said, look for my interview with Masheka Wood and Mikhaela Reid in my Comic World News column this month. These two do excellent political cartoon work and they’re just beginning to take off, and they both have a lot to say about the way of the world right now, so don’t miss that. Also, look for an interview with Candorville creator Darrin Bell in Glyphs this month.

July 2006

Perhapanauts TPB (Dark Horse)

Robin: To Kill a Bird TP (DC). With some art by Damion Scott. Look for him in a new series from DC this fall.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #3 (of 3) (DC). Final issue.

52 Week 12 (DC). Inked by Rob Stull.

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #2 (DC). Art by Ken Lashley.

Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #27 (DC). Pencils by Jamal Igle. That’s an awesome Brian Stelfreeze cover, isn’t it?

The American Way #6 (of 8) (DC/Wildstorm). Story and pencils by Ridley & Jeanty.

Occult Crimes Taskforce #1 (of 4) (Image). Hmmm… what to say about Rosario Dawson? Not much, really. She was alright in Sin City, I guess, though I hated the movie. Interested to see what she’ll be like in Clerks 2, even if she is in what looks like a rather unglamorous role.

I know; I’ll talk about her role in Rent. Yes, sports fans, that’s right – I’m a fan of the long-running Broadway musical. I remember when they were still offering reduced-price tickets that you had to wait on line all day for. That’s how I got to see it. I went with my friend Travis and friends when the original cast was still performing and we got seats in the third or fourth row, so we could see it all. As you probably know by now, Rent is a modern-day version of La Boheme, set in Manhattan’s East Village during the late 1980s, give or take. It’s about a year in the lives of hipster artisans being threatened with eviction from their squat by one of their own who sold out and now wants to develop a high-tech studio space with the help of his rich girlfriend. It’s also about love and loss in the time of AIDS, and how living can be braver than dying.

Dawson’s character, Mimi, is at the heart of the story’s love triangle. A nightclub dancer, she meets Roger, a musician living in the same building as her, and though she’s attracted to him, she’s ashamed to tell him that she has AIDS. (Of course, Roger is in the same situation himself.) To complicate things, she has a history with Roger’s ex-roommate Benny, the guy who’s now trying to build his super-studio.

Rent the film was fairly different from Rent the musical, even though most of the original Broadway cast reprised their roles. The timeline is different, for one thing. Act One takes place in a single night, Christmas Eve, in the musical; in the film it’s stretched out a few days. Some songs are taken out, including the bittersweet “Without You,” a Mimi-and-Roger song (that actually appears as a deleted scene on the DVD). Bits of dialogue and/or monologue that are sung in the musical are either spoken in the film or removed altogether. Some changes I could deal with, but others I didn’t care for. They’re the kind of things a fan of the musical would notice but not someone who’s never seen it. I thought Benny was shortchanged significantly in the film. He’s not as critical a presence as he is in the musical, and Taye Diggs, who’s a strong singer, didn’t come across as such here. Overall, I didn’t hate the film version, but all the changes stuck out in my mind and I couldn’t get past most of them.

Dawson, as I said, was very good. The role of Mimi is meant for a soprano, but Dawson sings at least a half-octave lower (at least to this untrained ear). Some songs, like “Out Tonight,” are definitely in a lower key than on the original Broadway cast album. Even though I didn’t feel much chemistry between her and Adam Pascal (one of the original cast members), who played Roger, she made the best of her end. Maybe seeing her in Sin City made me think she couldn’t pull off the role of an ingenue (Mimi’s supposed to be 19), but I was able to suspend my disbelief once I got used to seeing her as Mimi. I guess I’d recommend seeing Rent the film, but don’t see it after you’ve seen the musical, which is way better.

Dawson is co-creator of this supernatural crime mini-series and is the model for the protagonist. Is it any good? We’ll see.

Bomb Queen: Woman of Mass Destruction TP (Image). Story and art by Jimmie Robinson. Look for a special crossover one-shot with Jim Valentino’s Blacklight character next month.

Ant #7 (Image)

Emissary #3 (Image). The first issue wasn’t bad. I detect a slight Bendis-like influence in the writing (back when he was still relevant); by focusing on the large cast of characters and heightening the mystery of who the Emissary is, the story feels like it’s taking its time, which is okay for now. Emphasis on FOR NOW.

Do I want the identity and origin of the Emissary to be kept secret, based on what I’ve seen so far? I’m not sure yet. The writing is sharp enough that I believe the series could be sustained this way, but I also can’t help but want to know what his deal is, especially if this title plans to explore the ramifications of a super-powerful humanoid who happens to resemble a black man. So I really hope we don’t get too much decompression here. You wanna keep who the Emissary is a mystery; fine. Then at least give us a story that moves in all directions and keeps us thinking. So far, the creators – Jason Rand, Juan Ferreyra, and Clayton Brown – have done that. (A word about the art – generally good, but if you look carefully at the Emissary on the cover, you’ll see that not only does he have man-boobs but he’d have to have a neck like Plastic Man…)

Spawn #160 (Image)

Beyond #1 (of 6) (Marvel). The good news: Dwayne McDuffie is writing a new mini-series for Marvel! The worrisome news: it looks like a Secret Wars rehash starring Spider-Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, Venom, and a bunch of D-listers. Huh? I wish I could be more excited about this, but I’m not. Still, I’ll give the first issue a look, simply because it is McDuffie. His Fantastic Four one-shot last winter was well done, and him writing comics again is a Good Thing.

Black Panther #18, Marvel’s Greatest Comics: Fantastic Four #52, Storm #6 (of 6), Black Panther by Jack Kirby V2 TP (Marvel). The wedding is here at last. It’s a Civil War tie-in. I doubt anything can top last month’s Civil War-related bombshell, but stranger things have happened. (For the record: I’m both repulsed and intrigued by it; I think it’s the worst thing The Character in Question could have possibly done to himself, yet Joe Quesada claims they’re not only gonna run with it for awhile but they will not resort to a deus ex machina restoration. He’s got brass ones, give him that much.) BP written by Reggie Hudlin, Storm written by Eric Jerome Dickey.

Civil War: X-Men #1 (of 4) (Marvel). Please don’t explain Bishop’s convoluted time-travel origin to me; I don’t care about any of it. All I need to know about the character I learned during the short-lived but exquisite series District X, written by David Hine, who’s also writing this mini-series. Here, Bishop will apparently be at odds with Cyclops over the Registration Act. Who will join his side? How will the X-Men deal with the situation? Do I even care? Eh… I guess I’ll take a look at this, since Hine is writing Bishop again.

Nextwave #7 (of 12) (Marvel)

New Avengers #22 (Marvel). A Luke Cage solo story set during the events of Civil War. Look for a second Essential Luke Cage volume next month.

The Vindicators #0 and Alius Rex Book 1 (Alias). A pair from writer Kevin Grevioux for older audiences.

The Blackbeard Legacy #3 (Alias). Flipped through issue one and the art was an absolute turn-off. I didn’t expect the protagonist to look 100% like Traci Bingham, but they look nothing alike. The hyper-stylized and ugly-looking cartoon art doesn’t help.

Public Enemy #1 (American Mule). I listen to hip hop radio at work. It’s not by choice; hip hop is the preferred music in my office by an overwhelmingly wide margin (with Spanish-language music being second), so I’m hopelessly outvoted. (One time I put on the local classic rock station here in New York and I was met with befuddled expressions by co-workers who couldn’t grok Pink Floyd or David Bowie.) I certainly have nothing against hip hop as a genre – the problem is with hip hop radio.

New York has two competing hip hop stations, Power 105 and the infamous, often controversial Hot 97. Each one claims to be tops and each one claims to be the most representative of their chosen musical genre, but the way they define that genre is remarkably narrow. Both stations essentially play the exact same music – a small selection of whatever their corporate masters determine to be hip at the moment, played again and again and again ad nauseum. A given single on either station can and often is played every other hour. Yes, that’s right – every other HOUR. At least.

What’s worse, however, is the fact that both stations claim to represent hip hop and R&B, yet almost never play songs by its greatest practitioners. As of this writing, Prince, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J, Reverend Run and DMC, and oh yeah, Public Enemy, all have new albums out now and I have yet to hear any of them played on either station. These aren’t exactly obscure artists here; these are legendary singers and rappers, the ones who helped shape hip hop and R&B over the past quarter century. How can any radio station that claims to number one in this genre ignore new music (or even old music) by these people? How can any hip hop radio station have so narrow a focus? And how can its listeners willingly accept this format?

I recently read a book called Yes Yes Y’all: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade. It’s a fascinating look back at the genesis of the genre as told by its pioneers: Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and many, many more. The differences between then and now far outweigh the similarities, and while I’m certainly not so naive as to think that this era could be recaptured again in the future, I certainly believe that the musicians and producers and disc jockeys and program directors and record executives could learn a great deal from it. Essential reading for anyone who cares about hip hop…

…unlike issue zero of Public Enemy, which kinda sucked.

Gold Digger #76, Gold Digger: Throne of Shadows #3 (of 4), Gold Digger: Tangent #2, Gold Digger Color Remix 4-pack, Peebomanga Pocket Manga V1 GN (Antarctic). Story and art by Fred Perry.

The Damaged #1 (A-10 Comics). MD Bright of Quantum & Woody and Icon fame (among other fine comics) illustrates this new series which sounds like another Rising Stars riff based on the solicitation.

Killer 7 #1 (Devil’s Due). A re-release, so you won’t remember that it’s behind schedule.

Bluesman V3, V1, V2 (NBM). I’ve written about this series of graphic novels here before – I know because I went through my archives and checked. So you don’t need me to give you another hard sell on it. If you’ve read it already, you know it’s primo material; if you haven’t, well now’s your chance to catch up so you can read the brand new third volume in the series, which is my Buzz Book of the Month. While you’re at it, go take a look at the Bluesman web site.

Have fun in San Diego!