Whatever happened to Chocolate Thunder?

Chocolate Thunder, (not Darryl Dawkins), is one of those comic book heroes that I never really got to know but wanted to. I ran into references to the comic many times a few years back but never actually got to have a copy of the book in my hands. The official website Gettosake.com has no direct reference to this comic at all. In fact, at the time I am writing this, the entire site is down. One of the original writers of this book, Jeremy Love, is doing some amazing work with Bayou but no word of Chocolate Thunder.

What is or was Chocolate Thunder all about? Basically he was sort of a throwback Blacksploitation hero. Here's the blurb: "Believed dead by his former employers, government agent Kevin King returned home to find his old stomping grounds over-run by crime. Unable to stand idly by, he became a costumed vigilante, whom the local graffiti artists dubbed Chocolate Thunder."

Why am I so hyped up about the guy? Well I'm always looking into new and interesting Black Superheroes but my interest piqued when I saw the video. Apparently the guys who put this character together made a flash video a few years back to promote the comic and I loved it. It even inspired me to do some of my own flash work. It was only available on the Gettosake website but with that gone, who knows. I was luck to find it on YouTube. It's called Chocolate Thunder: On My Way.

Wikipedia doesn't even have an entry on this brother but he did make their List of Black Superheroes. The best listing I was able to find, other than the official page, is a reference to him here. I looked to buy the comic on Amazon (Chocolate Thunder on Amazon) but they are either out of print or there are no books in stock for the forseeable future. To be honest I don't know if Chocolate Thunder ever made it to print at all but he will not be forgotten.

Check out the video for yourself before it gets taken down.

Black + Aqualad = Blaqualad?

The Web abounds with rumors about an upcoming Young Justice animated series and I have to say I like what I see so far. The biggest part of the series of rumors to date is that of Aqualad being Black and played by a Black voice actor. I am currently unable to confirm any of this so take it all with a grain of salt but the picture of Aqualad with what may be the voice actor playing him is compelling. I've heard rumors of other members of the team but no Cyborg or any other Black characters for that matter so far. As I learn more I will keep you posted. You may already be familiar with the picture of Arrowette below who is also rumored to be in the upcoming series. She's not Black but her appearance does add credibility to the possibility that the series will exist. I'm excited about the possibility. Check here to find out a bit more.

Black Superheroes On The Web

Black Superhero stories from around the web

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Elvin "El" LIncoln - The Shrinking Misfit

In the 80's TV show Misfits of Science, Elvin Lincoln was a scientist that was born with an overactive pituitary gland. He was 6 ft tall when he entered the 7th grade and ultimately grew to 7'4". He went on to study his condition and found a way to temporarily reduce the size of animals using a serum he created. He later created an artificial gland that he put in the back of his own neck. When pressed, the gland secreted the serum into his body, allowing him to shrink down to the size of action figure, somewhere less than a foot tall. This transformation was temporary and lasted for about 15 minutes.

In the show, much was made of the character's awkwardness. He had social challenges and even though he was tall and Black, he was no good at basketball. He was a genius but not very confident in himself. This went along with the theme of the show which had a lot of comedy. Another challenge for El was that even though he could shrink, his clothes couldn't so he would have to bring along clothes from some kind of doll or action figure so he wouldn't be running around as a tiny naked guy. Later, when he would return to his normal size, he had to find his original clothes again. He would usually be called upon to shrink so he could help the team get into or out of places they could do otherwise.

Again this show came out in the 80's so it was great to see a Black character as a scientist back then, even if he was a bit of a bumbler. The character was depicted as kind and non-threatening even though he was a lot taller than everyone else. His power wasn't all that cool but I liked him anyway. The series lasted for only 16 episodes, the last of which was never aired. Still, I remember this show fondly and tried never to miss an episode. Here's the trailer:

Milestone Forever Cover Preview

Dwayne McDuffie has a new Facebook fan page and among the new content he has offerred up a sneak peek at the cover of Milestone Forever #1 which will be on sale February 3rd. He had this to say about it: "This book wraps up the continuity of the original Milestone Universe characters HARDWARE, STATIC, ICON and BLOOD SYNDICATE, reunites me with original Milestone artists Denys Cowan, John Paul Leon, MD Bright, and Chrisscross -and sets the stage for Milestone's future in the DC Universe. I originally wrote it 13 years ago!"