Is Barack Obama Pro-Mutant?

Apparently President Barack Obama does not agree with the proposed Mutant Registration Act. This bodes well for our nation's Superheroes.

You And Me Comics

While this blog focuses on Black Superheroes, I am a fan of Superheroes in general whether it be comics, movies, or video games. The other day I ran across a comic book company that focuses on Multicultural Superheroes. New Vision Comics launched in 1991 publishing comic strips in the Afro-American Newspaper. In 2000 the company changed to its current name, You And Me Comics. This company focuses on positive multicultural Superhero images and seeks to promote them not only in comics but also in television and film.

On their site you can find out more information about their interesting stable of characters. Among them are Sunstone who is a cosmic warrior that comes to earth to seek help from the legendary superior beings known as humans..and faces the truth on arrival and Admiral Africa who was the cause of Rommel's turn and run and and the retreat of the Nazi invasion out of Africa. His untold story is finally brought to the forefront.There are others such as Statehood, Captain Columbia, Warrior One, the Lucky Pumpkin, and more. Want to know more? Check out YouAndMeComics.com
and tell them the Black Superhero Blog sent you.

Blokhedz Episode 2: Paid In Full

Another great episode of the Blokhedz available only online. This one is shorter than the last one but it ups the ante especially when it comes to the music. What till you hear Talib Kweli bust. This is going to turn out to be a great series.
Here's what's going down: "In their attempt to hustle up some loot to repair Audio 2, G-Pak takes it to the basketball courts, but the local biker gang, The Wild Dawgs, has other ideas." Enjoy!

Can You Be A Superhero With A Name Like "The Prowler"?

As you can tell by his name, The Prowler did not originally intend to be a Superhero. The character made his debut back in 1969 in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #78. Just another young Black kid from the Bronx, Hobie Brown donned a costume of his own creation and set out to get paid by stealing. He was caught right away by Spider-Man who convinced him to do something better with his life.

READ MORE...

Hobie was intelligent and a bit of an inventor. The costume he created used pneumatic technology to shoot a variety of projectile weapons as well as providing him with armor, added strength, and the ability to glide short distances. The gauntlets he wore ended in claws which enabled him to scale walls and were capable offensive weapons. He also had some limited martial arts training.

For all his potential, the Prowler was never much of a hero. Many readers (including myself) laughingly referred to him as the Radio Shack superhero as all his abilities seemed to be something cobbled together from a neighborhood electronics store. His career as a hero was limited and the efforts he made to do the right thing were often misguided or relatively insignificant. Much of his career was spent going after people who stole his limited technology and used it for crime. At one point he even broke his back and became paralyzed in a fight. He did assist Spider-Man from time to time but more for his inventive capabilities than that of a hero.

Is he still around? Maybe. He may or may not have survived an assault by the Punisher who bombed a crowd of villains who were at a wake for a fellow villain, Stilt Man. It'll take one hell of a writer to make this guy interesting and relevant, especially when at his best, he was little more than another stereotype, another Black kid from the ghetto with potential who just can't seem to get it right.

He did make it to television. You can see him here with an altered origin in the Spider-Man animated series episode aptly named, "The Prowler". Enjoy!

East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention

The 8th Annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) is being held this weekend in Philadelphia and I won't be able to attend but if you do I'd like to hear about it. Check out the official website, page 2 of the flyer, or find out more here.

Black Superheroes on the Web

Black Superhero stories from around the web:

• She’s My Black Superhero! 
• Essential Black Superhero action figures
  
• We Need a Hero: If Only Superpowers Were Real 
• Michelle Obama: Superhero
• I Would Make A Terrible Superhero Girlfriend

I'm not the only one talking about them.

Asians Want To Be Superheros Too

While trolling the net in my usual fashion I ran across what I might consider to be one of my competitors. It's called: Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Blog. Now granted this blog exists to support the book/graphic novel of the same name more than anything else. There's apparently a motion comic and everything. The project and the story behind it is quite interesting. I checked them out to get some ideas on how to improve my own blog here and I found out a few interesting things:  READ MORE...

First of all they are really using the web well to promote themselves if this video is any indication.

Asian-Americans, share a lot of the challenges Blacks have about having proper Superhero representation. There is manga of course but that's not American and if you are Asian American, you only got a few characters to chose from and most of those are martial arts and samurai based.

Next, the site itself shares a lot of artwork. That's a challenge for me because I don't draw. Maybe I can create a site for visitors to submit their art as an extension of this blog, something like DeviantArt for the Black Superhero. I'm open to suggestions, especially if some of you out there would like to donate copies of your artwork.

Lastly, this project, or at least it's creator challenged Asian writers and artists to participate. I wonder what it would take to create such a thing for Black Superheroes. From the pub this thing is getting you would think it's the greatest idea since the iPhone. I am by no means a hater. I'm actually jealous by what they've put together and the conversation they are opening up.


All that being said, I'm looking for ways to improve the Black Superhero Blog and I can use some ideas and support. I do have a few things I'm considering implementing but I'm not ready to talk about them until I've fleshed them out a bit.

Jakeem Thunder

Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams), also known as J.J. Thunder is a DC Comics character that has no powers but controls a magical genie named Johnny Thunderbolt. The genie is quite powerful and can, in theory, fulfill his every wish. When inactive the genie resides in an ink pen but can be easily summoned by his master by saying the magic word So Cûl (pronounced "So Cool"). He is a relatively new character so to speak, whose first appearance was in Flash (vol. 2) #134 in 1998.
Jakeem is a young teenager whose history in the DC Universe is and continues to be about him learning self control and conquering his personal issues. His mother died while he was very young and she left his father before he was born.He was a latch key kid who came upon the magic pen (given to him by the original Flash) quite by mistake. Prior to this the genie was under the control of the original Johnny Thunder who has a long Superhero history himself. One of the challenges when controlling the genie is that commands must be phrased properly in order to achieve the desired results. Jakeem is often impetuous so many of his commands have unexpected results. He has also been known to wish for things without thinking.
The genie's power is considerable and Jakeem has lost control of him more to villians recognizing and capitilizing on the opportunity.
Despite the power at his command, Jakeem Thunder is a B-level Superhero in terms of popularity. He is currently an active member of the JSA where he is learning to become a better hero. The character is in need of a good writer to showcase his real potential. Time will tell.