Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Who Is This Chick?

Chick is an upcoming web series that chronicles the adventures of a young woman on her quest to become a superhero. That's all I can find out so far. Check out the trailer below.

CHICK Trailer from CHICKSPIRIT on Vimeo.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Animated Bronze Tiger

I've posted about Bronze Tiger before but that was before his animated debut on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  I didn't like the voice they used and I think they made him too prideful but all in all, not a bad showing. He and a young Black Lightning are the only African-American characters that have made the cut so far. What do you think? Check the video:

Friday, July 17, 2009

Drawing From The Soul

If any of you are going to be near Atlanta, GA on August 1st, check out the Brotherman comics art exhibit. Take a lot of pictures and tell me what it's like. If you make it down there and want to guest blog an article about it, that'd be great. We'd love to hear all about it.
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Monday, July 13, 2009

John Smith: A Respectable Black Sidekick

Balbo, the Boy Magician was a comic book character that first appeared back in 1942. He had no super powers whatsoever but was an accomplished stage magician that used skilled slight of hand to perform his feats. The stories took place in a world without real magic and were skeptical towards anyone seeming to display it. Balbo and his friends would frequently observe seeming impossible feats that, after investigation, proved to be merely some sort of stage illusion.

What really made this comic noteworthy for me was his Black adult sidekick John Smith. Contrary to most depictions of Black characters of that time, John was well dressed, articulate, and intelligent. He was always calm, cool, and thoughtful and was of great help to Balbo. He was no stereotype.

The adventures of Balbo, the Boy Magician did not deal with any political issues. Topics of discrimination and Civil Rights never came up in the comic. The fact that John Smith was Black was simply that. It does go to show that even back in the 1940's it was possible to portray a Black man positively in comics. It's too bad most examples of that era, with few exceptions, showed Black men as fools.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Looking for Afrikan Comic Books

I have a reader in the UK that has asked me a question I don't know the answer to so I'm putting it out to the readers. He writes, "Do you have a contact or any advise as to where I could purchase Afrikan comics from any Afrikan countries direct or via other distributors? I have searched the net and have found an Italian outfit that only sells TPB. I actually want the individual comic books."

I'm a bit ashamed to say I haven't really been very aware of comics from Afrikan countries but this list did come up in my search. I'll have to do some digging but if you have any information that would help, it would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to drop a note in the comments or email me. Thanks all.