Muhammad Ali: The Greatest of All Time

During Michael Jackson's funeral someone told me that Michael was the most loved Black man on the planet. I'm not trying to hate on Michael but I thought, "What about Muhammad Ali?" It's no secret that Muhammad Ali was a hero to many, myself included. He was positive, powerful, and larger than life. Comic books, TV shows, and movies show us plenty of super characters that have no super powers. Why not Muhammad Ali?
READ MORE...

In 1977, Johnny Wakelin released a song titled "Muhammad Ali the Black Superman". You can take a look at the lyrics here and check out the video below.




In 1978, DC Comics came out with the special, oversized addition of Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. The cover alone boasted guest starts both real and fictional. If you look closely you can even see the Jackson 5 in the audience. As the story goes, some aliens came to earth and wanted their champion to fight our best fighter. Both Superman and Muhammad Ali volunteered. The two of them had to battle to see who would represent earth. The battle took place on a world under a red sun where Superman supposedly had no powers. Guess who won the right to fight for humanity? I'm proud to say I bought a copy and still have it.

 It isn't hard to find Muhammad Ali in our history books. His likeness graces the pages of magazines and movie posters. There are countless stories about his life. He's shown up in a multitude of comics over the years as well, though not necessarily as a superhero. For you real fans out there, it's not too late to get his action figures. As far as being a super hero goes, thanks to comics and television, Muhammad Ali has fought everything from space aliens to tooth decay and knocked them all out. Finally, if you need more proof, here's the first part of an episode from the 1977 animated series, "I Am The Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali." Too bad it only lasted one season. Enjoy!

President Black Superman & The Lack Of Ideas

In DC's Final Crisis #7 we got to glimpse an alternate earth where the President of the United States is not only black but also that world's Superman. The Wonder Woman of that world is also Black and is apparently called "Nubia". Click here to see the page where he's introduced. President Obama did say he was born on Krypton albeit as a joke. The intro for this Black Superman is brief and doesn't really contribute to the main story but damn it was good to see. Should it be surprising to see this happen during Black History month?
Now what we really need is a Black Superhero that's not an offshoot of a White character and yes I am complaining. READ MORE...

I read somewhere that Black Superheros have very generic motivations, that there just isn't enough of a range of characters. I can't say I disagree and I'm not interested in blaming anyone. I'm much more interested in what the solution is. How do we get the major comic book companies to recognize and represent that there are more than just the three or four kinds of Black people than they've shown us so far. Independent comic companies have been able to do it. Why not Marvel and DC? With DC we have the Milestone characters coming into the fold so there's hope there. I'm not complaining about the presentation of Black Superheroes in mainstream comics, (at least not in this particular rant), I'm complaining about the lack of variety.
You want some suggestions? How about a light-skinned Black Superhero? How about a young Black superpowered character that uses his powers for low level criminal activity because it's easier and later gets taken under the wing of a positive Black male Superhero father figure? How about a Black Superhero character whose powers aren't all cool and useful? How about a Black Superhero that can't use his powers much because he's too busy trying to make ends meet? I really could go on.

Super President

Not to make light of those who paved the way but if there is one Black superhero that deserves to be in a comic book, it's Barack Obama. With the power to become President of the United States while still being Black among his many abilities, I for one am looking forward to his continuing adventures. Comic books of late have been straying farther and farther away from the reality of our universe but are now poised to stray back in our direction as our real President Elect will be showing up in the comic books we know and love. Maybe they have also come to realize it's time for a change.


Is he a superhero? Well Barack has already likened himself to Superman. In fact the web is littered with images making the comparison. You gotta love the poses. There is actually an official Barack Obama comic book that contains the President Elect's biography. (There's one for McCain too.) You can get it at Amazon.com among other places. Over in the Marvel comic book universe Obama had to beat out Stephen Colbert to win the Presidency.You may even recall Barack receiving an endorsement from a rather well know superhero earlier this year. They share the cover of issue 137 of the Savage Dragon.

What impact will Barack Obama have over the various comic book universes? He's already got a big mess to clean up over in this one. Only time will tell but until then, at least for the next eight years, make mine Obama!