I’m sure you all remember the satirical, action-comedy Blaxploitation film, Black Dynamite, which was released in 2009? Well, the minds behind the film have never stopped, Michael Jai White, Scott Sanders, Byron Minns, and Adrian Younge, their hustle when it comes to promoting the property. The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra (featuring C.E. Garcia, who created and performed the WORLD OF HURT theme song, “The Black Fist”), has racked up an impressive and steady series of tour dates.  Last winter, the comic book, Black Dynamite: Slave Island, was released through Ars Nova.  Michael Jai White and Scott Sanders remain popular, and entertaining, convention and podcast guests.  The Black Dynamite team also secured a deal with Cartoon Network to create a cartoon based on the film.  The animated series is scheduled to debut on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, however, the 11 minute pilot was released online this week.

The plot of the 11-minute pilot involves Black Dynamite and his crew being recruited by the CIA to recover a group of rogue psy-ops operatives who are plotting to take over the world by controlling its children.  The operatives just happen to be foul-mouthed, gun-toting analogues to the beloved Sesame Street characters.  Their ringleader, and the highlight of the show, is one T.F. (”That Frog”) Curtis, a spaghetti-limbed puppet played with lisping, pimped-out, expletive-laced gusto by J.B. Smoove.

Black Dynamite, the movie, was anything but restrained and prudish, but the animated pilot boasts a tone and sensibility that is even more raucus than the film.  Unfettered from the budget restraints of live action, and seemingly unmoored from the influence of the MPAA, the animated Black Dynamite is more violent, sexy and profane than his movie counterpart.  While it was not above (below?) the movie version of Black Dynamite to exploit his sexual prowess in order to extract the secret of Colonel Sanders’ fried chicken recipe, we never saw anything close to the giddy raunchiness of a puppet slapping Black Dynamite’s sidekick, Cream Corn, across the face with his “frog dick.”  Visually, and in its sensibilities, the animated Black Dynamite feels like the fever dream of The Boondocks’ Riley Freeman after a bout with the fried chicken flu. (This may stem from the fact that the cartoon boasts some of the same creative team as The Boondocks, including artist, LeSean Thomas.)

One of my favorite pull quotes was found on the back of Frank Miller’s Elektra: Assassin, which read “…I think we need to protect our children from this.”  The quote was attributed to the Fort Worth Evening Star-Telegram. I’m inclined to believe the reviewer intended for the line to denigrate the book, but it just served to celebrate the work’s rebellious, manic, sexy and violent spirit.  To me, and I’m sure that to whoever authorized its use on the Elektra: Assassin compilation, the line was the highest compliment.  Well, I think we need to protect our children from Black Dynamite: The Animated Series.

- JEP

I’m not a fan of the way Brian Michael Bendis writes Luke Cage.

Before I continue, let me preface my remarks by saying that none, I repeat, NONE of what I am about to say is meant to imply that Mr. Bendis harbors any racist attitudes, beliefs, tendencies, prejudices, etc. That is a million miles away from my conclusion, and it is not what you should infer from this column.

Since his debut in 1972, Luke Cage, aka Power Man, has been a cult favorite and guilty pleasure for a niche audience of comic book fans, particularly Black fans.  Brian Michael Bendis deserves an extraordinary amount of credit for renewing interest in the character of Luke Cage among a broader comics audience.  Brian Michael Bendis has made no secret of his affection for the character and I appreciate the work that he has done to shepherd the character from semi-dormant intellectual property/punchline to the leader of a branch of the Marvel Comics’ preeminent super team.  Bendis’ decision to use Luke Cage as a supporting character in the pages of his series Marvel MAX series, Alias, marked the beginning of the Luke Cage revival and he has steadily pushed him into a higher profile since then.  I also respect and appreciate that Bendis has taken considerable pains to show Luke Cage in a positive light and fight enduring stereotypes of Black men.  Bendis’ Cage is man of principle, a leader, a committed friend, a loyal and loving husband, and a doting and protective father.

Despite Bendis’ considerable affection for Cage, with creators there can sometimes be a gap between “affection” for a character and “understanding” that character.  There have been occasions when Bendis has written Luke Cage in a manner that seems at odds with past appearances of the character or, at worst seemed tone deaf to the experiences of most Black men in America.

DICK RIDIN’ CAPTAIN AMERICA

The hook  of New Avengers: Volume I, was that Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, reformed the Avengers from the rag-tag assemblage of heroes who banded together to quell a prison break/riot at the Raft, a maximum security penitentiary.  Luke Cage was among those heroes and the day after the riot, Captain America met individually with all of them to extend a personal invitation to join the new team.

Now at this point in the story, every other hero Captain America had visited was already out and about, going about their business.  However, at four in the afternoon, Luke Cage is just getting up.  It makes Cage seem lazy, especially since he and his pregnant wife live in apartment that could use a few touch ups based on the paint chipping from the walls.  Arguably, it’s a minor point, but it’s bad optics that plays into an ugly  stereotype.  Then there’s this:

It’s the fifth panel that stuck in my craw.  Luke Cage was the “Hero For Hire.”  The Avengers is the only super team that offers a paycheck (more on that in a minute).  Like I said, he’s living in an apartment that could use some work and has a heavily pregnant wife.  It’s a sweet sentiment that he wants his unborn daughter to be proud of him, but the pragmatic hero for hire’s first concern might be, “Whatcha paying and what sort of health plan is there?”  Why does he need the Avengers, and Captain America in particular, to validate his life?  Also, Cage’s “new way of doing things” really didn’t emerge. The need for quick, dirty, abrupt changes was thrust upon the New Avengers when the team went underground during the Civil War/Siege events, but I don’t recall Cage initiating or requesting any big changes while Steve Rogers was at the helm of the Avengers.

Bendis’ Cage also demonstrates a consistent pattern of token resistance (no pun intended) to Captain America, followed by quick, unquestioning deference to him.  Given Cage’s background as a Black man who was twice wrongfully imprisoned and a long history as an independent operative and businessman, one would expect a greater mistrust of authority.  Instead, Cage seems perpetually awestruck by Captain America.  I think Bendis correctly intuits that Cage should assert his independence, but he can’t seem to quite capture how or why.  This is a theme that emerges throughout Bendis’ handling of Cage.

In the first issue of New Avengers: Vol. II, Captain America offers Luke Cage his very own team of Avengers, with the caveat that “You can’t have Thor or Iron Man.” Luke’s team consisted of fan favorites, like Spider-Man and Wolverine, but wouldn’t it have made a stronger impression for the three characters most identified with the Avengers to  step aside and appoint Luke Cage as their leader in recognition for how he upheld the principles of the team during the entire Civil War/Siege fiasco?

Captain America also requests that Luke accept Victoria Hand as a liaison for the team.  Victoria Hand was the second-in-command of Norman Osborn, the villain who forced Luke Cage and his family to live on the run and made their lives a living Hell for the better part of a year during the Civil War/Siege events.  Hand’s  interview for the job consists of showing up at the Avengers Mansion with a note from Steve Rogers and a giant Liefeld 3000 gun which she shoves point blank into the face of Luke’s wife and infant daughter.

Now, why would Captain America want someone like that working with Luke Cage and the Avengers? Because, as Steve Rogers wrote in his note, Hand deserves a second chance and Rogers needed “someone to keep track” of them.  ”Not to interfere or to tell you what to do,” Rogers writes. “Just to help facilitate your work there.”  Luke’s obvious answer here should be to tell Rogers to kiss his natural Black ass.  If he wants someone to “facilitate” his work, call Accountemps or put an add on Monster.com for an administrative assistant, don’t send an archvillain’s Girl Friday with a note pinned to her blouse.  Besides, since when does Luke need anyone to “keep track” of him and his team?  If you wanna play that game, Captain America, Luke will have Shades and Comanche ringing your doorbell tomorrow morning and start auditing YOUR damn team!  “Keep track of” is some paternalistic bullshit that Luke Cage would have none of.  Instead, he welcomes Victoria Hand aboard over the objections of his wife, Jessica.  Sure, Victoria Hand hounded Luke and the New Avengers for months like runaway slaves.  Of course, hours before Luke decides to relent and give Victoria Hand a job (heh), she was holding his baby daughter at gunpoint, but Captain America says she’s cool, so Luke’s willing to let little things like that  slide.

THE MANDINGO COMPLEX

In Alias, Brian Michael Bendis introduced Jessica Jones, a former super-hero turned private investigator.  In the very first issue, Jessica seeks to distract herself from her problems with the help of a little booze and casual sex, both of which Luke Cage is more than happy to supply.

In subsequent appearances, Bendis has implied that Luke Cage was the town bicycle for the women of the Marvel Universe. In New Avengers #7 alone, there are two such inferences: one by an employee of Damage Control and the other by former Avenger, Tigra.

Granted, in the above pages, Luke Cage’s sexual history is put on display in front of his wife, which would be uncomfortable for any man.  However, when you contrast how this scene is played with a later scene in the very same issue which involves Wolverine and Squirrel Girl, who are revealed to be former lovers, there’s a world of difference in tone.  In the former, and with the Tigra episode, the women’s leers reduce Luke to a big, Black dildo with steel-hard skin.  In the latter, Wolverine and Squirrel Girl engage in a brief conversation in which the two discuss their past dalliance in a mature, adult manner.

Bendis’ intent may be to make Luke Cage seem like the ultimate ladies’ man, but instances like the ones above do more to objectify Luke than making him seem like a super-stud. Bendis’ Cage doesn’t own his sexuality like other comic book ladies’ men, such as Tony Stark or Oliver Queen.  He didn’t even initiate the first sexual encounter with his future wife.  As the above scan from Alias demonstrates, in that encounter, Jessica wasn’t even necessarily looking for pleasure.  She had no concern for Luke’s pleasure or feelings, either.  Jessica was seeking pain and humiliation.  It’s a clever enough gender reversal where the guy is usually the one who wants to get his rocks off without any regard for his female partner, but unfortunately there’s enough ambiguity in the art and writing to leave the reader wondering whether Jessica’s feelings were derived from rough, anal sex or the perceived taboo of interracial sex.  (That single sentence totally skewed my Google search hits.)

If Bendis wants readers to believe Luke is a reformed Lothario or some kind of bedroom gangsta, he should really give us some evidence of the charm, flirtatiousness, or swagger that would make Luke such a hit with the ladies.   Even though he’s married, that should still be evident, but Bendis never even gives us a hint of Cage’s game.  What does Cage say or do to make himself irresistible to women?  That sort of interplay should be tailor-made for a writer whose trademark is lengthy dialogue exchanges.  Unfortunately, that aspect of Cage’s personality never comes across under Bendis, so from the knowing smirks of these women, the reader is left to conclude that they come on to Luke to see if the rumors about Black guys were true.  Luke certainly seems to have given each of these ladies a good time, or at least been attentive enough as a lover to give them what they were looking for (”Pain. Humility. Anger.”)  Nonetheless, in every one of these instances, Luke Cage comes off like a clueless Black buck.  He’s Ken Norton in  Mandingo, cluelessly waiting in the barn for the slave master’s daughter to tiptoe in and satisfy her curiosity about the new Black buck her daddy bought. In this set-up, any potential reader discomfort over a sexually aggressive Black man is neatly shelved, but the wink-wink-nudge-nudge mythology of the Black male as prodigious, and prolific, sexual titan is preserved.

Next week in Part II, I’ll focus on the most drastic difference between past portrayals of Luke Cage and Bendis’ current interpretation: Luke Cage as self-made entrepreneneur and businessman.

- JEP

I think there were several factors that contributed to the attendance issures, such as the fact that it was the first time the convention had been held, so the convention had not established an identity of its own yet.  Additionally, I’m not sure how many people knew about the convention, so Wizard World should make a bigger advertising push for next year.  The rainy and cold weather, the SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome that Saturday, and shockingly high prices of $35 per person for one-day passes may have also had am impact on attendance.  I will say that it was well-organized and the vendors and artists enjoyed large tables.  There was generous space behind them in which to set up displays and store their goods.  The staff and volunteers were also friendly and extremely helpful. 

Personally, I had a tremendous time, because I got to hang out for a while with my nephews, I met some great new people and re-connected with some old friends.  My old roommate, Anthony Summey , came up from Savannah to help man the table again.  John Aston, the creator of the Blaxploitation webcomic, Rachel Rage, met up again where we continued our bitter, bitter rivalry.  However, at next year’s HeroesCon, we plan on putting our mutual hatred aside long enough to get a table or two together.  I got to hang out a with old-school WORLD OF HURT booster and former Savannah-ite, Doug Gross.  Also, I gotta give a shout-out to Little John (not Lil’ John, though), a long-time Blaxploitation fan who may be the only cat who’s more into the strip than ME!  Also, I had fun meeting up with the fellas from the podcast, SiDEBAR, Dwight, Swain, and the newest addition to the cast, Adrian.  SiDEBAR is the reason why God gave comic book fans ears.  It’s smart, literate, yet fun, accessible and down-to-earth at the same time.  Awesome fellas who I can just shoot the breeze with like I’ve known them forever.

Other highlights include:

• I was honored to be invited by Dr. Jonathan Gayles to participate in his film project involving Black masculinity in comic books.  On Sunday, he conducted an interview with me where he let me pontificate about everything from WORLD OF HURT to Luke Cage.  The interview lasted about 40 minutes and perhaps in a little bit of an omen, as we were winding up on the last question about the history of Blaxploitation, Richard Roundtree wanders into the background of the shot.  The hallway was otherwise empty, but he just ambles by, as cool as you please.  You couldn’t ask for a cooler moment. I met John this year at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philadelphia, PA and he was kind enough to follow-up with me.  He’s a really great guy and I urge you all to check out his site at BlackSuperheroDoc.com.  He’s doing really exciting work (and I’d say that even if I wasn’t in it!)

• Actor, Nick Jones, stopped by the table.  He recognized me, because I follow him on Twitter (@njfuture), so he decided to come by and learn more about the strip.  For those of you who don’t know, Nick Jones plays John Stewart in the upcoming Green Lantern film.  (I have to admit, I didn’t ply him for more details about the movie, and I’m kicking myself for that now, but I did try to sell him on playing Pastor if they ever do a movie.)  I mean, the dude’s classically handsome and LOOKS like a movie star, but doesn’t act like it at all.  No pretensions or entourages.  He’s just a tremendously, tremendously cool guy and a lifelong comic book fan who was content to just chill at the show and take in the sights.

• Meeting Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (Black Caesar, That Man Bolt, Hell Up In Harlem) and gave him my quick elevator pitch on WORLD OF HURT.  Based on past interviews, I know he’s not a fan of the word “Blaxploitation,” so I carefully avoided it.  He looked at me a little skeptically, at first, but he soon warmed up a bit, took one of my postcards and said he’d check it out.  He was also nice enough to take a picture with me.
• Seeing Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Shaft’s Big Score, Heroes) in person.  He just happened to be walking by the table on his way to somewhere else, so as I saw him coming, I grabbed a WORLD OF HURT postcard and introduced myself. Nice guy.

- JEP

(P.S. I mentioned on Twitter that I’d be discussing Luke Cage today, but I’m posting that blog entry next week.  I wanted to discuss a scene from New Avengers #7 which I had seen posted online in previews.  I have not had the chance to purchase the issue yet, so I didn’t think it was completely fair to discuss the scene in detail without reading the entire issue.)

The setting for the first issue of Lucius Hammer is the early 1970s, but his tale begins sometime near the turn of the 20th century.  Lucius was raised in the town of Possum Bend, Alabama, and from an early age, Lucius’ parents were aware that he was special and gifted with unique abilities.  His remarkable strength manifests as a youth, but throughout the course of the story, it becomes evident that Lucius may possibly be immortal.  After his mother’s death, Lucius’ father encourages him to explore the world and find his own direction in life, but he warns him to  guard his secret abilities closely.  Most of the first issue is a flashback, and provides the reader with a quick snapshot of Lucius’ life.  Like Benjamin Buttons, Forrest Gump, or Woody Allen’s Zelig, Lucius moves through the major events of the 20th century and reflects on how they  influenced him.  In the world of Lucius Hammer, superheroes began appearing sometime after World War II, and their arrival inspires him to openly use his powers in a similar manner to help and inspire others.  Sometime in the early 1970s, Lucius goes public under the nom de guerre of Powerhouse and forms his own superteam called The Dream Team  The consolidated power an all-Black team of superheroes draws the attention of the U.S. government, so President Nixon activates a Cold War super-soldier by the name of  The American Way to take down Powerhouse and The Dream Team.  The first issue ends with the threat of the impending confrontation between the Lucius and The American Way.

Overall, I thought Lucius Hammer was a blast.  Williams does a commendable job of compressing Lucius Hammer’s origin and setting up the conflict all within the span of twenty-two pages.  Williams throws a lot of information at the reader, but because much of it is conveyed  via Lucius Hammer’s first person narration, it comes across as more conversational and less purely expository.  This is a story very much in the old-school Marvel manner. Williams creates a fairly relatable hero and gives you everything you need to know about him before launching into the adventure.  Although Lucius Hammer’s story carries him through some bleak times in the 20th Century, and the notion of a government conspiracy to put Black superheroes in their place, might be fodder for a very dark story, the overall tone of Lucius Hammer was one of optimism.  Lucius makes mistakes in his effort to find his place and purpose in the world, but his heart and head are in the right place.

If I had one criticism for this book, it would be the implication in the opening page that Lucius is the “bastard son of John Henry.”  I understand the desire to tie the immortal Lucius Hammer into one of the few Black characters in American folklore, especially given Lucius’ surname, but the connection just reminds me of Bryan Singer’s Superman-as-Absentee-Father in Superman Returns.  And, man, I hate to be reminded of Superman Returns. Like Superman, I don’t see John Henry as a character who would knock up a chick and leave.  If nothing else, John Henry was all about honor and commitment, even if it killed him.  Also, the word “bastard” in the opening page might be the only thing keeping it from being an all-ages appropriate book.  But these are fairly minor quibbles in an otherwise fine book.

Christian Colbert reinforces the generally upbeat mood with bright, open art that is somewhat reminiscent of Ed McGuinness.  Colbert’s figure work shares the blocky, robust quality of McGuinness’, but the linework is more pared down, cartoonier, and accordingly, there’s just a little more fluidity to Colbert’s forms.  It was actually Colbert’s designs for Lucius Hammer and his supporting cast that attracted me to the book in the first place, and Colbert proves to be as strong a storyteller as he is character designer.  Colbert, with assistance from Derek King, is also the book’s colorist, and his selection and use of color is absolutely gorgeous.  I especially love the vibrant orange and the warm browns he selected for Powerhouse’s uniform.  Colbert is also effective at using color to further the storytelling and enhance the mood of individual scenes.  There’s one page in the book that perfectly demonstrates what a great team Williams and Colbert make.  It begins at the funeral of Lucius’ mother, with Lucius Hammer, and his family standing on a hillside where a single cross marks his mother’s freshly dug grave.  The color pallette features beautiful, rich autumnal colors. At the gravesite, his aging father encourages Hammer to leave their small town and explore his own path.  The final panel on the page shows two crosses on that same hill, now cold, grey, wintry and snowswept, with Lucius’ narration box stating that once he left Possum Bend, he never returned home.  There’s not a punch thrown or a hint of spandex in sight, but this page impressed me the most, because it was a wonderful synthesis of art, writing, and coloring, with an elegant economy in the storytelling.  While a lot was said on the page, there was still so much implied between the panels that gave a greater weight to the story.

I definitely look forward to more installments of Lucius Hammer and would encourage you to check out the Ravenhammer website and Brian Williams’ Lucius Hammer blog for more insight into the series.

- JEP

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, is a film adaptation of the first book from Percy Jackson & The Olympians series of young adult novels by author, Rick Riordan.  It appears to be a coming-of-age story cut from the Harry Potter cloth, wherein a young man discovers his hidden birthright of magical powers along his fate as the only one who can destroy an ancient evil.  In Percy Jackson’s case, he’s a halfbreed demi-god, the son of Poseidon, the God Of The Seas from Greek mythology.  I sought out the background information of the Percy Jackson series, because there was one aspect of the trailer that caused me to literally, and ruefully, laughed out loud: the Black kid.  No, I’m not laughing at Brandon T. Jackson, the young actor in the role.  I’m certain that he does a fine job.  What made me laugh was the point at which the trailer flashes a title card that states “THE HERO,” and then a displays series of shots which clearly establish the clean-cut White kid, Percy Jackson, as the protagonist-the hero.  Next, the character of Grover Underwood-the Black kid- is established as “THE PROTECTOR.”  Even from the trailer, you can tell that Grover’s the guy sent to guard and guide Percy through his hero’s journey and introduce him to the wonders of the strange new world he is about to enter.  He’s a cross between Yoda and Bagger Vance, I guess.

I appreciate Rick Riordan’s attempts at inclusion; to get a bit of diversity on the page, and ultimately, the silver screen, but we’ve been down this road before.  We’ve been the stalwart Black sidekick.   If Grover’s tough, resilient, plucky, or whatever enough to protect Percy Jackson from whatever threats he may encounter while he discovers, and learns to use, his powers, then it stands to reason that good ol’ Grover would have the fortitude to BE the hero, right?  (Hell, with a name like ‘Percy Jackson,’ I’m shocked that he ISN’T Black.)  I know, the Black kid can’t be the hero in this particular story, because the Percy Jackson & The Olympians is rooted in Greek mythology, so their gods obviously weren’t Black.  I would give you that argument, if Rosario Dawson hadn’t been cast as the Greek goddess, Persephone.  

Perhaps she’s described a little lighter in the books.  Then again, maybe Percy Jackson can’t be Black, because he’s the son of the God Of The Oceans, and everyone knows that Black folks don’t swim.

One thing I missed in the trailer, but realized later, was the fact that Grover uses crutches.  Apparently, Grover does this to hide the fact that he’s actually a satyr, and the crutches help disguise the unusual posture and gait caused by his cloven hooves.  Because I’m already  approaching 1000 words, for the time being I’ll ignore the fact that the Black kid is secretly a mythological being whose has traditionally been portrayed as a sex-crazed, indolent, half-animal with a huge schlong that does nothing but play music all day.  That’s a post for another day.  Instead, I’m going to focus on Grover Underwood as yet another example of the plucky, Black, crippled sidekick that seems so popular in fiction.  Rick’s cashing in all his EEOC chips with Grover, huh?  But, where have we seen this archetype before?  Let me see:

Well, there was that one kid, Stevie Kenarkin from the Fox sitcom, Malcolm In The Middle, played by Craig Lamar Traylor:

As much as I love the Teen Titans, I have to regretfully add Vic Stone, Cyborg, to this list.  His dangerous Black virility was dampened by the fact that his limbs, part of his face, and possibly his junk, was burned off by an other-dimensional protoplasmic creature:

Hammer (no MC) was a minor character from the comic book, X-Force, who was paralyzed during a mission with The Six-Pack, a team of mutant mercenaries led by Cable.  His teammate Kane (a White dude) had both his arms blown off, but he received superior cybernetic replacements for those.  In a fictional universe where characters return from the dead with alarming regularity, Hammer still remains confined to his wheelchair.

A recent addition to the ranks of the crippled Black sidekick is Marvel’s James Rhodes, aka War Machine.  Seems like he had his face blown off in Avengers: The Initiative, along with a lot of his other pieces.  Fortunately, it seems that he may get better in time for the next Iron Man movie.

However, my favorite example of the plucky Black, crippled sidekick is from no less a writer than Alan Moore himself.  When Rob Liefeld hired Moore to revitalize his Youngblood property, Moore introduced Max Doyle, a robotics expert who piloted a number of of giant robot bodies.  Collectively, Max and his robots went by the name of Big Brother.  Get it?  ‘Brother’ can be slang for a Black dude and he zips around in a giant…Uh, I’ll let Alan Moore describe the character in his own words:

Big Brother is the final male member of the team.  His real name is Max Doyle.  He’s Waxman’s adoped son; he’s seventeen; he’s black; he’s only about five feet tall, and he’s crippled in both legs.

I actually dug the concept, but once you read the description out loud, it sounds like Johnny Sokko played by Arnold Drummond from Dif’frent Strokes.

I’m not saying that these attempts at greater diversity are not appreciated.  They are, because these portrayals are a far cry from the days of Stepin Fetchit and Aunt Jemima.  However, if you’re a writer in a position to create a new character and their supporting cast, just stop for one second and ask youself: “Why can’t the HERO be Black? Asian? A Woman? Physically challenged?”  I think if  you answer it honestly, you’ll find yourself with something more challenging to yourself and your readers than a token nod to cultural diversity. 

- JEP

Don’t worry, of course, new episodes of WORLD OF HURT will continue to be posted every Wednesday, right here at www.worldofhurtonline.com, but starting next week, “re-runs” of WORLD OF HURT,beginning with the very first episode of “The Thrill-Seekers,” will run every Tuesday and Thursday at Blog @ Newsarama.  Think of it in the same way as a syndicated TV show like The Office.  Every Thursday, NBC airs new episodes, but you can also find previous episodes in syndication on your local TV station.   It is a tremendous promotional opportunity to reach new readers and spread the “gospel” of Pastor to fans of comic fans who may not have found the site otherwise.

I am very proud to be part of the Blog @ Newsarama family.  Troy Brownfield and David Pepose of Newsarama.com have been extremely accommodating and helpful.  In order to introduce WORLD OF HURT to the Newsarama.com audience, David conducted an interview with me this past week.  I was honest and candid as possible, and hopefully it gives you some insight into how WORLD OF HURT came to be, what I’ve learned along the way, and what more I want to accomplish.  The interview was posted last night and can be found HERE.

I can’t believe how far this little strip has come in the past six months.  Everyone has been so receptive and positive about the strip thus far.  I’d like to thank everyone who has discovered this site for sticking around for the ride, and I’d like to welcome all the new “WORLD” Travelers who have just joined us in progress.  I urge you all to buckle up and hunker down, ’cause it only gets more fun from here.

On another note, in three days, the ever-popular feature, Off-Topic Mondays, returns to WORLDOFHURTONLINE.

- JEP

A little over two years ago this month, at Wizard World Chicago, the Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack creator announced that he was working on a four issue mini-series featuring Marvel Comics’ Black supehero icon.  The above concept art accompanied the announcement, and that, combined with Tartakovsky’s pledge to return Cage to his 1970s Blaxploitation roots had me pretty excited.

Sadly, I haven’t seen any subsequent stories about the project.  If ya got any info, be sure to send it my way.

NOTE: This post was inspired by SideBarNation.com’s October 2007 interview with Phil LaMarr, the voice of Samurai Jack.  You can find their podcast with the talented voice actor and MadTV alum here.

- JEP

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Newsarama.com’s brief interview with Genndy Tartakovsky on August 10, 2007 following the announcement.

Marvel.com’s story from the same day, with the de rigueur “bad mother…shut yo’ mouth” reference and a larger version of the above image.

July 2oth marks the thirty-sixth anniversary of the death of Bruce Lee.  In his honor, I will be doing a short series of posts to commemorate the legendary martial artist and cinematic icon.

The first entry involves one of my favorite superhero storylines of all time, a breezy, fun tale that posed the question, “What if Bruce Lee was still alive…and hanging out with Elvis?”

In the mid-1990s, the comic book industry was undergoing a serious creative downturn.  The industry was still choking under the glut of poor Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld clones that had entered the business in the early 1990s, and draftsmanship and storytelling were suffering under the occupational forces of this clone army.  One of the few bright spots was an artist named Rodolfo Damaggio.  Damaggio was sorely underappreciated at the time, partly because he happened to inherit the art chores of DC’s Green Arrow at the exact time the company chose to replace Oliver Queen, the original Green Arrow with his previously unseen son, Connor Hawke.  Fans were so incensed/befuddled by the decision, that they overlooked the brilliant art Damaggio was generating and the clever storylines that writer Chuck Dixon was producing.  Remember, this was at a time when comic book deaths were a little more permanent than they are now, so fans didn’t care how well the book was drawn or how well it was written, they just wanted the original Green Arrow back.  However, I was immediately enamored with Damaggio’s brilliant staging; his natural, distinct characters, masterful anatomy, and the sense of place and realism he brought to each page, so I didn’t care if Oliver Queen ever came back, as long as they kept Rodolpho Damaggio around.

My favorite storyline from their run was a two-parter that ran from Green Arrow #106 and #107.  The story built on an overarching plot that involved Connor’s ongoing efforts to raise enough money to save the Buddhist monastery where he spent his formative years from the clutches of a greedy theme park developer.  After winning a toughman competition in Las Vegas, Connor is hired as the bodyguard of The Grand Rahfi Ali Ben Khadir, the 12 year-old heredity leader of  “a tiny suzerainty in the peaks of the Hindu Kush.”  Ali readily admits that he must one day assume the full mantle of leadership among his people, but until then, he just wants to have a good time.

Connor saves the Rahfi from the clutches of terrorists sent by Arghulian, a mullah from his native land who is attempting to usurp the Rahfi’s throne from the hands of its pre-pubescent heir.  After their escape, Ali introduces Connor to his other two bodyguards whom he had given the night off; two “bonecrushers” who bear an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley!  (Although Dixon never uses their names…c’mon!  I mean, C’MON!)

It is implied that Lee and Presley faked their deaths to find peace and spiritual renewal under the tutelage of the boy’s late father, the original Rahfi.  They serve their debt by acting as the Race Bannons to Ali’s Jonny Quest.  Dixon crafted a remarkably simple and pleasurable high concept storyline that begs to be explored further.  (I’d love to see the further adventures of Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley as bodyguards for hire, traveling the world and kicking ass under the watchful eye of an unseen handler who is eventually revealed to be Tupac Shakur.  Since I don’t think that’s likely to happen, the closest you’ll probably ever come to that sort of action is this.)

In the climax of Dixon’s story, Arghulian sends back-up to the surviving terrorists in the form of Seljuk, a madman whom even the other terrorists fear.  The final throwdown between Bruce Lee, Elvis, Green Arrow, and the katar-wielding terrorist is a thing of beauty, with Seljuk handing out bladed backfists like Skittles. 

You can probably find these two issues in the back issue bin of your local comic shop for a pretty low price.  I’d highly recommend the whole post-death of Oliver Queen cycle for Damaggio’s gorgeous art, and some nice straightforward action stories by Chuck Dixon.

Happy Friday!

- JEP

 Although in a previous post, I stated only a passing familiarity with kung fu movies, Enter The Dragon is the exception.  I know the film quite well, because my older brother Philip,  my cousin Clarence, and I used to make it ritual to watch my uncle’s bootleg, taped-off-HBO-copy of the movie whenever we got together over a holiday break.  Jim Kelly’s comment to Han, once he discovers the evil mastermind’s villainous intentions, “Man, you come straight out of a comic book,” is the inspiration for the name of the ”comic book blog” link tag on this site.

 RIP Shih Kien.

- JEP

A page from"The Obama Story: The Boy With The Biggest Dream."

This:

"Army of Darkness?" Didn't Obama beat these guys last November?

And this:

"Barack The Barbarian?" Come on!

And especially this!  Most ESPECIALLY this:

Obama drawn by Rob Liefeld? Aw, HELL No! If you survived comic books in the '90s, you're probably breaking out in hives right now.

…Has GOT to stop!  ENOUGH!

- JEP

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Oh great, now they’re dragging Bo the Dog into this mess.  Leave the dog out of it, man!

Bo, too? At long last, sir, have you no decency?