Welcome to the latest installment of a semi-recurring feature on WORLDOFHURTONLINE:  Off-Topic Mondays.  Occasionally,  I have ideas, questions, or notions that I can’t even tangentially relate to Blaxploitation, and since it would be irresponsible to litter the Internet landscape with another blog, and with all apologies to Gangstarr Girl’s Blaxploitation Fridays, I present to you Off-Topic Monday.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the band, Cage The Elephant, at Headliners here in Columbia, South Carolina.  The Bowling Green, KY-based rock/punk quintet was on the bill between the duo …And Horse and Silversun Pickup.  Although Silversun Pickup had nominal top billing, in my mind, Cage The Elephant absolutely blew them out of the water.  Silversun Pickup is a very solid alternative rock trio that, to me, sounded like Smashing Pumpkins fronted by John Mayer, or “smooth jazz” singer Michael Franks.  However, after the incredible set by Cage The Elephant, the very fact that Silversun Pickup was NOT Cage The Elephant kept me from enjoying their set more, and came damn close to making me angry.  One of my favorite pieces of music writing was a review of a Rolling Stones concert in which The Black Crowes were the opening act.  The reviewer spent the entire article praising the Crowes, then ended with the sentence, “The Rolling Stones closed for The Black Crowes.”  This is that kind of review.

Matt Schultz, the lead singer for Cage The Elephant, has the lean, wiry frame and soul of a punk rocker, but the thick neck and blunt, broken features of a boxer who’s fought one round too many.  He also has the most magnetic stage persona I have ever seen.  Ever.  It is a coy, mercurial stage presence that is alternately playful, menacing, pouting, but always compelling.  I dare anyone to take their eyes off him.  You have to remind yourself that there are four other guys out there with him.  As they took the stage, one fan in the front stretched his hand out to solicit a high-five from Schultz.  Just inches from the fan, Schultz glared at him for what felt like an eternity,  before his face exploded into a genuine, “I’m-just-fuckin’-with-ya” grin, and slapped him some skin.  As they performed, Schultz mugged, careened and lurched around the stage like an alcoholic spoiling for a fight.  At one point, he leapt down into the audience to form an impromptu one-man mosh pit, and I remember thinking, ”This guy is like Heath Ledger’s Joker, without the make-up.”  Schultz invites the audience in, and then challenges them.  You just don’t know what to expect from him next, but the fun is watching and listening where Schultz and Cage The Elephant  go next.

Cage thundered through a brisk, powerful set comprised of the songs from their self-titled debut album.  Incidentally, front-to-back, the album “Cage The Elephant” is one of the most solid albums I’ve heard in a long, long time.  It defines the term “all killer, no filler.”  There’s not one track on it that you want to fast-forward through.  Overall, it’s Southern flavored rock with a punk edge, but  Cage The Elephant’s most famous song is “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked,” a bluesy, hip-hop tinged number that can be heard on the commercial for the new videogame, Borderlands.

If Cage The Elephant comes to your town, they are a must-see act.  I know it sounds like hyperbole, but watching them in concert felt like I was watching the Rolling Stones sweating it out in an early club gig…before they could get upstaged by The Black Crowes.

- JEP

LINKS:

• Cage The Elephant official website
• Official Cage The Elephant YouTube Channel
  

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving, also known as “Black Friday.”  I really like the sound of that.  Kinda rolls off the tongue, don’t it?

Anyway, here at the WORLDOFHURTONLINE headquarters, we’re still bloated on turkey, dressing, sweet potato pie and tripping off tryptophans, so I’m admittedly phoning it in today via the time-honored tradition of link-blogging!

• This week, on his Omnium Gatherum column at ComicsWaitingRoom.com, Vince Moore wrote a really nice review of WORLD OF HURT, and I encourage you to give it a read.  My favorite line is his reference to Pastor as “…larger than life and down-home all at the same time.”  That’s a fantastic summary of the character that really encapsulates what I want Pastor to be, and I’m glad that comes across.  Thanks, Vince, especially for giving me billing over Twilight in your column   and for including me with author Steven Barnes.  I am a huge fan of his work, particularly the novels Lion’s Blood and The Kundalini Equation.

• WORLD OF HURT also received a shout-out on Chris Sims and Eugene Ahn’s podcast juggernaut, WAR ROCKET AJAX, this week.  Before I started this webcomic, I was originally going to work with Chris and the equally talented Chad Bowers on a book called The Hard Ones.  The fault lies entirely with me that that particular team-up didn’t work out, but Chad and Chris were always extremely supportive and understanding.  Besides, they found a fantastic (and fast) artist in Rusty Shackles to bring The Hard Ones to life.  With that triumvirate of talent and madcap ideas, I’d put good money on you seeing the book in stores very soon.

• Finally, speaking of podcasts, this week, I was the special guest of Dwight and Swain on their incredible podcast SiDEBAR – Four Color Conversations On Comics, Art & Pop Culture.  I had the distinct pleasure of meeting them both last year at HeroesCon.  When I checked out their site, I was floored by the level of talent they had on the show and the easy rapport they were able to establish with them.  I love listening to their podcasts while I’m inking.  Therefore, I was honored that they would chose to have me on the show.  I had a great time talking with them.  Although my episode hasn’t been posted yet, I would encourage you to listen to the great interviews Dwight and Swain have in their archives, because they’re chock full of audio gold, and, to quote Bill Cosby in Fat Albert, “If you’re not careful, you might learn a thing or two.”

As always, thanks for dropping by.  I look forward to seeing you again next week.  Have a great, and safe, weekend!

- JEP

Although Black science fiction remains a fairly small sector of the market, I’ve found that one of more fascinating archetypes found the genre is that of the “Black Wandering Immortal Hero.”  Examples include Octavia E. Butler’s literary creation, Doro from her “Patternmaster” series; Dwayne McDuffie’s Icon from Milestone Comics; and Jaycen Wise, the independent comic book creation of the artist, Uraeus.  For many African-Americans, there is no family crest or immigration record to document their family’s earliest arrival in this country; sometimes the best they can hope for is an oral history or some record of a financial transaction as their ancestors passed from one set of hands to another.  Possibly this archetype speaks to the African-American desire to connect with a past that was lost to us due to broken family lines.  Possibly the Immortal Wanderer is literary wish fulfillment for Black Americans who, from time to time, might engage in the thought experiment of, “What would I have done if I had been there?” or ‘Man, if only I had been there…”  The latest addition to the ranks of the Black Wandering Immortal Heroes is Lucius Hammer, created by writer, Brian Williams, and artist, Christian Colbert of  Ravenhammer Comics.

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