Have you ever noticed that almost every black character created during the seventies was the stereotypical “Angry Black Male” who has a problem with authority? John Stewart (Green Lantern)? Yep. Luke Cage (Back in his Power Man days)? Yep.
I challenge you to come up with one who doesn’t fit this mold. I can only think of one: Sam Wilson, the Falcon. According to a factoid picked up on the ‘Net, did you know that he was the first black superhero to not have the word ‘Black’ in his alias?
In the mid-eighties, Ann Nocenti was the (wo)man! (Yeah, I read Miller's Daredevil, but years later the stories that stuck with me most were the intro stories for Typhoid Mary and Rotgut.)
I normally prefer artist who draw in a more realistic style, but when I see work by Mike Allred I can't help but think it's not just a comic, or it exists only to tell a story...it's Art with a capital "A".
It all began in the Golden Age. The Silver Age changed the comic landscape with the birth of Marvel Comics as we know it today. But for my money, the Bronze Age of the '70s was when it all came together.
I'm curious. How many of you have downloaded comics in comic book archive format? You know, .cbr or .cbz files. These are comic books that have been scanned to a digital format and made available online to download for your reading enjoyment. A quick search on your favorite bit torrent search engine will give you a virtual comic shop selection of books to peruse. All free for the taking. What mp3s were to the music industry, these cbr files are to the comic book industry...legal and moral issues included.
How do you comic book creators feel about having your comics distributed like this without your consent? At the San Diego ComicCon, Joe Quesada, in no uncertain terms, made it clear that he thought it was ripping off the industry when asked about the topic. On the other hand, Dan DiDio gave a relatively positive reply on the same question basically stating he saw it as promotion.
I admit that I download these files weekly. I have not, and never will, drop a title I buy to replace it with a download. On the other hand, I have started buying new titles based on downloads that I've read. I don't have the money to buy everything that comes out and reading comics that I'm on the fence on in this format give me a chance to try them out without a hit to my wallet; and possibly give that title a chance it would have never had otherwise to get added to my pull list.
Log in to comment