Not Another Magic Negro Story

So, everyone who isn't at San Diego Comic Con has two big highlights in comics for the week. One of them was good, one of them was bad....both of them were Mark Waid's doing. Unbreakable, the one digestible film M. Night Shyamalan ever made, featured Bruce Willis as an invulnerable shmuck and at the other end of the spectrum, Samuel L. Jackson as the entirely TOO vulnerable intellectual. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Mark Waid's varying work this week: Archie #1 and Strange Fruit #1. Archie turns out to be genuine, endearing and heroic in a way you didn't expect like Bruce Willis' character while Strange Fruit is a brittle and ill-constructed constellation of good intentions like Samuel L. Jackson's character at the end of the movie screaming, "I am not a mistake!"

In other words, Strange Fruit is sort of terrible. Let's start with the fact that it's an "African-American myth" created by two white men. Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of Mark Waid and up until this week, had not read a single bad book from him. In fact, the fact that his name was on this book is the sole reason I even considered picking this up was because his name was on it. But even with that in mind, haven't we been down this road before? Wait...what am I saying? We go down this road all the time. We go down this road so often, we don't need GPS. We don't even street signs as markers. We can just say, "Turn at the mailbox next to the Sit n Sleep billboard." I would like to feel like we've entered a different era of intellectual property where the need for two white creators coming up with magic negro stories to make sure we're all on the same page about racism being wrong would be long past. Then again, I would also like to think the need for Jurassic Park movies would be long past as well....and yet here we are. Jurassic World is in theaters and Strange Fruit exists.

The basic premise thus far is that there's a big flood coming and the black people aren't working fast enough for the white folks' liking because racism. On the other hand, the black folks would probably work a lot faster if the white folks would actually help out but we know that won't happen because racism. Oh, and some black guy may or may not have stolen from his white employer, but he'll probably get hung somewhere throughout the series whether he did it or not because racism. The names are unimportant and the character development is even less important than that (I'm assuming this is the case because there is virtually no character development) because it is clear right away that the only character you're supposed to be focused on is Racism. In the midst of all this, a naked black man falls from the sky. He's super strong and takes no shit off of these white folks on horses. He then puts on a Confederate flag because dem white folk ain't gonna take kindly ta him walking around wit his swingin johnson all about. I want to be able to say that that this is Waid refurbishing the old Jewish "golem" myth for the Deep South, but we're not given any tangible indication that this story intends to go that heavy. So, essentially, what we're left with is a 1920's remake of The Brother From Another Planet or, as I like to call it, Not Another Magic Negro Story. 

But it's unfair to say that this is all Waid's fault. Artist J.G. Jones is every bit as complicit in this constellation of condescension as his colleague is. I wouldn't be able to accuse Issue #1's of trying too hard to be Eisner bait were it not for the final image of Naked Alien Black Guy's junk bulging through the Confederate flag, presumably symbolizing the white supremacist's implied fear of black phallus or some shit. I dunno. I don't really have any black dick jokes so, that's the best theory I can pry out of my guesses at Jones' logic. Worse yet, there's the rendering of the people of color in the book.

Note how the principal character (light skinned in this case and a couple others) in the panel is rendered in an attempt at photorealism while all the other people of color in the background are drawn in an exaggerated blackface style that makes the mural in the opening credits of Good Times look like the Sistine Chapel.

Now, let me stop here and say that I don't think this necessarily qualifies as intentionally "racist" anymore than white people who want to touch a black woman's hair without asking. However, the intent doesn't always absolve the result or make the action any less offensive. That said, intentions are basically the only thing this book has going for it, but even that has it's limits. We're past the point where a book simply pointing out that racism is wrong and giving us a splash page with a black alien in the nude ain't gonna cut it.

It's not enough for comics to point out that racism happened a long time ago anymore. Even if the endgame of Strange Fruit (fully realizing that it's only the first of four issues) is to craft a old school superhero myth along the lines of Truth: Red, White and Black, race relations and society's understanding of race relations have to evolve past handing out pats on the head for rehashing the basics. I could very well be speaking too soon since there's three more issues to go. For all I know, this book could engage us in twists and turns that question the way we look at the history of systematic racism in America. But I seriously doubt it.

My reviews for this week's issues of Batman and Archie are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to like, share, comment at your leisure. You know the drill.