You Know What We Stopped Doing?

We stopped trying to change minds. We live in a more polarized era than ever and that's completely understandable. Think about it. In the digital era, it's that much easier for us to classify one another, make data out of each other. "People that listen to...." and "people who visit 'these' websites". Now, I'm not saying this to make this one of those "google is Big Brother" posts. I say that because computers amplify our ability (and, really, obsession) to classify each other, but it also amplifies our ability to filter out those people.

You've seen it on your social media before. A hot button topic comes along that drives a canyon sized wedge between people. Let's take the stupid ass dress issue for example. You look at this dress and you see one color scheme, right. You look on your timeline and you see a certain minority of people that think the dress is a completely different color scheme, but most people you follow agree with you. You then get so tired of "them" being wrong, you start making posts saying that you're going to delete everyone off of your timeline that thinks the dress is that other color. Sure, now, you've filtered out the odd element and, yeah, you probably have a Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/whatever you can agree with easier, but you're not the only one to do this. Now we have a whole sect of people off to themselves who will continue to believe that the dress is this certain color and will go on believing it no matter what science is involved in believing one thing or the other (And there is a science involved in seeing the dress one way or the other....and part of it is the way you tilt your goddamned computer screen, but still...). They will make Facebook groups and websites and magazines dedicated to people who think this one way. All of this is in the service of building a fence around themselves, but really, they're just finishing the one that you started. Now, instead of uninformed people (something that YOU can always fix if you want to), we have voluntarily stupid people. And we don't really need anymore stupid people. If you ask me, we're at capacity.

Sidenote: It's important that you understand I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT TROLLS. Trolls cannot be saved. Trolls don't want to be saved and they don't want to see anyone else be saved. Please delete the trolls.

We especially do this with celebrities. They say something we construe as racist or sexist or offensive and we write them off and drag them through the town square until they have to issue some public apology. I AM NOT DEFENDING these people, but part of having what you consider "the moral high ground is being able to discern those who misspeak or the "uninformed" from the "trolls". Anyone who has ever watched Girls knows it's pretty silly to be mad at anything Lena Dunham says. So, she said something problematic about black people? I'm convinced Lena Dunham only met her first black person somewhere in the window of "ten minutes ago." Death threats and sexist comments in the comment section of a Buzzfeed article are not educational. Because teaching someone to apologize is not the same thing as teaching them what they did wrong. Ask my parents about 31 years of marriage and this will be one the first things they say.

Now, when a public official...someone asking for the votes of the American people....says something problematic about black people? Sure, I'm mad about that and I'm going to vote accordingly because votes are one form of communication between the American people and their leaders. If you're my governor and I don't like your sentiments towards people with my skin color? I'll show you....by firing you and hiring the guy that spoke to my issues.

Again, if someone in the media or social media offended you, I'm not defending them. I repeat: I AM NOT DEFENDING THEM. But I AM asking if you're addressing them the right way for the good of everyone involved. Are you teaching someone something?

Sneak Peek of Awesome Shit

Okay, so those of you that don't already know (which, apparently, is several of you) deserve to know what I've been up to that has taken me away from writing as much content as I used to. Well...aside from writing for Black Nerd Problems. Here's a sneak peek of my upcoming webcomic, Neverland: The Untold. The art comes compliments of none other than Katie Coats, who is a dear friend and an incredible talent. She approached me with these old sketches she'd done in college of Peter Pan and the Darling family. I was immediately smitten with her vision and unearthed some old notes I'd jotted down ages ago. I pitched her for the hell of it and we decided we had something here.

Basically, it's reimagining of Peter Pan that offers some modern sensibilities to some time honored characters. I've always been in love with the Neverland mythos, but one thing that has always bothered me is how racially problematic some aspects are. I mean, there were whooping, hollering, feather-wearing savage "indians" in the stories. Aside from that, the stories are extremely white. I wanted to tell THIS story, but if I was going to tell it, I wanted brown faces to look at while I do.

Anyway, Katie posted the initial pencils for the first couple of pages on Twitter so I figured I'd share them here with you guys. The official website will be up soon, but until then bare with me since I probably won't be as consistent with content as I've previously been. Looking forward to you all seeing what we have coming.

The Week In Geek 2/11/15

With the day job and the overall business of self care and basic living, you'll have to forgive me for the late posting. Thanks for understanding. And if you don't understand....well, you clicked on it anyway so there's that.

Well, this week, the deal finally go inked that Spider-Man gets to come home to Marvel on lease from Sony. The only thing is that we don't know who's going to show up in the costume. Personally, I found Andrew Garfield to be a pretty good fit, but Marvel works in mysterious ways. I've mentioned this before, but the Donald Glover Spider Man talk has reached levels of annoyance beyond what I thought I could stand. I like him, but the day Troy Barnes from Community plays live action Spider-Man is the day Spider-Man has reached Looney Tunes level ridiculousness. I know there's a huge calling for a Spider-Man of color to appear in the movies because the demand for diversity in media is growing and that's a great thing to see. It's a good time to be a comic reader of color or, really, even a woman or young girl who's been waiting for palatable material like Bitch Planet.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. This week, I took a look at...

Batman Eternal: The supernatural stuff always works out well for this book because they always manage to pick the perfect artist to pencil it. I've always liked how Batman just generally doesn't believe in the supernatural and yet always seems to have a plan for how to defeat them that involves magic like Nth metal. 

Thor: As if I haven't mentioned this enough, I simply cannot get past the fact that, of all comics, Thor has been made into a feminist narrative. If a troll can read the first few issues and still be salty with Marvel, then they're a troll the likes of which I've never seen before. This book comes with my highest recommendation. With Matt Fraction's Hawkeye and Brian Wood's Moon Knight going away soon, it's nice to know that Marvel still has some A+ material above the rest (which is still good) to keep my attention.

All New X-Men: Hallelujah!!! Bendis has finally gotten around to ending this story arc. The big payoff is watching Young Beast vindictively blowing up Castle Doom with that maniacal evil genuis look on his face. Between this and the Avengers "Time Runs Out" crossover into the Ultimate Universe (obviously setting up for Secret Wars), even though it's fun enough, it seems just a bit forced. On the other hand, I never hate seeing Ultimate Evil Reed Richards and Ultimate Doom show up in stuff. Part of me sort of hopes they survive Battleworld and end up in the 616 universe so their older counterparts can kick their asses (because the Ultimate versions wouldn't stand a chance).

The Week In Geek 2/4/15

This week, Netflix announced they're developing a Legend of Zelda live action television series. It's awesome that this came along in the wake of the Daredevil trailer because it sends a strong message that Netflix wants to be in the nerd business in a big way. These sort of projects have way more opportunities than they did when I was growing. I remember when we were stuck with Captain Lou Albano as Super Mario inviting pro wrestlers and Cyndi Lauper over to his fake house in between short Zelda cartoons (remember when Link was basically a rapey dudebro with a sword?).

Also, Brian Bendis announced he'd be leaving the X-Men books after he finishes the current arcs. Despite my being a huge Bendis fan, I think it's good that he's getting out. The longer a high profile writer stays on a book, the stronger the trolls get. For everyone out there that exalts Chris Claremont for his tenure on X-Men, there are people (like me) who struggle to understand what the big deal is. My only regret is that it looks like he won't get around to explaining how the hell Charles Xavier got into bed (literally) with Mystique.

My comic reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. Feel free to like, share, comment or whatever makes you happy. This week, I took a look at....

Batman Eternal: ACO's art was incredible this week. Great follow up to David LaFuente's turn at bad. As far as the writing, I ge t that there's the impulse to throw material at the reader rapid fire to close all accounts, but this sort of thing got easily convoluted in the middle of the series and you definitely don't want anymore tangles in the cords towards the end.

Star Wars: Considering the fact that John Cassaday managed to crank out not only one but two books on time (early, in fact), it's only appropriate to say that lightning has offcially struck twice with this book. It's very quickly becoming one of the absolute best titles in comics. Jason Aaron's Darth Vader is just about pitch perfect right down to his asking Luke Skywalker "Who sent you here to die like this?" 

The Week In Geek 1/28/15

So, the trailer for this summer's Fantastic Four reboot film debuted this week and...umm...wow. Now, I'll admit that I have basically maligned the production process of this movie on almost every level. I mean, the studio's elevator pitch sounded pretty bad and far removed enough from the source material that it was a turn off from the start. And the on-set pictures of Doom still look horrible. But then, I thought about a post I wrote a little more than a year ago about how fanboys need to learn to let go a little bit when it comes to movie adaptations. As I mentioned in said post, the thing that fanboys often forget is that over the years, there have been aspects of film adaptations (and television) that are folded into the source material and, at times, heralded as gospel within the lore. Despite my colleague, Jordan Calhoun's disdain for the character's status on Arrow, John Diggle has now been introduced in the current Green Arrow comic due to his notoriety on the show. Phil Coulson, after his becoming so popular, Marvel brought him back from the dead for the express purpose of squeezing a spinoff show out of him...is now a mainstay comic book character that actually doesn't suck in Jeph Loeb's hands (because that shit happens often). In other words, sometimes good things come of movie properties that are SO good, we actually want them to stick around in the comics.

After listening to Josh Trank's commentary about the trailer, getting some insight about his grasp of the source material, it actually sold me on giving this movie an honest shot. I get fandom's perpetual fear of Hollywood gentrifying comics forever, but honestly, I don't think that's the case here. Don't get me wrong. Trailers have deceived me before and for all I know, this movie could very well still be the shitshow I originally predicted. But I am saying the trailer has elevated thinking to a minimum of "Okay, Josh Trank, I'm listening."

Anyway, don't forget to check out my opinion piece on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Also, my comic reviews for the week are available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to like, dislike, share and dissect at your leisure. This week, I took a look at....

Thor: Okay, if it's not completely obvious who Lady Thor is at this point, you haven't been reading Jason Aaron's Thor work as closely as you should have been. I've been saying it since the first issue and the evidence is just piling up now. I'm not going to say it anymore. Just remember who was right all along.

Uncanny X-Men: You know, it's amazing how often these X-Men catch all kinds of trouble and turmoil because of time travel and STILL think this shit is a good idea. And they don't even train the new ones to know better. If I were an X-man, the front door would real, "Fair Warning: The Future WILL try to kill you.

Batman Eternal: I love seeing Bluebird in action at last. Even furthermore, I love that her trademark is just having a giant fucking rifle. I love seeing everything from Batman #28 finally coming to pass. I love when a writer promises you a moment in advance and the resulting story is that writer reverse engineering that moment, unraveling the cogs and gears that sum up such a moment.

Batman: I think we can all agree that Scott Snyder is making Endgame into one of the creepiest Joker stories I have ever read.

My Favorite Things 2014: Comics

Yes, that is Moon Knight
fighting what looks like Morris Day.

Disclaimer: Yes, I left Saga off the list because I would basically just be repeating myself from last year and the year before and the numerous reviews I've done on Saga since it's inception. At this point, it should just go without saying that Saga can do no wrong in my book.

Moon Knight: This is easily one of the best upgrades I've ever read for a second/third tier Marvel character. Leave it to Warren Ellis to make a superhero like Moon Knight memorable again. The task seemed simple for Ellis and his co-conspirators, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. Their aim was to write six standalone issues that would reintroduce the comic world to the many faces of Marc Spector. Ellis pitted "The One You See Coming" against everything from rogue cops to evil dreamscapes to punk rock ghosts. The crown jewel of this short lived run was easily Issue 6 entitled "Scarlet" where Mr. Knight infiltrates a mob safe house to rescue a kidnapped little girl. Wait...."infiltrate" isn't quite accurate. He kicks the front goddamned door in and beats the living shit out of 6 floors of bad guys a la Raid: Redemption. Since Ellis' tenure, Brian Wood has taken the wheel, expanding on the universe already established in the first issues of the relaunch. DC should take meticulous notes from this innovative master class on how to reestablish a character (I'm looking at you, Whoever's Been Writing Mr. Terrific Lately).

Starlight: (I'm not going to repeat myself on why Starlight is one of the best comics of the year, so see here)
Batman: Okay, so it feels really cheap and fanboy-ish to say that Batman is one of the best books of the year, but it's a statement that Scott Snyder has earned. Batman really IS one of the best books of the year. First of all, Zero Year wrapped up in 2014 and we were almost sad to see it go. Snyder had reinvented the origin of a 75 year old character in a way we hadn't seen before. Here, we saw a Bruce Wayne that was less a brooding man on a mission and more of risk taking loose cannon reminiscent of Daniel Craig's James Bond. He smiles once in a while, he improvises, he's unsure of himself at times, he tells bad guys they're full of shit. Batman's New 52 origin is basically the antidote to the Goddamned Batman Problem on basically every level.

Black Science: (see here on why Black Science is one of the best things to happen to comics)

Ms. Marvel: Now, this is where Marvel ran circles around DC in the way of taking risks as far as representing characters of color. G. Willow Wilson is a godsend to comics for her book that's part coming of age tale, part superhero epic. All uber fangirl, Kamala Khan, has ever wanted to be was her idol, Carol "Captain Marvel" Danvers...strong, fearless and "perfectly beautiful." Instead, she's a brown girl with a funny name and religious ways the kids at her school don't always understand. Then, she stumbles headfirst into weird shapeshifting powers that cause more problems for her personal life than she expected. "Ms. Marvel" is a courageous story that young girls of all walks of life could take something away from, a story about how the most heroic thing you can possibly be in life is yourself.

The Week In Geek 1/21/15

So, this week Marvel broke the internet by announcing that the "end of the Marvel Universe as we know it." It turns out the end of Jonathan Hickman's run is the prologue to Secret War, which will put the 616 Marvel U and the Ultimate Universe in "Battleworld." The outcome will be "All New Marvel." People should really calm down. It's highly doubtful Marvel will do a full reboot and risk sucking like DC's New 52 did for the first year or two. At best, this is just going to fold a few Ultimate characters into the 616 and by "a few Ultimate characters," I'm really talking about Miles Morales Spider-Man. After all, the Ultimate line spent so much time killing their characters, there's not a whole lot of them left to throw into 616 continuity. Marvel's gotten pretty good at "soft" reboots, so I say it's not going to be that big a deal.

My reviews for the week are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure. As always, feel free to like, share, comment and share again at your leisure. This week, I took a look at...

Batman Eternal: As much as I LOVE this book, this week's "thing" is The Whole Thing with this series. The writing has mainly been consistently good and running according to Scott Snyder's master plan. Now, it's great that DC is letting some different talent get their feet wet on a medium to high profile series and all, but getting experimental with the artwork is always going to be the thing that makes or breaks this book. Putting three different people with prevailing weaknesses in their styles on the same issue just turned out to be a profoundly bad idea.

All New X-Men: It's nice that Bendis' story arc has picked up speed again, but I can't help but feel like Marvel kinda took the wind out of this plot's sails by announcing that they're about to phase out the Ultimate line completely (I mean, let's face it....Ultimate Spider Man's the only book that isn't absolute trash anyway, so...). The crossovers aren't as exciting when you know they're going to meet again soon anyhow. And Young Jean's transformation from "a hair's breath away from losing her shit, going Phoenix and ending mankind" to "Damn, I have to do absolutely everything around here" is a little bizarre. I do like that Bendis has taken this opportunity to give agency to a character that, historically speaking, hasn't had a whole lot in the past. On the other hand, it's kinda diminished some really strong characters that have to stand next to her (Professor Kitty, for one).