TITLE: Opinion: The Commentary Track for the February 9th Buy Pile, Issue #26 [@cbr] "Mostly Fire"
Every week I do a column full of comic book reviews as I've done since March 2003 and currently published at Comic Book Resources. Then, after the reviews post, I try to come over to Komplicated and expand on the thoughts and ideas listed there. Why talk about stuff at some other site? Oh, like you've never done any private projects when you're at work! Sometimes things get profound, sometimes it's gibberish, but it's always about comics … let's see what we get this week!
What? This week's reviews …
THE HELP: If you don't want [SPOILERS] for Marvel's Battle Scars, you should probably bugger off until the next bold, all-caps bit.
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For real, y'all …
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… last warning …
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… all right, then.
Nick Fury has an illegitimate Black son. Maybe. What the Man said to Army Ranger Marcus Johnson was, "My last name's Fury. Yours is too." Maybe not that exactly, because I didn't buy that tripe and Scans Daily hasn't posted it yet.
Oh … wait … here it is from Inside Pulse:
In any case, he could mean his super villain brother Jake is a deadbeat dad, he could mean his recently deceased (also illegitimate) son Mikel stepped out on Marcus' mom … the point is that somebody named Fury abandoned their Black son, and now half the Marvel universe (including a new person in the Scorpio suit, unless writer Chris Yost and his editors forgot that Mikel died near the end of Secret Warriors from Hickman) wants to capture and/or kill the off duty Army Ranger.
Oy.
Here's the optimistic viewpoint: Marcus could have the Infinity Formula in his blood! He could become the new Black Nick Fury for the regular Marvel universe, making him like the movies! Yeah, new Black guy kicking butt and handling business in the 616, get some, you suckas!
Here's an … alternative perspective: Marvel has made another Black woman out as a victim of white power (Marcus' mom. Also coincidentally killed by Russians just to get his attention and get him away from his unit — stuffed in a fridge, much?). Marvel has trotted out another Black man, raised out of wedlock. Marvel has a grand total of zero Black writers, period, and nobody on the creative staff of this title seem to be Black either, so it's not like a Black voice was even around that might have said, "Uh guys …. maybe we should think about this one …"
Oh, and in case you thought I might forget, Black Hero Origin Algorithm anyone? He has at least two Ebonies before we even fill out his whole rookie card.
Black people are good enough to be on panel (in secondary roles — more on that in a second) but not on payroll? It's easier to shuck and Bay City Jive us than to hire us, it seems. In any case, any Black Nick Fury would remain — like The Falcon or War Machine or a lot of other Black heroes — "service characters" who exist to peripherally help define more "important" characters. Marcus Johnson will never see the hundredth issue of his own solo title. It will not happen in this marketplace. He can stand alongside Thor and Captain America with an earpiece and a handgun, acting cool but ultimately having little effect on the outcome of things. A plot device, not a person.
I'm tired of it, and I don't have to be. Shadowlaw from Brandon Easton is on the internet. I could be reading Prodigal: Egg of First Light. But I get paid to read this … however, you don't so for the love of sweet baby Heru in a handbasket, don't be like me in that regard.
Otherwise, admittedly, I kind of have it going on.
THAT'S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: I can't mess with y'all too much. Not even to get into how much me and Newsarama's Aaron Duran secretly love IDW's Dungeons and Dragons, not about the comics and animation legend I met last Saturday at Comics Ink, can't talk about how Mister Terrific finally became the book it should have been, all too late. I will say one thing: Han shot first, and George Lucas died in 1989. I have no idea who this guy on TV is.
Tabu out.
Playing (Music): "Handlebars" by Flobots
[Source: Comic Book Resources]