I spend a lot of time thinking about race. It happens both on the “being black in America consists in large part of being constantly reminded you are black in America” level and on the “how does the portrayal of race alter the quality of this bit of pop culture” level. If you live in America, it’s inescapable, isn’t it? You have to have some thoughts on the subject.

The vogue thing for a while was “Race is a social construct,” which really just translates to “I took a class in college once and learned to parrot pointless statements.” Another good one is “I don’t see race,” which is another way of saying, “I don’t think I’m racist, but I also don’t want to spend any time investigating this uncomfortable subject, so let me just dodge this and leave me alone, okay?”

Words are powerful. They help us define our selves and our limits, and can be used for good or evil. How you talk about what you’re talking about matters a great deal. In high school, I made the decision to wipe the phrase “African-American” from my vocabulary. It’s clunky and ugly, and growing up, I was taught to be black and proud. You can roll with it or get rolled over.

I struggled with “nigger” for a fair few years. Is it offensive, am I okay with that, is it disrespectful to my elders, what about rap music, how would C Delores Tucker feel about it, is it a political choice… in the end, I decided that saying “the n-word” is something I’m not even remotely interested in doing. Euphemisms, beating around the bush, all of that isn’t for me. If I’m gonna say nigger, I’m just gonna man up and say it. And so I did. And do. Death to euphemisms. Keep it honest.

There are a couple phrases I do not, and have rarely ever, used when writing about race, black people, and comical books. “Minority” and “People of color.” I think the last time I used “of color” was 2006. My problem with both of those phrases is how they set up white as the default, and then any other race as the other. I get how that can be valuable in politics or whatever, but for me personally? I’m not down. Why? Because I don’t like black being defined as being in opposition to someone else. I stand on my own, and my people do, too. I’m not not-white. I’m black. That’s something else entirely.

So, I made the conscious decision to scrub them from my vocabulary. That’s not how I want to think about these things. And I am better for it, both personally and academically, for lack of a better way to say “bloggily.”

Black History Month 2011 kicks off Tuesday. I’m learning a lot about the connection of blacks to comics and also about where I, as a reader, stand with regards to blacks and comics.

Stay tuned.

DVD and Blu-ray region coding are a form of protecting rights for each territory. Digital content (Internet streaming and digital download or EST (Electronic Sell-Through) is the new format. With every new format, standards and territory restrictions need to be set so every country licensing content (live action series, anime or movies) can have their rights protected and be able to sell for their specific territories.

(via Anime Simulcasts, Territory Rights and the Future | The Official FUNimation Blog.)

That’s Lance Heiskell, Marketing Director for FUNimation Entertainment, explaining the purpose DVD region coding serves. In case you missed it, here’s a brief summary of what led to his post:

1. Funimation licenses an anime for simulcasting in America and Japan
2. Anime is simulcast
3. Anime fans pirate it
4. Japanese rights holder tells Funimation that they can’t simulcast the anime until they shut down every pirate site

Can you spot the huge, glaring errors in that sequence? Let’s go down the list again:
1. Anime company does the smart thing and decides to try to get the anime to the fans simultaneous with the Japanese release
2. Anime company airs the anime for free
3. Anime fans prove themselves to be selfish, stupid clowns
4. Japanese rights holder decides to one-up them in stupidity with a good old “I’m taking my ball and going home!”

If you want people to buy your stuff, you have to 1) be more convenient than piracy and 2) deal with the fact that somebody is going to bootleg it. If you want to continue consuming stuff, especially stuff that costs you nothing, you should suck it up and do it the right way. Both sides here look like idiots, but the Japanese reaction is absurd. The fans got what they wanted and pirated it anyway, and the reaction from the rights holders was to remove the only legal way of watching their show. You know what that means?

That just means that everyone is going to pirate it, rather than some of the audience. That’s biting off your nose to spite your face. They’d have been better off taking the L, going after the pirate sites, and leaving the stream up.

But hey, when your business is based around old ideas like region coding. News flash: regions have been made obsolete. I run a crappy little comics blog that has readers in 155 of the 195 countries on planet Earth. I regularly speak with people in Europe, North America, South America, and Japan. I’m nobody and people from places I’ve never been to are checking for me. If I have readers all over, and I am the dictionary definition of “doesn’t matter,” what do you think your anime is going to have? People today are savvy enough to know what they want and where to get it. Region coding is just an obstacle, and no more difficult to leap over than, say, a small pebble in the street. Everything is just a link away.

It’s nice that you still have territory rights. It’s adorable. But it’s time to wake up and realize that your consumers hate it at best, and will actively bootleg your stuff because of it at worst. And, horror among horrors, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Sorry, Charlie.

Companies: Globalize or die.
Fans: Get over yourself and learn when somebody is trying to be on your side.

(of course, between writing this and getting it up, Fractale is back streaming, but my point stands.)

Still thinking about February and Black History Month. Formulating a plan of attack, striking things from lists, and catching up on things I missed.

Anyway, my homegirl Cheryl made a brief return to comics blogging with a trio of posts over the last week or so. There’s ten things she wants out of DC in 2011, some stuff she wants from Marvel and DC in other media, and how DC is kind of a lost cause when it comes to getting books that aren’t lily white.

She writes a lot, and I agree with most of it. Together, you have sort of a general list of things that Marvel and DC aren’t doing that they should, and could, be doing to push comics and their characters harder. The point about diversity being a lost cause at DC stings, but it’s true. Marvel’s a little better, mainly due to having created a decent group of black characters in the ’70s and then again in the ’90s, but who do they have that can support a book on their own? Not Cage, not Storm, not Night Thrasher… Black Panther has a solo book, but how absolutely awful has that series been for the past couple years? Right now, he’s batting clean-up in someone else’s book. Six months from now? Who knows? Maybe DC will get Aqualad off the ground, but I’m not sure the market wants it.

Here’s a couple of bits from X-Men comics I dug, mainly for their writing.

First bit’s from New Mutants, Vol. 2: Necrosha, with words by Zeb Wells and art by Diogenes Neves. I really dig Wells’s work in general and his work on New Mutants in specific, but this trade is such a mixed bag. As soon as Wells sets up what was clearly meant to be his second arc (the soon-ending New Mutants: Fall of the New Mutants), he has to write a few tie-in issues to Necrosha (a crossover I did not read) and Kieron Gillen interrupts to clean-up some crap from Siege (a crossover I did not like). The switchover from regular New Mutants to Necrosha was pretty smooth, and the story was good, but the overall picture of v2 is that it’s a hodgepodge. I thought New Mutants, Vol. 1: Return of Legion was a really strong book, too. The ship was righted after all this crossover crap wrapped, but man. Ugly business. Death to events.

Anyway, here’s one page from a Necrosha issue. It’s from the POV of a recently revived Doug Ramsey, whose mutant power is that he listens well. Or understands every language ever. Unsurprisingly, his mutant power didn’t protect him from being shot and killed years ago. Wells introduced a neat twist on his powers in this issue, and hopefully the red on black text (why?) is legible.

I like this, because it makes what’s honestly a pretty crappy power for adventure stories into something interesting. He can decipher what they mean, rather than what they’re saying. He can also now “read” other things, from cities to computer programs, but this was the bit I liked the best. Wells nailed the characterization here, and I particularly like how Sam Guthrie and Bobby Dacosta come off. I’ve liked those guys since I was a kid and high on that Nicieza/Capullo X-Force. Clever work.

Next is X-23 4, words by Marjorie Liu and art by Will Conrad and Marco Checchetto. Colors by John Rauch. I think this page is Checchetto, but don’t quote me. I picked up the first issue because Marjorie Liu is a pretty ill writer, but I was left pretty underwhelmed. The “Wolverine is in Hell. Hell! HELL!” stuff that’s spread across the Wolverine family of books right now is a huge drag, and that first issue wasn’t really for me. 4 was the start of a new arc, and actually feels like where the series should have begun. It’s much better than before, though I’m still not feeling the art. I think that may be due more to Rauch’s colors, though. He makes stuff seem really washed out, sort of like how Pete Pantazis did on JLA a while back. We’ll see how it shakes out.

I think the “Heroes don’t kill!” thing in comics is dumb, and have harped on it ad nauseam. I like this bit, though, because it’s more… honest. X-23 is a character who has gone from killer to child prostitute and back around to being a killer again. Only this time, she’s a Wolverine-style killer, where it’s hyped up and encouraged until someone decides it isn’t cool. And that always rubbed me the wrong way, like the guy who rails about how drugs are for idiots but is down to hit a blunt at a party. Which is it? Pick one and stick with it.

This, though, is a more honest treatment than the either/or that infests cape comics. It’s just, “You did this thing. Can you live with it?” “Yes, he deserved to die.” “Well, all right.” I like that. When your mutant power is “kills people real good,” a different approach from your usual superheroic code of honor is required. Here, the killing isn’t treated as something positive, or something to be encouraged, but it is treated as necessary, or maybe even just. More like this, please.

I’ve given DC a lot of crap over Milestone over the past however many months it’s been since they announced the acquisition and started rolling out content. The JLA stuff wasn’t working for me thanks to Ed Benes’s art, the one-shots in The Brave & The Bold were pretty uneven, and the trade schedule went from reasonable to “none.”

But, y’know, there was some news regarding Milestone this past week that was super, super dope. From the DC’s Source blog:

Creator and writer John Rozum returns to the fan-favorite title to continue the story of David, and to give the DCU a new corner of urban horror to explore. Right from the start, John’s throwing David in over his head, giving new readers and old friends alike the chance to dive into a new story and hold on for the ride. Joining him will be the excellent star artist Frazer Irvingon all visual duties to create a world few have seen and fewer still dare to dwell.

I don’t remember reading Xombi as a kid. I’m sure I did at some point, but in rereading it earlier this year, I realized that it wasn’t the type of comic I’d have wanted as a kid. It was a mix of sci-fi and urban fantasy, but clearly written for adults. Not in a mature readers sense, exactly, but written for adults in terms of approach. I like it. I’m looking forward to more and (hopefully) a fat TPB of the first year or so.

I honestly couldn’t be happier with this creative team. John Rozum was the original creator of the series, and Frazer Irving is hot off a stellar turn on Batman & Robin. Irving is perfectly suited to the tone of Xombi, and I’m having trouble thinking of people who do creepy better than he does. Probably Richard Corben, but even then, Corben’s creepy is different than Irving’s creepy. That sickly looking color scheme Irving likes, with the purples and pinks? That’s perfect.

So, DC Comics: Bravo. I’m looking forward to this one.

Check out Frazer Irving’s blog and John Rozum’s, too.

If you’re getting your Black Friday shopping done at home on Amazon, you’d help us out if you bought via our referral link. Blah blah blah hosting, etc etc. If not, cool. If you want a recommendation, Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son Of Chico Dusty is two bucks.

Me, I’m not waking up til the afternoon. Shopping can wait, there’s sleeping to be done.

Kanye Tudda’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy comes out this week, and Amazon’s got it for four bones.

I like this album a lot, but getting to pay just four bucks for it? That’s a steal.

Do yourself a favor, though. Use this album art instead of that wack painting he has on the official joint.

One of my favorite essays on banning books comes from Florence King. She’s a person whose writing I admire but whose politics I almost never agree with. I’m in agreement with her, though, in her opinion about banning books. In an essay called “My Savior, Fannie Hearst,” she wrote the following:

The problem with censorship is that the people who do the censoring are always so shortsighted, especially when it comes to “Our Children.” Instead of taking certain books out of school libraries, we should be putting them in.

She then goes on to describe a book, “Back Street”, by Fannie Hurst, that abandoned the trope of the glamorous mistress and made the whole thing sound like such an awful enterprise that “sex was never quite the same afterwards.”

Libraries and schools are supposed to be places that open up our worlds, and let us think about new possibilities. For many, they are also places where the joy of certain things are crushed out ruthlessly with reading lists, long discussions, and tedious essays. People who like math, usually, don’t like it quite so much when it’s presented five times a week using a structure that they’re not fond of. People become used to, and then become irritated by, things they usually like.
Read the rest of this entry �

From Jonathan Maberry and Scot Eaton’s DoomWar:

Doctor Doom invaded Wakanda (a sovereign nation), held its queen hostage, murdered a whole gang of its inhabitants whenever he liked, staged a coup, and generally acted exactly like a James Bond villain, complete with a plan with poorly defined goals and acts of villainy for the evil of it.

If someone breaks into your house and starts murdering your family while cackling about how you are lazy and terrible and threatening your wife like he’s Snidely Whiplash? You don’t let him off with a warning. You leave his brains on the wall and sleep the sleep of the just. That is the only appropriate response. You kill him, and you kill him because he needs to be dead. Some things are beyond the pale, and what Doom did? That’s worthy of death. Past a certain level, your position on the death penalty and violence become irrelevant. And I know, blah blah blah, protect trademarks, blah blah can’t kill Doom, blah blah comic books, blah blah diplomatic immunity, but to that I say “blah blah crap.”

Who cares? If you’re going to wear Big Boy Pants and write comics with Big Boy Stakes, maybe you should be willing to make some Big Boy Decisions and not completely neuter your heroes at the end of the story. “We won! By destroying everything that made us special and by letting this guy who just killed a bunch of us walk away. But we threatened him a little bit and now he knows not to come back!” You don’t get to have your cake and eat it, too.

Every time a hero pulls the “I want nothing more than to kill you… but I won’t! Even though you’ve just murdered hundreds of my people/my family/my sidekick/a bus full of children!” I’m reminded that superhero comics used to be aimed at children and still haven’t grown up yet.

The only African country to genuinely escape colonization and stand on its own for centuries, which allowed it to advance culturally and economically without being brutalized by Europe like every other African country, which in turn allowed it to approach other countries in the United Nations as equals, rather than as poor little colored folks begging for scraps from the countries that screwed them over, was made lazy, weak, and corrupt because it took advantage of natural resources? Never mind that much of the country still lives in huts and stuff out in the plains or in the jungle?

Really?

Jay-Z said it best, man.

You only get half a bar – fuck y’all niggas.