DC Africana Appreciation: Vol. 2

[skyvolt2000]

Who's the girl with the curley fro in the yellow dress with the Batman signal ...is that suppose to be Ryan Wilder or just a black female character I happen to not know about.

It's Ryan.

[lemonpeace]

~DC Blerd Block Party!~

let's round up all the exciting news regarding DC's black pantheon and do a quick round up of the poll:

- The biggest news is the announcement of Milestone's return with a full relaunch February 2021! We will be seeing: a Static OGN
by Reggie Hudlin and Kyle Baker, Static digital first ongoing, a new Icon & Rocket series drawn by Denys Cowan, plus, new titles featuring new characters and stories, and we will see the back catalogue of the Milestone trades monthly leading up to the relaunch. They have plans for a
Static live-action theatrical film, Milestone animated films, and other things in wider media.



- John Ridley provides more context on his upcoming 4-issue limited series for Batman in January 2021. They announced the 4-issue limited series will be written by John Ridley featuring art by Nick Derington (Batman Universe, Doom Patrol, Batman/Superman). On his Batman, Ridley said he will be focusing on the Lucius Fox family, stating: "he has a family and this is a family that has secrets, and has kept secrets from one another. It’s a little bit different dynamic than the Batman that we've always seen.” Ridley and Derington’s Batman is said to feature a version of the Caped Crusader different from what many fans know and existing alongside the current Batman run by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. On that, Ridley also said: "I think it’s a pretty safe bet that if I’m writing Batman, it’s probably a little better than a 47% chance he’s going to be a person of color..." With a Batman of color and a focus on the secrets of the Fox family, this all but affirms rumors of Luke Fox as Batman but nothing has been outright confirmed at this point.

- We also got our first look at Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Black Adam (2021), with a teaser featuring Dr. Fate, Cyclone, Atom Smasher, and Hawkman. fingers crossed for the rumors being true and we get a black Hawkman; it being Michael B Jordan as predicted would be a plus, but that part's just a pipe dream most likely.

- minor news: first looks at Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeoffrey Wright as Comissioner Gordon, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, and a comic book version of Ryan Wilder (who will be played by Javicia Leslie); also a reminder that Aqualad just had part 1 of a 2-part arc drop over in Aquaman and it's pretty good.



- not from DC fandome but earlier today (maybe yesterday) Scott Snyder had a couple of announcements regarding Duke Thomas. Apparently he will be narrating the Robin King one-shot and Snyder has a project with another writer in the works focusing on Duke. we could see a bit of a push for Duke coming up. video below:

It's time for the vote roundup and breakdown

• Mr. Terrific and Black Lightning are now tied with 15% of the votes
• Static is moved up to 2nd place with 10%
• in 3rd place we have Amanda Waller with 8.33%
• in 4th place is Aqualad (Jackson Hyde/Kaldur'ahm), Bumblebee, and the Steels (I&II) with 6.67% each
• in 5th place we have Bronze Tiger and Black Manta tied with 3.33% each
• in 6th place we have Wallace West coming up and tieing with Icon & Rocket with 1.67% each
• 7th and last place we have Nubia, Duke Thomas, and Naomi McDuffie with 0% each

I'm still pulling for my boy Duke to get out of the zero zone. Other got 21.67% of the vote

[HandofPrometheus]

Thanks for the roundup!

We may definitely get more news 9/12!

Zoe and Jeffrey looked really good. I'm finally on board the Zoe hype train.

[kurenai24]

I wish we had more things related black female superheroes, wishe we had more things in regards to general black superheroes since nothing that was announced was actually new or surprising.

It's Ryan.

Thanks.

[lemonpeace]

I wish we had more things related black female superheroes, wishe we had more things in regards to general black superheroes since nothing that was announced was actually new or surprising.



Thanks.

I mean Milestone wasn't necessarily "new" but the official announcement and release date for Milestone is pretty surprising, I didn't see it coming so soon. your right though, besides Rocket we didn't hear about any black female character. I fear we won't be hearing about any more exciting news about black characters until the dust settles from the shake-up and we get closer to the time Milestone and/or Ridley's Batman. I'm hoping for Love Army to get an official release announcement and I'm waiting still on Naomi season 2.

[kurenai24]

Most people think something is gonna happen after Metal, so after a soft relaunch or whatever, what is the black character (superhero or civillian) you can see DC prominently using?

I mean Milestone wasn't necessarily "new" but the official announcement and release date for Milestone is pretty surprising, I didn't see it coming so soon. your right though, besides Rocket we didn't hear about any black female character. I fear we won't be hearing about any more exciting news about black characters until the dust settles from the shake-up and we get closer to the time Milestone and/or Ridley's Batman. I'm hoping for Love Army to get an official release announcement and I'm waiting still on Naomi season 2.

I wanna hope I don't have to wait that long, but what we got coming up is still good and I guess I still have that upcoming 2 issue arc for Red Hood that's introducing a black female character even if she won't stick around for long.

[Will Evans]

Dr Mist.

Now there’s a guy that could use more love from DC.

[chief12d]

Dr Mist.

Now there’s a guy that could use more love from DC.

The thing with Dr. Mist is that his traditional niche as the ultra-experienced magic user and leader of the occult community is occupied by Dr. Fate/Constantine, more popular and storied characters. I think it'd be cool if DC let him keep that role but made it distinct. Like Constantine is a drifter but has connects and respect all across the world of magic. Dr. Fate is a public hero taking care of large scale magic issues in association with the Justice League and Justice Society.

Maybe put Nommo in charge of SHADE, since his New 52 version worked for the occult division of ARGUS. Recanonize him as the last sorcerer-king of Kor and reveal he created the organization to help governments contain mystical threats. That way he can still play that elder statesman role and play off the other magic DC characters from a position of authority. Maybe even give him some kids that act as top agents for that legacy aspect. DC could use their own Blade and it'd be great if Nommo has a monster hunter son or something running around.

As far another black character that needs a push, I'd say Bronze Tiger. I'm rereading the Ostrander run and it's mind-blowing that a character who was so central to the narrative of this iconic series is ignored in the current mythos. And his presence in the world of espionage hasn't done much to elevate him as it's been years since a good book came from that side of the DCU. I think he could also use a retooling, but as is he still has plenty of potential.

[skyvolt2000]

The thing with Dr. Mist is that his traditional niche as the ultra-experienced magic user and leader of the occult community is occupied by Dr. Fate/Constantine, more popular and storied characters. I think it'd be cool if DC let him keep that role but made it distinct. Like Constantine is a drifter but has connects and respect all across the world of magic. Dr. Fate is a public hero taking care of large scale magic issues in association with the Justice League and Justice Society.

Maybe put Nommo in charge of SHADE, since his New 52 version worked for the occult division of ARGUS. Recanonize him as the last sorcerer-king of Kor and reveal he created the organization to help governments contain mystical threats. That way he can still play that elder statesman role and play off the other magic DC characters from a position of authority. Maybe even give him some kids that act as top agents for that legacy aspect. DC could use their own Blade and it'd be great if Nommo has a monster hunter son or something running around.

As far another black character that needs a push, I'd say Bronze Tiger. I'm rereading the Ostrander run and it's mind-blowing that a character who was so central to the narrative of this iconic series is ignored in the current mythos. And his presence in the world of espionage hasn't done much to elevate him as it's been years since a good book came from that side of the DCU. I think he could also use a retooling, but as is he still has plenty of potential.

Would you include his nephew? Ben Jr? Who is pretty much the only family of his we have seen.

Since most black heroes don't have sidekicks-give him Ben Jr.

[chief12d]

Would you include his nephew? Ben Jr? Who is pretty much the only family of his we have seen.

Since most black heroes don't have sidekicks-give him Ben Jr.

Damn right, but it'd depend on the context. If Ben got a mini or maxi to just flesh him out I'd be ecstatic to see his nephew. Him, Vixen, and Richard Dragon should be major characters in Ben's life. But if we're talking a team book like a new Checkmate or Leviathan, I'd like to see Ben working with his peers first and foremost. But even then I'd still want to see Ben Jr. in some capacity, just to show Ben has a life outside the mission.

[Sutekh]

Dr Mist.

Now there’s a guy that could use more love from DC.

Hell yes.

Particularly since part of his backstory is that he would create mystical artifacts to empower other champions, while remaining in the shadows, so he could be tied to the Ruby of Life (from Sargon), Dr. Occult's talisman-thingie, or even Vixen's Tantu Totem, in some way, making him kind of the secret source of all these magically-themed heroes. (But with no ties to them other than planting magical trinkets around to empower champions, other than perhaps being the guy they can go to if something goes wrong with said trinket, or it gets stolen or it's power usurped by a bad-guy like Felix Faust or Jinx, as he steps out of the shadows to correct that troubling development, since he didn't make said items for them to get used by evildoers!)

Perhaps it could even be further developed that he isn't just crafting these gems and talismans willy-nilly, but that each represents as a source of power that *could* have been turned to evil, or exploited, or whatever, that he's sealed away in these items and arranged from behind the scenes to fall into the hands of good people, both eliminating a potential (or even current!) threat, and instead turning it into a force for good. (Which could fit some of what we've seen with Vixen and her Tantu Totem, whose empowering source, Anansi, isn't always a nice person... Perhaps Dr. Mist could be tied to why a trickster god who isn't entirely benevolent is, not entirely willingly, empowering a superhero.)

[HandofPrometheus]

The thing with Dr. Mist is that his traditional niche as the ultra-experienced magic user and leader of the occult community is occupied by Dr. Fate/Constantine, more popular and storied characters. I think it'd be cool if DC let him keep that role but made it distinct. Like Constantine is a drifter but has connects and respect all across the world of magic. Dr. Fate is a public hero taking care of large scale magic issues in association with the Justice League and Justice Society.

Maybe put Nommo in charge of SHADE, since his New 52 version worked for the occult division of ARGUS. Recanonize him as the last sorcerer-king of Kor and reveal he created the organization to help governments contain mystical threats. That way he can still play that elder statesman role and play off the other magic DC characters from a position of authority. Maybe even give him some kids that act as top agents for that legacy aspect. DC could use their own Blade and it'd be great if Nommo has a monster hunter son or something running around.

As far another black character that needs a push, I'd say Bronze Tiger. I'm rereading the Ostrander run and it's mind-blowing that a character who was so central to the narrative of this iconic series is ignored in the current mythos. And his presence in the world of espionage hasn't done much to elevate him as it's been years since a good book came from that side of the DCU. I think he could also use a retooling, but as is he still has plenty of potential.

Agreed! I'm also rereading Ostrander's run and Ben not getting his flowers for contributing so much to this team is a crime. I know that he kinda outgrew the team like Vixen but he still just got erased from its mythology. He was in the JL for a short time and partnered with other heroes countless times so him being a global hero should be his rebranding.

[Agent Z]

Ben's lack of importance to modern Suicide Squad is likely due to the team having become almost exclusively made up of villains. The Ostrander run had a fairly even mix of moralities but modern Suicide Squad doesn't really have room for the likes of Ben let alone Vixen, Nemesis and Nightshade. Vixen at least has potential JL stories to fall back on and Nightshade has DC's magical corner but Nemesis has nowhere to go due to DC not really being interested in espionage stories these days.

[Will Evans]

Ben's lack of importance to modern Suicide Squad is likely due to the team having become almost exclusively made up of villains. The Ostrander run had a fairly even mix of moralities but modern Suicide Squad doesn't really have room for the likes of Ben let alone Vixen, Nemesis and Nightshade. Vixen at least has potential JL stories to fall back on and Nightshade has DC's magical corner but Nemesis has nowhere to go due to DC not really being interested in espionage stories these days.

I think Katana was the last good guy to be given a push as part of the Squad.

[chief12d]

Agreed! I'm also rereading Ostrander's run and Ben not getting his flowers for contributing so much to this team is a crime. I know that he kinda outgrew the team like Vixen but he still just got erased from its mythology. He was in the JL for a short time and partnered with other heroes countless times so him being a global hero should be his rebranding.

Yea that's definitely why I think the whole espionage thing in theory should work for him. You can tell a bunch of global stories with him as leader of a paramilitary black ops team. But that requires DC putting out good spy content and with stuff like Leviathan, which didn't even feature Ben, I doubt we'll get something like that anytime soon. There's also the Outsiders, but DC seems intent on turning that into a Bat-adjacent title and in the future will probably end up being a vehicle for Black Lightning and his daughters (when they inevitably return).

Ben's lack of importance to modern Suicide Squad is likely due to the team having become almost exclusively made up of villains. The Ostrander run had a fairly even mix of moralities but modern Suicide Squad doesn't really have room for the likes of Ben let alone Vixen, Nemesis and Nightshade. Vixen at least has potential JL stories to fall back on and Nightshade has DC's magical corner but Nemesis has nowhere to go due to DC not really being interested in espionage stories these days.

Yea Ben going almost completely hero hasn't helped. And the fact he's not a major part of any heroes rogues gallery, lacks a visually compelling powerset, and is a straight man archetype also makes it so that he doesn't really fit with the modern Squad. At best he'd probably play second fiddle to Deadshot, who pretty much occupies his niche as the "stoic" anti-heroic leader.

I think Katana was the last good guy to be given a push as part of the Squad.

And to a certain extent, she occupied a role that could've gone to Ben. She was basically a mercenary hired to help Rick Flag manage the team right? Ben could've done that easily and him being a former member of the Squad would've added an extra element of drama.