Ever since I first picked up trade versions of Kaare Andrews’ 2014 Iron Fist: The Living Weapon run, I’ve been enthralled. Initially, the artwork and Andrews’ commentary, throughout, on whiteness and capitalism really stood out. The latter is a theme that runs through his equally amazing Renato Jones: The One% (2016). Recently, I started rereading Iron Fist, and what really grabbed me this time … Read More The Opening Kaare Andrews’ “Iron Fist”
+ deathlok, denys cowan, dwayne mcduffie, hardware, invisible man, milestone comics, milestone media, ralph ellison
In the last post, I wrote about the metaphor of the caged bird in Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan’s Hardware #1. The metaphor recurs throughout the series; however, I won’t get into those reoccurrences in this post. Instead, I want to look at the allusions to Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man that McDuffie and Cowan deploy in Hardware #1. These types of allusions are nothing … Read More Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” and “Hardware” #1
+ christopher priest, comics, denys cowan, dwayne mcduffie, hardware, M.D. Bright, milestone comics, milestone media, paul laurence dunbar, ralph ellison
Recently on Twitter, Joseph Illidge posted the following about Hardware #1 (1993). He said, “One of the best first issues of a superhero comic book series ever produced in the American Direct Market.” As a fan of Milestone Comics and Hardware, I’d have to agree. I’ve been meaning to write about Hardware #1 for a while, and now is the time, specifically because I … Read More The Caged Bird in “Hardware” #1
+ Al Feldstein, comics, Comics Code Authority, eando binder, EC Comics, invisible man, joe orlando, judgement day, Qiana J. Whitted, ralph ellison, the teacher from mars
Last post, I wrote about the ways that Eando Binder’s “The Teacher from Mars” serves as a commentary on racism and Jim Crow during the mid-twentieth century. Today, I want to look at Otto Binder, Al Feldstein, and Joe Orlando’s adaptation of the story for EC Comics’ Weird Science-Fantasy #24 and at Feldstein and Orlando’s “Judgement Day!” Specifically, I want to focus on some … Read More Positioning the Reader in “The Teacher from Mars” and “Judgement Day!”
+ comics, cyborg, david f walker, dc comics, deathlok, dwayne mcduffie, invisible man, luke cage, nighthawk, ralph ellison, victor stone
Last January, I posted a syllabus for a “Comics and Race” course that I constructed. At that time, I had not read any of David F. Walker’s work. A few months later, I read Nighthawk, and I was blown away. Nighthawk led me to other series by Walker such as Shaft, Luke Cage, Power Man and Iron Fist, and his recent work Bitter Root. … Read More David F. Walker’s “Cyborg” and Identity
Interminable Rambling 