For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?
Mark 8:36
The Black comic book reader space contains a lot of different kinds of Black folk. No one is the same. Which to be honest, is a good thing. However, there are some things that are common among any type of folk regardless of their background, lifestyle, political or economic perspective. Some cats are going to read this and find nothing redeemable about it because we all think one way or another that we are right in whatever we do. You might want to know why I posted the bible scripture Mark 8:36. So glad you ask. Simply put, no one thinks or believes that in whatever they are doing, it will not cost them their soul. In this particular case, I am not talking about a theological context. You see the soul, which is made up of the mind, will, and emotions is the part of you that all negotiation, justification, frustration, and all around bad understanding and wack decision making takes place. As a Black collector, you are challenged in this area whether you know it or not.
All comic book characters are based upon the human experience. Period. I don’t care if it’s a Asgardian god, a demon who likes to rhyme, or a blind cat in a red suit protecting Hell’s Kitchen. They are all based upon the human experience. That experience is challenged day to day. We may like to geek out and bug on a story that seemingly means nothing to you or me personally. However, I dare you to look closer. People want to just check out some cool art and read a cool story. Nowadays, people don’t even care for the story. It’s about the cover art and for them that is all that matters. Nothing wrong with it but deeper dives compel us to examine whats in front of us and make the determination as whether what is front of me worth investing in emotionally. Can I trust this? Can I find value in it? Perhaps this is a conversation for white folks. After all, some of them are very upset about the direction comics are going in; their heroes are being reduced to caricatures and they are no longer deified. How dare writers make Captain America a shell of his 1941 self. Shucks I wish Captain America would go hard after nazis in 2021. Yet, that is too much like right or is it left? LOL After all conservatives tend to think that comics are a leftist tool.
Now when it comes to us, I’m talking about Black folk like you and me, who are the heroes you see today that need defending? Our complaints honestly don’t even register if you let some tell it. The new Static run is getting mixed reviews. Some do not believe it was necessary to change his origin story. Some however, felt it helps readers today identify with the character. Those of us who are old as dirt perhaps was wanting to see Static be the Static we knew 30 years ago. However, I am convinced that in order for the readers embrace this version of Static he might need a little tweak here and there. Personally, it’s a wait and see thing. Sure, I think we all were expecting more. In essence, lets keep a stack… We are paranoid. We almost have to buy the books regardless of how wack we might think it is because we are afraid it will get cancelled. We are holding our breath and losing our soul in the process because of the ill conceived notion that Black comics do not sell well.
Regie Simmons of Regie Collects just recently did a video about Milestone Media and in that video he cites data that states that Milestone sold 10 million copies. Read that again. Nah. Let me type it again. 10 million comics. Were all those comics bought by Black collectors? No. Which speaks to another issue but we might speak on that at a later date. Suffice to say that DC’s distribution machine which to be honest was very limited and honestly that probably was on purpose. Think about it, I can not recall seeing ads for Milestone comics in regular DC titles. Which brings me to reason for this piece. Are we willing to sell our souls for Black faces on the covers of comic books? Are we discerning for good content or does it even matter? Should I really buy Green Lantern even though I do not like Green Lantern books? Should I buy Shadowman even though I do not really like horror comics? Should I just read comics for free on pirated sites and not worry myself about supporting Black artists? Here’s a doozy. Should I even collect books about Black characters written by white writers? Do I lose street cred if I do that? Do I even know the Black artists and creatives in the comic book industry? Do you even care? Do you care about golden age comics and their disturbing depictions of Black people? Or am I ashamed to even look at it? Do you care about the historical significance of books? Not your wheel house? I get it. Its just something to consider regarding your soul as a black collector.