§ Joe Illidge writes about the casting of the new Johnny Storm and other race related issues about comics and movies. And he makes a good point:

Black people will have a projected buying power of 1.1 trillion dollars by next year. That’s what this is about. Not your nostalgia or prejudices or self-centeredness or strange sense of ownership. Demographics, buying power, and spending tendencies. And with that realization, as we all simmer down from the one million degree nova blast that our beloved Johnny Storm is known for, let’s admit a few things.


I haven’t payed much attention to the foolish barrage of racism over Michael B. Jordan being cast as Johnny Storm. A hot young actor has been cast in a flashy role, and the world will go on. Just go read Illidge’s piece…but DO NOT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ THE COMMENTS. There are many foolish people in the world.

§ On a similar note, the Beat’s resident demographic analyst Brett Schenker also has a podcast, Graphic Policy Radio, and the latest one talks about X-Men and the MLK Legacy Roundtable with a fine lineup including Steve Attewell, David Brothers, Gene Demby, Aaron Rand Freeman, Emma Houxbois and Kendra James. Should be interesting.

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§ CBR chats with Irish artist Declan Shalvey, whose Moon KNight art is lookin’ good.

Style’s bollocks, man. Too many artists are too obsessed with achieving a “style.” They concentrate on what the product looks like rather than how it’s made. The snazziest looking car isn’t necessarily the best one right? (disclaimer: I know NOTHING about cars). I think the key is as you said; voice. A singer, a dancer, a painter, etc., has a voice. As a comics artist, you’re telling a story — what type of story do you want to tell? A blockbuster action flick? An indie move? A rom-com movie? In learning and studying the craft, you will find your voice. Aiming to be marketable and all that, I dunno, it’s a waste of time I feel.

§ Screenwriter Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3) chats with My Central Jersey about All Hail the King, the Mandarin short he directed for the Thor: The Dark World DVD and reveals his dream Marvel movies he’d like to direct:

The idea of directing a Marvel movie is a dream I dare not broach. Obviously it has to be the right property. There are definitely characters and comics I would love to put on screen, one of which is Runaways, which I wrote the script for a few years ago and is still for me one of the great untapped Marvel ideas. And this obscure comic called Damage Control from the ’80s that is much better known in America than it ever was in England. It’s the idea of watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe through the point of view of blue-collar, working-class powered and unpowered guys whose job it is to clean up the crap after these grandiose superheroes have destroyed the cities we live in. It just seems a very original idea to approach the genre.


Can we all get behind those?

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12 COMMENTS

  1. There were actually a lot of valid points made in the comments. I suppose that’s what I wasn’t supposed to see.

  4. The whole Michael B Jordan casting fit is baseless, nothing in the character of Johnny Storm requires him to be white. this was the same argument I made about Donald Glover’s petition to audition to be Peter Parker in the amazing spider man. the only change i see is Susan and Johnny being adopted and having two dads or moms, which would be an eye-roll inducing “were relevant” moment from Marvel.

  5. As long as they don’t do the same kind of eerie uncanny valley pale makeup that they did on Jessica Alba to make her look whiter as Sue Storm (So unnecessary! So distractingly weird!) I am totally on board.

  6. 1- The comment thread on that FF movie essay wasn’t the psychotic neo-KKK pile on that I expected! a diversity of thought and opinion, some elements of which were pretty ugly to my mind, some not at all. I haven’t finished reading the comment thread (on page 6 now), but I think I just read the best comic-related idea I will read today! “Galactus can be a cloud”… Wow! I LOVE Lee/Kirby FF48-50, but I always cringe at the presentation of Galactus, this almost inconceivable being, as a visual amalgam of a Roman Centurian and a ’50s Pro Wrestler, not to mention all the coloring variations (that all employ ugly combinations). The sentient world-eater as a cloud- huge improvement! Done now, it is a move that could come under fire for turning the unique Galactus into a Sun Eater rip off, but if it had been done in the first place, I would love FF48-50 even more! And Kirby could have gone full Fumetti-insert and Kirby Crackle on the character too!
    2- Heidi, thank you for not titling this K&B post with another of those “You’ll never believe” things. I know you were spoofing that website that does that, but I don’t open any links to that site’s items and found myself unwilling to open the K&B pieces with the spoof titles. Not your problem, just mine, but I was missing reading the K&B posts.

  9. I think it’s great that a black actor was cast to be in The Fantastic Four. But they cast the wrong part. It should’ve been Ben Grimm.

    Think about it — don’t black people generally feel, justifiably, that they usually get the shit end of the stick? That’s Ben Grimm. None of the other team members got themselves disfigured by those cosmic rays, just the black guy. Uh-huh. He should’ve been black in the original comics. (I remember one vignette from the late Kirby era in which The Thing was in fact taken for a black man by an errant taxi driver.)

    Also this way they don’t have to explain why Johnny’s sister looks white.

  10. Yeah, because nothing is more appropriate for ushering in a new era of racial inclusivity than portraying a minority character as a self-hating inhuman monstrosity who inspires fear and loathing in all who cross his path. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

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