Black Superheroes Movies - Part 1

[Chris Wallace]

Another thing regarding the "American Panther" debacle; don't dwell on it too much. Not one of the big guns-these characters that have endured for decades in the spotlight-has emerged into this era unscathed. We have countless bad ideas throughout every major player's history. They run, they end, the companies move on. This is no different.

 

[DarKush]

I don't think the AP thing is going to last too long. I think its doing its job of creating debate, but it feels like a temporary thing to me. I am still concerned because the gimmicky vibe of it just doesn't give me much confidence that Marvel knows what to do with T'Challa.

 

[RogueDK]

I don't think the AP thing is going to last too long. I think its doing its job of creating debate, but it feels like a temporary thing to me. I am still concerned because the gimmicky vibe of it just doesn't give me much confidence that Marvel knows what to do with T'Challa.

This.

 

[E-Man]

What the hell? I got my pitch forks ready and everything, and y'all want to be calm about this? What am I going to do with all this black militant gear now? I got my blood pressure up and everything!

*runs to go cry in the car*

 

[chamber-music]

The Mans made them soft E-Man!

Keep fighting the power you dig up:

 

[Chris Wallace]

What the hell? I got my pitch forks ready and everything, and y'all want to be calm about this? What am I going to do with all this black militant gear now? I got my blood pressure up and everything!

*runs to go cry in the car*

Relax. There'll be plenty of moronic gimmicks to get worked up over. This one is just too stupid to last, and I can't take it seriously enough to even get upset about it. Of all the stupid stunts that have been pulled throughout comics history, this one ranks as a minor annoyance. In 5 years I doubt Marvel will even acknowledge that it happened.

 

[roach]

depends on whos idea it was...if this was a Bendis idea it could be here for a while

 

[Paradox1]

Did they want disassociate from the black panther movement by naming him American panther?I'm curious to what moronic storyline could be behind this insult to a well established black hero.

 

[roach]

the Black Panther predates the Black Panther party....and the Black Panther party hasnt done anything recently to cause Marvel to change the name of the character

 

[Chris Wallace]

Plus, the last time they did soemthing like that (I believe he was briefly called "Coal Tiger") it didn't fly. Nobody's worried about something that happened more than 30 years ago.

 

[RogueDK]

Speaking of BP, I recently picked up the motion comic dvd at Wal-Mart and gave it a view. For 10 bucks, it wasn't bad per se but the animation was just too choppy for me to take in using JR Jr's art style (his style would work better in a conventional hand drawn capacity IMO) and what's worse is Hudlin's adaptation to the cartoon is worse than in the book's story arc. Priest's dwarfs his but miles.

Voice acting however was top notch and I really enjoyed a couple of eps out of the 6 on the single disc.

Not sure how sales are going on this one in particular but I've been a Black Panther fan since I could read so it was pretty much a given that I had to have it. Hopefully, this won't be the only incarnation of the character I'll have in my dvd superhero collection.

I give it as a whole: C+

 

[E-Man]

The motion comic would have worked as an online series, but as an "animated series" it fails. When I first heard about it I had very high expectations, but seeing that just wasn't my cup of tea. It felt like it was cheap and/or lazy. I want to see a real animated series. Even if it was one of Priest's arcs I still wouldn't care for it. I've already read the comic. I want something new.

 

[RogueDK]

The motion comic would have worked as an online series, but as an "animated series" it fails. When I first heard about it I had very high expectations, but seeing that just wasn't my cup of tea. It felt like it was cheap and/or lazy. I want to see a real animated series. Even if it was one of Priest's arcs I still wouldn't care for it. I've already read the comic. I want something new.

Yeah, I agree with you to a point; I want to see BP handled with a little more love than this venture offered and hopefully, in the very near future, we'll get that via an animated series done the traditional way and/or a big screen adaptation.
But as the months passed on this cartoon and the manner in which it was handled, my reserve softened some. Maybe Marvel's just being cheap in how they produced it, maybe they considered the material as a low return and decided to save money, etc. Just speculating of course.

I mean it was ten bucks for me; it actually wasn't total crap. I have bought dvds full price that were crap and regretted it, not this one. If I saw this on the movie stand and Steel & Catwoman were right next to it for the same price, which is the least of three evils? t:

 

[Chris Wallace]

I'll pick it up & then decide.

 

[Paradox1]

the Black Panther predates the Black Panther party....and the Black Panther party hasnt done anything recently to cause Marvel to change the name of the character

Marvel's BP does predate the Panthers but only by 5 months at most. However my point was that the perception of them being connected in some way may outweight the reality.

 

[Chris Wallace]

30 years ago, yes. Now-not bloody likely.

 

[RogueDK]

I'll pick it up & then decide.

I think that you'll appreciate it for what it is: low budget fare. Maybe for you & others, that's not enough to warrant satisfaction but I can think of several other ways to blow 10 dollars and rightfully get slammed for it. It's a safe buy. I remember paying full price for The Invincible Iron Man dvd a few years back and despite the production quality outdoing BP's, the movie was s**t. I haven't watched it since and I want my money back.

My son echoed alot of the statements E-Man just made when he saw me pull this off of the shelf but I told him that I grew up at a time not long ago when I would never even have seen this sort of thing okay'ed for production and he should be thankful for the the little things. And seeing that my kid aspires to make a career of animation, he shouldn't look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth if it one day leads to paving the way for him and other black animators to take it to the next level. Then I love BP so sue me, it's my damn money. t:
That doesn't mean that I'm settling, I want more quality superheroes of color to get their fair share of exposure in movies & cartoons but it's going to take a collective effort from us and therein lies the uphill struggle.

Chest-thumping & soapbox venues only gets you so far...

 

[terry78]

There are actually some people still bringing up the Black Panther party nowadays, but only in reference to black leaders when they want some outdated scapegoat. So yeah, as long as there are old heads out there, they will bring it up.

 

[DarKush]

^
Well there's some conservative carping about the New Black Panther Party, but I think BP and a perceived tie to the original Black Panther Party is tenuous, and it doesn't explain why there is such weak support among many mainstream (i.e. white) fans for other black superheroes. Black Lightning, Vixen, Cyborg, Steel, or new Azrael don't have anything to do with the Black Panther Party in DC comics. Nor does that account for Marvel's other black heroes, like Photon, Luke Cage, Night Thrasher, Storm, War Machine, Blade, etc.

All of these characters have had spotty publishing histories, right along with T'Challa. And attempts at solo books for most of them have not ended well. Despite whatever baggage there might be because BP shares the name with the historical party, he's had a better publishing history, as a headliner of his own book, than most other black heroes in either of the major companies.

 

[Paradox1]

Beside the spotty writing behind those black superheroes books. The main reason behind the on again and off again books for the black superhero is because they are black. The ability of many readers to idenitfy with someone not of their own race or sex has haunted the sales of all superheroes not white males. A hero like Wonder Woman has the same issues as T'Challa. I believe it because most people have a hard time identifying with someone who doesn't looks like them. It's a real ugly truth that I think most people would rather dismiss as cause.

I think BP and other heroes that are not white males should be handled more diveresly with it's writing rotation. They could bring in someone like Spike Lee to write a BP arc that exist outside the marvel 616 universe. Imagine someone like a Maya Angelou could of written a Storm arc. I think comic book writers do a find job but there is a difference when writting from your own point of view. As a black person I see the world from a differemt perspective that I rarely see explored in comics IMHO.

 

[MadVillainy]

I agree with your main point but I dont wanna see Maya Angelou write a comic and I would be very skeptical of a Spike Lee one

 

[Jager X]

As an aspiring animator, who is black, I agree with some of you that there needs to be a story told that goes beyond the race of these superheroes. As an undergraduate in college, I have made an effort to always create stories that goes beyond the color of my skin. But unfortunately this is not a sentiment shared by many in Hollywood, including blacks.

 

[Shockdingo]

As an aspiring animator, who is black, I agree with some of you that there needs to be a story told that goes beyond the race of these superheroes. As an undergraduate in college, I have made an effort to always create stories that goes beyond the color of my skin. But unfortunately this is not a sentiment shared by many in Hollywood, including blacks.

Yea, sadly. :/

 

[_______]

African american superheroes are just 'too limited' to attract a wider fanbase

 

[_______]

Beside the spotty writing behind those black superheroes books. The main reason behind the on again and off again books for the black superhero is because they are black. The ability of many readers to idenitfy with someone not of their own race or sex has haunted the sales of all superheroes not white males. A hero like Wonder Woman has the same issues as T'Challa. I believe it because most people have a hard time identifying with someone who doesn't looks like them. It's a real ugly truth that I think most people would rather dismiss as cause.

Simple, yet profound statement!