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The Prince Comic Book by Dwayne McDuffie and other Comic Book Appearances

by Eric Dean Seaton April 21, 2016April 25, 2016 0 comments

The cover of this gem has been making the rounds of social media for the last few years and most people didn’t believe it existed.

Prince? In a comic book? It’s true, it’s cool, and it wasn’t the first time he had been immortalized between the panels.

In light of losing one of the greatest artists and musical geniuses that ever lived, we went looking for the super cool Prince comic book.

Created by DC Comics in 1991 and released in Great Britain it turns out Prince having a comic published by DC Comics wasn’t the only extraordinary thing. The legendary Dwayne McDuffie actually wrote the three book story arch with pencils by Denys Cowen and cover by Brian Bolland.

DangerousMinds.net has a great article on the whole thing including screen grabs of inside the comics.

Alter Ego, the three-issue story originally published by Titan Books in Great Britain in 1991 and then re-published by Piranha Music/DC Comics

But what about his other comic book appearances? Inverse.com has the breakdown on those. His first appearance was on the cover of Cracked #209 alongside Boy George, Michael Jackson and the Gremlins. According to Inverse, Prince would go on to make 7 more appearances in other issues of Cracked. He also appeared in Captain America #327.

C2E2 Black Male Identity in Comics Panel Recap (Including video)

by Eric Dean Seaton March 31, 2016April 26, 2016 0 comments

A great time was had by all at C2E2 this year — including us! The marketing team worked the booth while creators from around the country came in town to appear on our panel focusing on the Black male image in comics. John Jennings and Stacey Robinson (filling in for Kevin Grevioux) drove in from Buffalo, New York, David Walker came in from Portland and Eric Dean Seaton came in from Vancouver after wrapping up shooting a new show. Mark Smith moderated a lively, insightful and thought provoking panel.

A packed room full of excited, invested comic fans, creators and media heard how these creators feel about the current state of the Black male image in comics and how they approach their work. Check out what they had to say:

Shout out to everyone who attended, thanks to Mark Smith for moderating!

C2E2 News: Panelist John I. Jennings Talks Comics, American Culture & the Black Male Image

by Eric Dean Seaton March 10, 2016March 10, 2016 0 comments

Here at “And… Action!” Entertainment, we are very excited about the selection of our panel proposal for next week’s Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo. The Comics, American Culture & the Black Male Image: Perspectives from Creators panel is a fantastic opportunity for us to have this important discussion – and some of the top creators in comics today will be the leading voices at this event.

This week and next, we will sit down with each creator and pick their brains a bit, to give everyone a preview of what to expect from next Saturday’s discussion in Chicago. Today, we catch up with the whirlwind that is John I. Jennings.

Jennings is an Associate Professor of Art and Visual Studies at the University at Buffalo – State University of New York. He is the co-author of the graphic novel, The Hole: Consumer Culture, Vol. 1 and the art collection Black Comix: African American Independent Comics Art and Culture (both with Damian Duffy).

Blue Hand Mojo:
Hard Times Road

He is also the co-editor of The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art and co-founder/organizer of The Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem, MLK NorCal’s Black Comix Arts Festival in San Francisco, and the AstroBlackness colloquium in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.

Jennings’ current comics projects include the Hip Hop adventure comic, Kid Code: Channel Zero; the supernatural crime noir story, Blue Hand Mojo; and the upcoming graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s classic dark fantasy novel, Kindred.

And… Action! Entertainment: The panel at C2E2 is focused on “Black male identity.” Why is it important to confront stereotypes of the male image in comics? Even the “positive” ones of strength and virility? Are they positive?

JENNINGS: Fighting against black male stereotypes isn’t just about representational equity. It’s a matter of life and death.

In today’s exacerbated climate around the black body and heightened police brutality and discrimination, it becomes even more imperative to humanize the black body. Stereotypes are very dangerous because they simplify an entire group of people into one fixed image. Simple images are easy to transfer and propagate.

Comics pretty much traffic in stereotypes. So, if you propagate the idea of black men as sex-starved, violent savages in every aspect of media you end up with a populace that “mis-reads” the black body; all black bodies, as dangerous thugs.

photo of masculinity, male identity cisgendered

Masculinity. John I. Jennings, Artist

Trayvon Martin was killed because his black body was in the wrong place and Zimmerman’s racial literacy only allowed him to see the boy as a threat. So, when we are talking about black male images in comics, it’s not just to make ourselves feel better by seeing images of ourselves in the comics. We are trying to create resistant images to the hundreds of years of negative information that leads to so many tragic outcomes surrounding racialized violence in our country.

Something else we need to clarify when we say “the Black Male Identity in Comics”…are we talking about the medium of comics are we conflating the medium with the genre of the superhero? The reason I ask is because, as much as I love superheroes, they are inherently problematic constructions when we talk about masculinity.

The superhero is pretty much a white male power fantasy and when you map that fantasy onto a black male body you intensify that signification into a space that can be read as hyper masculine. Black men are already read as not-human and super sexual, violent monsters. How do you negotiate the tropes of a genre that is so mired in physical violence as righteous when it is projected onto a criminalized body?

It’s a catch 22 to be sure.

Can they be positive? Sure.
Are they usually? Probably not.

Comics pretty much traffic in stereotypes. So, if you propagate the idea of black men as sex-starved, violent savages in every aspect of media you end up with a populace that “mis-reads” the black body; all black bodies, as dangerous thugs.

AAE: There is a level of sensitivity that comes with saying “I’m not invulnerable, I am human, I am a man.” Do you think there has been a reluctance in the overall discussion of diversity in comics to acknowledge the special societal pressures on Black male characters?

JENNINGS: The main goal of the mainstream comics industry is to make money – like any business. So, as long as “diversity” is important to an audience that has money, it will try to engage as much as it can without disturbing what it thinks is it’s main fan-base; straight cisgender white men.

It’s not the job of the comics industry to really have the discussion. It’s job is to try to provide entertainment. I think that the work of discussions of this kind are happening in the independents as usual.

Mainstream comics are essentially IP farms for films, video games, etc. We can’t expect the industry to make a space to help us have these discussions. We can only utilize what we can from them to make our arguments and statements about the status quo when we talk about these issues of intersectional identity.

Comics, American Culture & the Black Male Image: Perspectives from Creators

by Eric Dean Seaton February 19, 2016February 26, 2016 0 comments

Pack your bags because we’re headed to Chicago!

Legend of the Mantamaji is rolling into C2E2 with our usual booth an a hot panel you have to see:

Comics, American Culture & the Black Male Image: Perspectives from Creators

March 19, 2016, 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM Location: S405a

The heavy hitters are coming out for this panel to take a unique look at the Black male experience from a comic creator’s perspective:

“And… Action!” Entertainment invites you to join TV Director/creator Eric Dean Seaton (Legend of the Mantamaji), writer David Walker (Cyborg, Shaft), professor/artist John I. Jennings (SUNY Buffalo, Kid Code), actor/writer Kevin Grevioux (creator Blue Marvel & Underworld) and moderator Mark Smith (iHeart Radio 1390 am) as they discuss black male identity in comics past, present and future. How do comics in their various forms (books, movies, TV) impact society’s view of the Black male and how Black men view themselves? How are creators using art to reshape the narrative in pop culture as a whole? Diversity is not a buzzword, it’s a call to action.

Click to tweet: Hotness @C2E2: #Comics, American Culture & the Black Male Image: Perspectives from Creators http://ctt.ec/VFc72+ #exploreblackcomics”

Stay tuned for interviews from the panelists and vids from the event. But you know the best way to be involved is to be there!

Get your C2E2 tix now.

El Rey Network Selects Legend of the Mantamaji Live Action Short for Black Filmmaker Showcase

by Eric Dean Seaton February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 0 comments

The El Rey Network, known for its action packed movies aimed at Latino audiences, began showing TV director Eric Dean Seaton’s (NBC, TVOne, Nickelodeon) short film, Legend of the Mantamaji: Live Action Short, this month as part of its Black Filmmaker Showcase that will run through the month of February. The award-winning short is based on the critically-acclaimed graphic novel series of the same name and is one of only two short films selected, by El Rey founder Robert Rodriguez, for the honor. The film airs immediately following popular high octane movies Reservoir Dogs, Shaolin Abbot, The Trail of the Broken Blade and Five Shaolin Masters.

“This is another exciting opportunity for the short and the series,” creator and director Eric Dean Seaton said. “What started as a love letter to readers of the graphic novels continues to build new fans and opportunities for the graphic novel series and beyond. It’s a great honor to be chosen.”

Air Times:

Thursday, February 11th: 8:00PM & 12:30PM following: Five Shaolin Masters
Thursday, February 18th: 10:15PM, 2:45AM following: The Trail of the Broken Blade
Thursday, February 25th: 8:00PM, 11:45PM following: Shaolin Abbot
Monday, February 8th 8:00PM, 12:30AM, Wednesday, February 17th 12:00AM, Saturday February 20th 10:00AM, 6:00PM. Saturday February 27th 4:00PM, 10:30PM following: Reservoir Dogs

[Click to read the complete media release here]

#BlackFutureMonth: 29 Places to #ExploreBlackComics

by Eric Dean Seaton February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 0 comments

In comics, diversity is talked about so often that it can come across as just a trend or a buzzword designed to get people to pick up the latest product. The reality is, diversity in comics is a call to action, not an ethereal idea to which big corporations should aspire. The average comic book fan has just as much to gain from and just as much responsibility to champion diversity in comics.

Sure, comic book companies gain more fans and “street cred” when they hire diverse talent and executives and publish products with a focus that lies outside of the outdated “white male” pool of characters. Comic book fans benefit when they push for diversity in comics because, by doing so, they gain new characters and varied stories. But fans also have a responsibility to seek out existing stories and creators who are already producing fantastic work.

This call to action is much bigger than Legend of the Mantamaji – which is why we aren’t just championing sites that have reviewed our books or carry them in their stores. Instead, we are highlighting sites and reference materials that work diligently to highlight creators of color and stories from a variety of genres, publishing companies, formats, etc.

This month is Black History Month, so we are highlighting Black creators, characters and publishing houses. But remember, diversity doesn’t begin and end with race.

Now, keep in mind, this is by no means an exhaustive list. This is a starter list – a place for you to check back with each day to try a new site, or pick a new book or series to try out. In March we will explore women in comics, so stay tuned!

Black Comic Book Websites:

BlackGirlNerds.com

Jamie Broadnax and her crew have their finger on the pulse of pop culture and are ahead of the curve in spotting up and coming comic creators with their “Creators You Should Know” column.

TheBlerdGurl.com

With posts titled, “Magical Books for Black Girls,” The Blerd Gurl hits all the right notes with her reviews and news about comics for consumers and comic creators alike.

PeepGameComix.com

When asked why he created digital comic book store, PeepGameComix, Black comic book creator Imani Lateef said it was in direct response to “The Question.” You know the one: “Where can I find Black Comics?”

“Fans are also starting to use Peep Game as an answer to the question, ‘How can I get into Black Comics?’ Lateef said. “In fact, several educators have been using the website as a learning tool to introduce students to black comics, graphic novels and speculative fiction.”

The Shadow League: Comic Book Convo

Lead by Richard Hazwell, the Shadow League’s Comic Book Convo series is a must read. The series includes conversations with up and coming creators and other leaders in the field and explores a wide range of comics from creators of color.

AfriComics.com

A clearinghouse of digital, print, indie and mainstream comics featuring Black protagonists and creators

World of Black Heroes.com

Not only does the site offer reviews, insight and interviews about Black comic books and creators, but it boasts a pretty large listing of Black comic book characters, including their powers and where these characters appear.

SugarCayne.com

Cool website with a variety of pop culture and BMX commentary that also features a dedicated comics section. Recently gave an in-depth look at the Black Comix Festival in Harlem, New York.

AfroPunk

Widely known for its music festivals, Afro of the Day social media posts and exploration of issues in the Black Diaspora, AfroPunk is also dedicated to promoting Black Comic Books and creators. The site is especially adept at highlighting indie comics creators.

Fantastic Forum TV

The Comic, Science Fiction & Fantasy Fan’s FANTASTIC FORUM is a half hour TV series dedicated to various comics genres and fans who fuel the industry. The program is segmented with a panel discussion, interviews, event coverage, parodies, toy/game profiles and producer features.

Geek Soul Brother

Geek Soul Brother’s job is to introduce the older generations to something new and younger geeks to the geek universe that was around before they were born.

FanBros.com

FanBros.com is a natural extension of the FanBrosShow podcast, with articles, reviews and previews that focus on exploring the diverse world of nerd culture and all that it represents. From editorials, to the latest news of the day, you can find everything you need to keep you up to speed on what is happening in the world of Fan Bros.

Black Nerd Problems.com

An editorial and informative website that focuses on popular, nerd and geek culture from the perspective of People of Color.

The Museum Of UnCut Funk

Black Comic Book Facebook Groups and Pages

Geekdom and new comic discoveries (and spirited discussions) often happen in Facebook groups dedicated to all things comics and pop culture. Check out (and join) these groups.

Black Comix African American Independent Comics, Art & Culture

Comic Book Nerds of Color

The Extraordinary Journey of a Black Nerd

Black Comic Book Podcasts

AfroNerd

For Colored Nerds

The Black Guy Who Tips

Black Comic Book Scholarly Exploration:

The blacker the ink

The Blacker the Ink by John Jennings

black comics politics of race and representation

Black Comics: Race and Representation by Dr. Sheena C. Howard

black women in sequence

Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime by Deborah Elizabeth Whaley

untold story of black comic books

The Untold History of Black Comic Books by Bill Foster

Sam in the Morning with Kelsey L.A. Talk Radio & Eric Dean Seaton

by Eric Dean Seaton January 26, 2016 0 comments

Today Eric had the opportunity to hang out with Sam & Kelsey at L.A. Talk Radio! It was a great interview with lots of information on the graphic novel series, Eric’s demanding day job as a TV director and even how he and his wife met (awww!).

For fans of the show (and our own) we also have a special promo code for anyone wanting to order the books: 10% off of anything in our store using promo code LATALKRADIO.

If you missed the show here is the replay!

Eric hangs out Sam and Kelsey of Sam in the Morning on L.A. Talk Radio

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