Friday, September 16, 2016

Comics Featuring Black Superheroes Don't Sell

Nighthawk
It has been proven time and time again that comic book literature that features superhero of color, specifically blacks, don't sell shit. The only way for a company to run towards bankruptcy is to continue to deny this fact.

The recent example of this is Marvel's cancellation of "Nighthawk," a dark and gritty Chicago-based series that featured a black man in a mask taking on everything from police corruption to gentrification and racism. Four issues of Nighthawk have been published to date, and two issues remain before the series ends.

In recent years, comics have made a lot of progress in creating a mix of superheroes who look like our population at large. But when a superhero of color taking on the societal ills is cancelled after six issues, it confirms the fact that nobody gives a hoot what social "justice warriors," "Black Lives Matter " activists keep on harping about - diversity.

Cancellations like this is reality because they can be filed too easily under the "black superheroes don't sell" category. No amount of black washing can change that.

The only reason why the "Black captain America" and the "Black Panther" title series is selling is because readers want more fantasy than reality. Comic books can be a great escape. Super-powers. Secret identities. Masks. A fictional African paradise, led by a panther king that has never been invaded and a black man using an indestructible shield to defend his country can be visually digested a lot easier than a bird-man taking on real world inspired injustice.

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