dc comics
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Muhammad Ali Was This Close to Portraying Superman in the 1978 Film
Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, but he almost flew like a DC Comics superhero. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the heavyweight champion was on the shortlist to become Superman in the 1978 film of the same name, which ultimately starred Christopher Reeve. “One of the conditions with DC Comics…
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Racist Comic Fans Run Titans Star Off Instagram for Not Being the Right Kind of Black
If you thought being a regular old black person in America was tough, try being a black superhero, or a black person from the future, or even worse, a black alien from a galaxy far, far away. You’d have to deal with Thanos, inter-dimensional threats, and you still have to battle the Chicago Police Department,…
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Writer Bryan Edward Hill Explains Why Black Representation in Comics Matter and Why Michael Cray Is Out to Kill Aquaman and the Flash
Comic books have struggled with diversity since Famous Funnies was released in the United States in 1933. However, the past few years have finally seen some cracks in the proverbial glass ceiling as black culture has permeated into the mainstream of the comic book universe. From Marvel’s reimagining of classic rap album covers as comic…
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Ladies First: Black Lightning Is a Superhero Story That Doesn’t Strike Us Down
(Warning: Spoilers abound below.) “Strange Fruit” echoing in the background of the show’s opening minutes. A young black woman narrating. References to Fannie Lou Hamer and Harriet Tubman. Mentions of SZA and Solange. Testosterone might power Black Lightning, the superhero, but a healthy dose of estrogen helps drive Black Lightning, the series. In the series,…
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Justice League Is Trash and a Desperate Money Grab, but You’re Still Going to See It
The universe was giving me every sign that Justice League was going to be trash. I asked four friends, who usually love going to the movies, to go to the Justice League screening and the collective answers were “I’ve got Bible study,” “I’m mentoring” and “I’m sleeping,” until finally someone said, “I guess, since the…
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That Time Muhammad Ali Beat Superman
The best thing about going to my barbershop as a little kid in the mid-1970s was the Muhammad Ali pinball machine. Black power had faded, to be replaced by Afro Sheen. This was the period when Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, and Earth, Wind & Fire were pushing the boundaries of spirit,…