We have waited long enough. We have been teased for years now. DC paid Tony Isabella for the rights to Black Lightning before we got more Static, and I like Black Lightning a lot. I personally put him above Static, but I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit Static was the bigger name. The time has come for Earth M to drop or get off the pot. I'm serious, we've had enough teasing and begging. I'm trying to give you my money. Why don't you want my money? Right now is the perfect time to kick off the return.
Think about it, for the longest the only black superheroes we had in live action were alternate sidekick versions of characters. We had Diggle on Arrow, but he was an original creation and was black driver for two seasons. We had Sam Wilson in the MCU, but they went with the Ultimate Universe version who doesn't have half the history of 616 Sam and he's strictly sidekick material. We had War Machine, and he is shown as such a sidekick they changed actors and didn't even try to explain it. Ike Perlmutter was even quoted as saying nobody would be able to tell the difference because "they all look alike."
Now, it's 2018 and think about where we are. Luke Cage had his Netflix series. It makes sense, he was the first black hero with a solo comic. If you ignore the obviously racist reviews littering Rotten Tomatoes and IMDP, it was a damn good show. Followed up by Black Lightning, who was the second black hero with a solo comic. Again, ignoring the racist reviews, it's a damn good show. As I write this, Black Panther is less than a week away from hitting the big screen. That's three black heroes who are completely different in how they handle things and what they do. Now is the time of the black hero and nobody has more black heroes than Milestone.
Then there's the social issues. The streets are hot right now. The way the social justice topics are heating up you would have thought someone popped a molly. We've got white supremacist working with Sacramento police, because some of those who work forces, are the same that burn crosses. I don't think Wise Son would be okay with that. We've got a secretary of education that is telling trans kids they can't use the bathroom. I'm not sure Masquerade would take kindly to that and I'm pretty sure Deathwish would end up back in jail. We've got a Republican president that even Icon would be disgusted with. Gay marriage has been legal for a few years now, but people are still trying to roll that back, I'm pretty sure Rick Stone would be on the front lines protesting that. Black Lives Matter, I don't know where Kobalt would stand on that but I know where Rocket, Static, The Blood Syndicate, Hardware, etc. would stand on it. Milestone has the depth to touch on these issues.
I'm not saying other comics couldn't do this. Some do it well, but the big two aren't touching this. Not after the shit show that was Secret Empire or the outing of Iceman. Maybe Batwoman's wedding getting scrapped. We could talk about TV, The Flash, has a villain who has placed his mind in a black body that he bought on the black market. What the hell is going? There's no tact, research or reasoning behind half the things they do. Milestone has a proven track record of dealing with these issues by having the people they affect.
Look, at the end of the day there's nothing to lose. The worst thing that can happen is Static doesn't do incredible numbers and gets a Batman crossover to boost sales. They can spare a couple spots with all the Batman and Superman books. I mean damn, you have other characters. There's nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you don't want to do comics do film. Nothing can be worse than Inhumans. Just take my money already.
You should buy Darrell's Book, watch him on the Blerds Online YouTube Channel or The CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts.
