Over at the Fourth Letter, David Brothers uses a Grant Morrison quote from DC’s Final Crisis Management panel in San Diego as a springboard to talk about the New Gods and Afro
Futurism. First, the Morrison quote, which is interesting in itself:
The whole idea with Mister Miracle, Mister Miracle was supposed to be a book where everyone was black and that was the idea. I wanted to do like, Metron as Sun-Ra. He’d sit in this big Sun-Ra chair with mirrors and stuff.
But, it wasn’t drawn that way. And when they drew the second issue, they drew the homeless New Gods as white guys, don’t ask me why. ’cause everyone in that book was supposed to be black characters ’cause I wanted the whole thing to be based on Shilo Norman and his world. But, those guys shouldn’t be white, sometimes things just happen, artists tend to draw white guys.
And then from Brothers’ reaction to Morrison’s New(er) Gods:
Grant Morrison came very close to writing one of the best stories about the black experience. I can’t speak to whether it was on purpose or not. My gut says “Yes, to an extent,” so I’ll go with that.
Looking back, in most things I’ve read, most advice I’ve been given, and most stories I’ve heard, the one theme that’s almost universal among black people is “elevation.” You are more than what you appear to be, you will be more than you are, what you are now is only the beginning, and so on.
If you put some thought on it, it makes sense. Slavery stripped blacks of almost every possible form of identity. National, familial, religious, and tribal identity were completely wiped due to the slave trade. At that point, what history do you have left? Not much of one, right? What do you do when you don’t have a past?
You embrace the future.
I can’t speak to the specifics of Afro Futurism, but it’s a common trait amongst a lot of black thought. Boiled down, it’s all about being more than what you are, because what you aren’t isn’t that much at all. We aren’t slaves– we’re kings and queens. We came here on slave ships, but we’re gonna leave on space ships.
Much more at the link.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
fascinating– perhaps someday Morrison will get to do his original vision of that mini-series..
August 11th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
The link lead me to a different story.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
The link works for me. “I Call My Brother ‘Son’ ’cause He Shine Like One” is the title.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Maybe that was the problem with that mini. I loved the Seven Soldiers story but felt that “Mister Miracle” was the weakest of the bunch. It had the potential to be great and started out that way with Pasqual Ferry, then two different artists had to finish the four-part mini, with the whole thing feeling very disjointed.
To make matters worse, Ferry, a brilliant artist, left DC to go to Marvel and proceeded to produce mediocre work on low-tier Ultimate books and Orson Scott Card stories. What a shame.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Okay, thanks. I was a little confused because of the title and the fact that the picture at the top is completely unrelated to the article.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Isn’t this what editors are for? To make sure things are drawn as they are written?
August 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Afro-futurism? That’s so … retro, actually.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I’m sorry, but I’m new to the board thing. But could someone please tell me why Grant Morrison is so great. I mean Ive read his stuff and it seems kinda weird to me. Maybe I’m not that smart but I’m pretty sure not every one is kissing this guy’s butt. So please someone tell me why he is being allowed to destroy Batman and do whatever the heck it is he’s doing to the DC Universe.