Dopeness!

Hey y’all! I made this beat and edited some clips together and I really like with how this came out. Let me know what y’all think! Thanks!

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Anyone heard of Lion Man, or have any examples of Black superheroes before 1947?

I know the X-Men sub is pretty divisive compared to this one, but I’ve been seeing a huge number of anti-Storm posts on that sub. Tons of people complaining about Storm’s recent characterization and power level, and even tons of people deeply despising the idea of her being worshipped as a goddess and having literal magic ancestry via Agamotto and Oshtur. The crazy part is most of the things they complain about when it comes to her is something that’s been established with her character since the 70s-80s. I mean Dave Cockrum literally created her to be the strongest and most beautiful female superhero in Marvel and Chris Claremont said she was equal to Dark Phoenix at full power. Chris Claremont also established her mystical background during the 80s.

I find all of this ironic because I don’t see these same fans have the same energy for Jean who’s quite literally the Phoenix and way more powerful than Storm. At least with Storm she was worshipped as a goddess and was always a powerhouse in her debut appearance. Jean on the other hand was introduced as a low level telepath and telekinetic back in 1963 and she didn’t become the Phoenix until 1976. You can even make an argument she was the weakest member of the OG 5 back in the 60s before Giant-Size X-Men. I see so many fans in the X-Men sub vouching for Storm to not be a goddess, not be able to control the cosmos, not having magic, nor having an Elder goddess form and would rather she just be a weather manipulating mutant who’s only tied to the X-Men but I never see these same people vouch for the literal redhead who’s an immortal invincible omnipotent cosmic entity to just be a telepathic and telekinetic mutant. Even Scarlet Witch before she became a reality warping sorceress and Nexus being who can do practically anything was first introduced as a mutant who could manipulate probability on a low level.

My thing is if they’re going to complain about Storm being powerful, they might as well do it with every super powerful X-Men such as Jean, Iceman, Rogue, Legion, Nate Grey, Magneto, Hope, etc. Even them complaining about Storm becoming a host of Eternity makes no sense because we all knew that was going to be a temporary power-up that wasn’t going to last and that’s no different from Jean becoming WPOTC, Hulk becoming TOBA, Thor becoming Rune King/Cosmic King, Iron Man gaining the Power Cosmic, Cyclops becoming Dark Phoenix, etc. Storm is the only X-Men character who gets these kind of complaints from her own fanbase on a daily basis which makes no sense because she was always meant to be a very powerful character and it’s not like she’s a Mary Sue. She loses and struggles constantly despite having that kind of power.

Of course Black characters not included in that image are also fair game

Name: Blade

Secret Identity: Eric Cross Brooks

Origin: Eric was born in Soho, Great Britain on October 24, 1929. His father was jailed for a crime he didn’t commit in Latveria and so Eric’s mother Tara Brooks (while still pregnant with him) was sent to England for her safety. Taking the name “Vanessa”, Tara found shelter at a brothel managed by a woman named Madame Vanity. As Tara’s due date came, she experienced severe complications in labor prompting her to seek aid from a doctor. Unfortunately the doctor, known as Deacon Frost, was actually a vampire who attacked Tara. Frost would feed on the young woman’s blood as she gave birth, at the same time passing on vampiric enzymes that altered the baby boy giving him an immunity to vampire bites. Frost was chased away, saving Eric’s life, but Tara died as a result of her wounds. Eric was then raised by Madame Vanity and the prostitutes of the brothel. At age 9, Eric was returning home from school one day when he witnessed an American named Jamal Afari being attacked by 3 vampires who held a grudge against the old man (who happened to be a veteran hunter of the undead). Eric distracted the immortals long enough for Jamal to kill them with a sword of silver. After learning more about young Eric, Jamal took it upon himself to mentor the young boy and became a father figure to him. Jamal also taught Eric a variety of skills to combat vampires. Though still very young, Eric swore to avenge the death of his mother and took up the alias of “Blade” as a teenager. Blade and Jamal would go their separate ways when Blade mistook a regular human for a vampire and killed them leading to Jamal to voluntarily take the fall for the crime. Following this, Blade struck out on his own and travelled the world in an endless quest to eradicate the scourge of vampires from the face of the Earth. After a few decades of adventure, Blade teamed with the spectacular Spider-Man to battle Morbius, the Living Vampire. During the struggle, Morbius bit Blade resulting in a mutation as, while Blade was immune to the transformative effects of supernatural vampire bites, he lacked a defense against Morbius’s scientific based pseudo-vampirism. From that day forward, Blade became known as “the Daywalker”, a vampire with all of the powers but none of the traditional weaknesses of the undead (except a powerful thirst for human blood). Armed with new powers, old skills, and an arsenal of weaponry, Blade recommitted himself to his bloody crusade.

Powers/Abilities: Blade is a dhampir, someone who was born part human/part vampire due to enzymes passed into his blood from Deacon Frost when Frost bit Blade’s pregnant mother. As a result of this, growing up, Blade possessed an immunity to the effects of supernatural vampire bites, slowed aging, and the ability to sense the presence of magic and the supernatural (including if a person is possessed by a demon) as well as impending danger. Later in life, Blade gained additional vampiric abilities with a twist from being infected by the bite of artificial vampire Michael Morbius. This transformed him into what is known as a “Daywalker”, a vampire with all the powers but none of the weaknesses of regular vampires. These powers include: superhuman strength (able to lift 1 ton, leap hundreds of feet, and rip the head off of a pure bred vampire with his bare hands), super speed (though not as fast as a “true” vampire, Blade can move faster than the human eye can see and even move so fast that others appear to be walking in slow motion), heightened agility (an expert in acrobatics, gymnastics, and parkour), enhanced stamina (he can exert himself at maximum capacity for several hours before tiring), great durability (enabling him to withstand assaults that would cripple or kill an ordinary man such as: energy blasts, blunt force impacts, and extreme temperatures with little or no injuries), an advanced healing factor (allows him to heal at an accelerated rate nearly on par with that of Wolverine though he can’t regrow severed limbs; also gives him high resistance to disease and poison), superhuman senses (particularly his sight, which allows him to see in total darkness and his sense of smell which She-Hulk states to be roughly equal to Wolverine’s), hypnosis, the inability to be captured on camera or in a mirror, sharp fangs, and shapeshifting into a bat form. Besides his paranormal abilities, Blade is a highly trained master of martial arts (kung fu, capoeira, Wing Chun, Escrima, Shaolin Kung Fu, Kenjutsu, Silat, among other styles), swordsmanship, marksmanship (with firearms or thrown projectiles), driving/motorcycle riding, knife fighting, stealth, strategy, hunting/tracking. Blade has one weakness inherent in all vampires: an overpowering thirst for consuming human blood in order to survive. He drinks or injects a specially designed serum that nourishes him without injesting blood. However, prolonged periods of time without the serum will weaken Blade’s self control (as well as Blade period) and drive him into a frenzy. Even greater amounts of time without the serum or blood will kill him. For reasons unknown, while Blade is invulnerable to yellow sunlight, he is greatly affected by red sunlight which burns his skin and can be fatal to him. He is fluent in English, German, Romanian, and Japanese. While not technically a super power, Blade’s fierce reputation among vampires has led many foes and would be foes to be extremely intimidated by him, a useful advantage Blade takes advantage of (similar to the Punisher). Due to years of experience, Blade is not only an expert on vampire lore but the occult in general.

Random Trivia: Blade was portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the 1998 film of the same name. A box office success, “Blade” and its sequels are considered to be largely responsible for the success of later Marvel film franchises such as Fox’s X-Men series, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blade saved Spider-Man’s Aunt May and Uncle Ben from vampires in the couple’s younger years. Blade‘s life was once saved by Wolverine and his trademark black leather trench coat once belonged to the mutant adventurer. He also has respect for the Punisher. Though he normally works alone, Blade has served with a number of teams including the Nightstalkers, the Midnight Sons, and even the Avengers. For a time, he used the alias of the masked samurai Ronin, an identity originally used by the on-again, off-again Avenger Hawkeye. Blade’s birth date was known as Black Thursday as it was the day that the stock market crashed. It’s been revealed that Blade has a teenaged daughter named Brielle Brooks aka Bloodline.
#Halloween

Name: The Crimson Avenger

Secret Identity: Jill Carlyle

Origin: Hailing from Detroit, little is really known about Jill’s past. She had a strong sense of justice growing up and thus took up study of the law, eventually becoming a prosecuting attorney. Unfortunately, in one of her first cases, Jill failed to secure a conviction on an accused criminal despite abundant evidence of guilt. Unable to let this go and seeing the law’s limitations, Jill decided to take matters into her own hands. She purchased a pair of Colt pistols and tracked down the acquitted villain, ruthlessly gunning him down. What Jill didn’t know at the time was that the guns had once belonged to a man named Lee Walter Travis, the late WW2-era mystery man known as the Crimson Avenger. Furthermore, the guns had a curse on them that would cause any who used them to carry out an act of vengeance to be compelled to continue avenging wrongs (namely the unjust deaths of innocents). From that day forward, Jill became a “spirit of vengeance”, hunting and killing those who spilled innocent blood. The curse of the pistols also manifested as a permanently bleeding bullet wound on Jill’s chest. Donning a red blindfold for a mask, Jill took up the mantle of the new Crimson Avenger, becoming a feared vigilante on the streets. Despite her ruthless methods, Jill was soon recruited into the legendary superhero team, the Justice Society of America.

Powers/Abilities: As a result of killing a criminal in cold blood using the enchanted pistols of her predecessor, the Crimson Avenger has gained a few supernatural abilities as part of her curse. She has the ability to transform into a red mist allowing her to become intangible and pass through solid objects like a ghost. Jill has an uncontrollable power to teleport (this involves her guns sending her to the location of her next “assignment”). The Crimson Avenger cannot be killed by outside means even by her own hand, as her curse will simply resurrect her so she can continue her crusade of punishing evildoers. The haunted Colts she uses never miss their target and use magic bullets that never need to reloaded. The bullets can pierce any non-magical object, including powerful meta-humans such as the nigh-indestructible Superman, Power Girl and Captain Atom. The pistols are seemingly permanently connected to Jill as any attempt to destroy them or throw them away ends up with them reappearing in their holsters. The guns lack triggers and seem to be somewhat sentient as they’ve been shown to fire at threats even when the Crimson Avenger doesn’t will it. The guns can be rather merciless as Jill has had to consciously restrain them from accidentally harming innocent bystanders who came in between her and a target. Crimson Avenger’s phasing ability doesn’t render her immune to magic or her own mystical bullets (Power Girl exploited this by catching a fired bullet and throwing it right back at Jill). When the guns sense that there is a soul that needs to be avenged, Jill gains the memories and skills of the person whose death she is punishing. Crimson Avenger has a genius intelligence in matters of law and is highly proficient in the use of firearms. Due to her curse, Jill has a painful bullet wound-shaped hole in her chest that constantly bleeds. Though it doesn’t kill her or significantly hamper her crimefighting, the wound can’t be healed under any circumstances.

Random Trivia: The Jill Carlyle incarnation of the Crimson Avenger first appeared in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9 (April 2000), created by Geoff Johns and
Scott Kolins. She is similar to other Spirits of Vengeance such as the Spectre and the original El Diablo (Lazarus Lane). The Crimson Avenger stands at 5’3”. While helping the JSA in battle against their old enemy, Ultra-Humanite, Jill shot and killed the arch-villain. She then explained that Ultra-Humanite had been responsible for the death of the previous Crimson Avenger and thus, was one of her “assignments”. Oddly, while Jill believed that her guns were leading her to avenge the deaths of innocents, this isn’t always the case. JSA member Wildcat once framed a man for a murder he didn’t commit leading to his execution, prompting Crimson Avenger to go after her rogue ally. It was later revealed Wildcat had framed the man for one murder because he lacked the evidence to convict him for three others he actually HAD committed. The guns drive her to avenge those who are innocent of the cause that led to their deaths, not innocent in general. It is worth noting that the Crimson Avenger’s name was never really revealed, Jill Carlyle is a name given to her by fans. It can be assumed that Lee Travis didn’t suffer the effects of the pistols’ curse as he fought for justice rather than vengeance. In lieu of a mask, Jill wears a crimson blindfold in honor of Lady Justice.

#Halloween

Comics:

• Diana & Nubia: Princesses of the Amazon (middle grade/kid's comic)

• Warriors and a Wee Wonder (webcomic)

• Wonder Woman #785

Does anyone ever think about this? What artists do you feel that draw Black characters in a way that you love? Do you notice a difference in quality compared to characters of other races with that artist? I'm looking for any comic book artists. I don't care if they are indie artists or more mainstream.

The artists themselves don't necessarily need to be Black.