DC Fandome: BAWSE Power, The Entrepreneurial Spirt and The Beautifulness of Being Black and Boujee.
Joseph Da Watcher(DC Version)
DC Fandome highlighted something never seen in the realm of virtual entertainment. It premiered in a 24-hour loop, emphasizing, DC Comics’ strong comeback in the comic book, box office and video game markets. Some examples of their upcoming “comic book” movies, are The Flash, Wonder Woman ‘84 and the new [re]release of Warner Bros’. cash cow, ‘The Batman’. Additionally, they also provided gamers with a sneak peek of Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League; two games that will add greatly to the Rocksteady Batman gaming franchise.
Aside from the typical premieres of their primetime and movie real estate, DC Fandome also changed my perception of the company and to describe my perception, is, to put it lightly, mystifying.
My words lost sound as I saw BAWSE Females discuss their pivotal acting roles at DC Comics/WB; I gasped for breath as I listened to tennis phenom, Venus Williams discuss her upbringing and her clothing line with director of Wonder Woman ‘84, Patty Jenkins; I damn near fainted as Jim Lee mentioned that Milestone Comics (famous for the creation of heroes: Icon and Rocket, Static Shock and others) was getting a much needed rebirth; and I enjoyed myself with drink in hand, at the “BLERD gathering” as old school house music, soundtracks from superhero shows, and a mystery track of HANS ZIMMER closed out a 24-hour event that will now be considered legendary….
DC Comics’ event definitely celebrated their diversified line-up with these start studded panels to honor those who are making the magic happen for people of color.
BAWSE
What is a BAWSE? By the internet’s definition, “A BAWSE is a human being who exudes confidence, turns heads, reaches goals, finds inner strength, gets hurt efficiently and smiles genuinely because they've fought through it all and made it out the other side.” Coined by YouTube star and late night host, Lilly Singh, and made famous in her NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, How to be a BAWSE. The word is definitely a testament to overcoming struggles, learning from losses and going after the gold.
I had the privilege of watching some BAWSE Females of Color and how their representation in the media was important to diverse audiences, especially women of color. Among the panel were DC’s finest actresses who played superheroes in the DC film/Television universe. Among them were:
DJ D-Nice (Moderator)
Estelle – Garnett (Steven Universe) (Moderator)
Meagan Good – Super Hero Darla (SHAZAM!)
Javicia Leslie - Javicia Leslie (Batwoman)
Candice Patton – Iris West (The Flash)
Tala Ashe – Zari Tarazi (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow)
Nafessa Williams – Anissa/ Thunder - (Black Lightning)
Chantal Thuy – Grace Choi - (Black Lightning)
Damaris Lewis - Blackfire - (Titans)
Inspiring, it was great to see so many women of color playing DC’s greatest roles for the cinematic universe. As Estelle and D-Nice asked questions that mattered in today’s society, one of the most remarkable aspects of this panel was how the questions/responses pertained to being the first in the superhero world as a lesbian, a Muslim American, and a leading Black protagonist in the DC universe. Through DC Comics’ rapid adjusting of their content for their universe, they are gaining momentum and respect as being the go to for a more diversified experience. Additionally, as Estelle lead the panel in questioning, there was one question that focused on today’s society and their view of black women and superheroes:
“How do you liberate yourselves and/or subsequently your characters from the hypersexualized, exotic, stereotypes that can be attached to black and multicultural women and what advice could you offer young girls on how to reclaim their sexuality, power and confidence?” -Estelle
Estelle’s question made me think about Black women and female superheroes in general. Comic books, most of them, have portrayed women scantily clad with overly accentuated bodies and as such when viewers see their favorite characters in ‘human form’, some blur the line between reality and fiction and start to disrespect the actors that play them, either on social media or physically. This is also why, at cosplay events, ‘No Means No’ is thoroughly and ruthlessly enforced as some fans disrespect cosplayers by grouping them and inappropriately filming them. Maturely answered, Megan Good received the question and answered in the most appropriate fashion:
“For me, one of the reasons I was excited to play Darla Dudley was that she was actually eight and for me, I’ve come from, you know, throughout my 20’s I was very much like, that sexy girl, the love interest, whatever it may be and so breaking out of that space, in my late 20s, was really difficult and what I learned was, a fun thing is, that there’s nothing wrong with owning your sexuality and wanting to be beautiful and sexy and strong and all those things…..but it’s also about humanizing whatever character your living, breathing and finding things about them….that are human and real that people can relate to that are not just an idea…..like who is this person at the core that is relatable……black relatable…..” -Megan Good
As more and more Black female superheroes emerge to DC’s screens, the stereotype on how society personifies women as mere ‘sex objects’ and ‘characters of desire’ is slowly getting reversed. They are beautiful, this is true, but there’s more to the character than just the ‘hot and sexy body’ view. These actresses, and the characters they portray, also carry with them a series of emotions and beliefs that allow us to see them in new and different perspectives so we can understand them even more. Representation, such as this and what DC is doing is important because it allows the Black and Brown female dynamic to evolve, take new forms and most importantly, provide a ‘first’ for ‘little Black and Brown children, all over the world’ to see, for the first time, a representation of what they could become.
BAWSE Females of Color Within the DC Universe -Recorded for fair use by SIF
Patty and Venus
Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman ‘84; interviewed tennis great, Venus Williams on her new clothing line, ELEVEN. This collection, inspired by the famous DC female protagonist, Wonder Woman, was designed for ‘strong, fierce females who are competitive and compassionate’. What caught me by surprise during their interview was their upbringing in regard to being a female in a male dominated society. For Patty, her mom instilled in her that there are “no limits to how far she can go in life”. Similarly, Venus’ growth and development also followed the same mantra as her father taught her the power of not saying ‘no’, ‘can’t’ and ‘never’.
Their love for Wonder Woman and the franchise really shows as Venus’ athletic brand demonstrates athleticism and power and Patty’s Wonder Woman films promotes power, strength and togetherness. These women worked hard to achieve their stardom; and as they are the voices of change, they too, are working hard to change the female dynamic by creating new lanes of entrepreneurship, creativity and athleticism for upcoming creatives, artists, athletes and women everywhere. Following in the footsteps of these two women, I will also continue to instill the values of never saying ‘I can’t’, ‘no’ and ‘never’ to my children and assist them in achieving the incredible.
Milestones Rebirth
Created in the halls of San Diego Comic Con, Milestone Comics was built from the minds of Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle to express the need and show how underrepresented Americans in comics, especially African Americans, were living in the US. As they ran the company, under the DC imprint, what made this company ‘iconic’ was the fact that they had complete copyright control of their characters (unheard of at the time) and with DC, all they did was license the characters, their editorial services, and creative content to Milestone for a fee and a share of the profits.
Truly Remarkable.
During the panel, journalist, public speaker, podcaster, TV and comic book writer, Marc Bernardin interviewed:
Reggie Hudlin (African American film Screen writer, director and producer and comic book writer.)
Phil Lamarr (African American actor, comedian and writer. Voice actor for every famous cartoon and video you ever played and watched)
Denys Cowan (African American comics artist, television producer, media executive and co-founder of Milestone Media.)
Jim Lee (Korean American, world-renowned comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher, is currently Chief Creative Officer of DC (DC) and Publisher for the company)
In regard to the company’s history, its rebirth and what the future looks like for Milestone Media as a whole, watching this panel, I couldn’t get over how this company was founded by African Americans and how they created such iconic characters that had a profound influence over the industry still to this day!
Static Shock #1
With one of their most legendary characters, Static Shock; this character is so amazing that it also became a television series and continues, to have a growing fan base. In a way, Static Shock stood the test of time (lasting 4 seasons on television) and as such, led to the revival of Milestone Media, headed by Reggie Hudlin.
Listening in, I then realized the direction they were heading in…Black Creator Movement!!! Yes!!! DC was looking at their gold mine (the one they had all along): Black Content Creators, Black Characters?! Yes, the creative revolution has begun!!! DC now has their billion-dollar idea and with writers and producers, Reggie Hudlin, Denys Cowan and Derek T Dingle at the helm, this idea can turn into billion-dollar profits; as long as DC allows the creatives to have ‘complete control’ over their products.
Milestone Media ‘s rebirth, will first be operating digitally with their back catalog being released through digital 3rd partners, comiXology, Apple and Google Play. On Feb 2021, (Black History Month), as stated from Jim Lee, “The relaunch of the Milestone Media line will be taking place” , with new releases of Static Shock, Hardware, ICON and Rocket and more.
I do have a suggestion, with the re-release of Static Shock, I believe hiring Nikolas Draper-Ivey, creator of the upcoming manga Dream Vesper, and contributing creator of Noir Caesar’ XOGENASYS, will be an excellent artist for the Milestone Media franchise.
Milestone’s Comeback - Watch live at from LEEEF
BLERD and BOUJEE….
BLERD and Boujee Artwork by the mighty Marcus The Visual
As I transitioned to party mode, I had my drink in hand, power level over 9000 and logged in to the biggest comic book/hip-hop virtual event of DC Fandome, I was blown away as this party felt more like a BLERD family reunion; a gathering of nerd friends among the message stream. Positive vibes and libations flowed as Blerd and Boujee’s host, DJ D-Nice aka Derrick Jones aka Hip-Hop LEGEND, played the turntables with iconic hits of the past, the present and the future. Sipping and Bobbin, D-Nice’s set was fortunate enough to also play the soon to be iconic Hans Zimmer theme song to Wonder Woman ’84; it was an amazing experience.
As attendance reached over 4000+, members of the “Blerd and Boujee” community showered each other with praise as they discussed life, cosplay and family. Additionally, some special guests showed up to pay homage to the ‘Quarantine DJ of 2020’: BlerdGurl, Nafessa Williams and the Legendary Krondon
Understanding the BLERD group, one needs to know that the BLERD group is holy ground for those in the black nerd community. Still a minority in the nerd universe, our universe is continuously growing as more and more BLERD groups are coming into their own UNIQUE, MYSTERIOUS and AWESOME biospheres.
GOD Bless the DJ and the BLERD Universe….
DC Fandome Overall…….
DC Fandome, was a great opportunity to see the up and coming content slated for 2020 and beyond, yet my eyes really lit up for the wondrous opportunities discussed from the BAWSE: Women of Color panel and the rebirth of Milestone Media.
As DC Comics/WB continues to diversify their comic books, movies and television series, they’re going all out to ensure this representation will last for a very long time. One thing i realized is that the WB/DC Comics does not care about the ‘trolls, or hobgoblins’ that are against promoting diversity; they understand that the world is changing and as they move toward a more diversified global pop culture community, they’re viewership will also grow and hopefully provide, to the world, an image of what it’s like to be a Black and Brown superhero unlimited in abilities.
DC: FANDOME ROCKED!!!
