Comic Consideration

The Resources of the Great Wakanda Afrofuturism When we discussed precious or rare Earth metals, I think about the natural resources abundant in African countries and the colonizing forces that come in and mine those resources with the labor of the indigenous population and to the detriment of that nation's welfare. Thinking of this and the ranting and raving of Ulysses Klaue, a South African man who—in Black Panther (2018)—makes it his mission to steal vibranium from Mena Ngai, the Great Mound, to sell it and use it for his own purposes, the ties to the real-world issue of disastrous resource-mining are direct and intentional. Klaue calls the Wakandans "savages" and claims that they don't deserve what they've had the good fortune to be built upon. This mentality—that the indigenous people of a land don't know what they have and should therefore have it stolen from them—is a tale at least as old as the first European ships showing up in the Caribbean and certa...

    The Blonde Spike We Absolutely Knew We Needed Supergirl—AKA Kara Zor-El—embraces and subverts space western tropes by being characterized as a strong, law-dodging, not-so-lone ranger with a sticky past, a distinct and deeply ingrained sense of justice, and a lesson or two to learn about vulnerability. In many ways, Kara reminds me of a blonde female version of Spike Spiegel, the protagonist of 1998 space western anime Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ). Mostly because both pieces of media embody the blend of genres that compose "space westerns"; both characters have vices associated with difficulties maintaining relationships because of the things that caused their loneliness in the first place; and because they travel the cosmos and kick ass with a small crew that includes a dog (at least in the first issue, in Kara's case). The similarities between Spike and Zara end, though, with their motivations. While Spike Spiegel does have an internal sense of right and wrong, he is la...