Most people do not know that there have been Black creators in comics since the 1940s. Most don’t know that there have also been Black characters appearing in the pages of comic books that precede the creation of Black Panther and the Falcon by Marvel Comics. The reality is that Black people have been part of the process, and they could have been just as influential as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee under different circumstances.
Orrin C. Evans
Evans crossed racial boundaries in the comic industry and the world of journalism. He was the first Black person to cover news at an all-white news outlet in the United States. Evans worked at the Philadelphia Record, a now-defunct publication.
On a sunny Southern California Saturday, 23-year-old Kenneth Chancey donned a cap and gown and was handed his degree as he crossed the Loyola Marymount University stage.
But the road to get there wasn’t as picture-perfect.
When he was 11, Chancey lived on the streets. When he was 14 and 15, and transitioning out of foster care, he says he was forced to sleep on Los Angeles city buses.
“That was my lowest point, not having anywhere to go. And just saying, we’re sleeping on the bus,” Chancey said.
The new iPhone 6S will introduce at least 11 new features that will enhance the product’s functionality, according to many analysts.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reported Apple leaks in the past and has been right on the money previously. According to Forbes, Kuo spoke with investors about the possible 11 features the new model(s) will have when the phones are released in September.
“This year’s iPhone upgrade will feature a rose gold casing color, matching the Apple Watch Edition, according to one well-connected insider, who also revealed it will feature a 12-megapixel camera and 2-gigabytes of RAM, among other changes,” reports Appleinsider writer Neil Hughes.
These are still rumors right now, and nothing has been released from Apple about the new upgrades, official release or price. Everything is speculation and hearsay at this time.
There are few other specifications being thrown out. Kuo believes that there will be an A9 processor powering the iPhone 6S that will give the phone more processing speed and more power. The force touch feature will make the phone more applicable for handwritten signatures. There could also be another microphone added to enhance sound. On top of all of the upgrades, there is speculation that the casing materials will be stronger to prevent bending and wacky Internet hysteria.
The iPhone 6S and possible 6S Plus will continue Apple’s process of giving consumers a little at a time.
Marvel continues to dominate the movie theaters with its dynamic characters and elaborate cinematic universe. However, there are issues. Recently, Avengers director Joss Whedon left Twitter over a fan backlash over Black Widow. The reasons he left are still unclear. The situation brings up the problem of character diversity. There is very little diversity in terms of race and gender up to this point. Here are five cool female characters who can shake up the mostly male and mostly white films.
Misty Knight
Misty Knight is a former cop who is a hero with a robotic arm. What makes her interesting is that her arm was created by Iron Man aka Tony Stark. She is a hero-for-hire who works on the streets of the Marvel Universe. It is possible she might be on one of Marvel’s Netflix series.
The planet Mercury has been a mystery to astronomers for a long time. NASA spacecraft MESSENGER has revealed new information that will help future generations understand the planet.
The closest planet to the sun may have a liquid core and ancient magnetic field that is an estimated 4 billion years old. That means that the magnetic field is older than the Earth itself.
“MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and spent a decade in space, orbiting Mercury for a total of four years. It has provided more data about the planet than any other mission to date, sending vast quantities of data back to Earth until it ran out of fuel. The mission had only been meant to last a year,” explains Dan Taylor for the National Monitor.
The planet does not change as much as others in the solar system. The elevation relatively goes unchanged for long periods of time. This contrasts with the landscape of Mars.
According to Tony D. Booth for Market Business, “The planet’s crust is large relative to the planet, comprising 85 percent of the planet’s radius, much more than Earth. The findings suggest that a layer of liquid iron sulfide lies beneath Mercury’s crust, which would make the planet much different from the other terrestrial planets.”
It is quite possible that what we know about Mercury will change in the very near future. Its behavior requires much more attention and observation.
As college tuition costs rise nationwide, predominately white institutions continue to see a spike in attendance. However, historically Black colleges and universities are suffering from a lack of funds and lower attendance rates. Even in these hard times, HBCU alumni still stand by their schools by opening their pocketbooks and giving back what they can. According to a 2014 analysis by U.S. News & WorldReport, “more than 12 percent of alumni, on average, donated to each school.” The report is a sample of alumni donations for both 2010-11 and 2011-12. The schools below were the top institutions with active alumni donors out of 45 ranked schools by U.S. News & World Report.
Claflin University
In the two-year period, 43 percent of alumni donated to the university. Claflin University is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and has 1,834 undergraduates, according to 2015 data. The university also has an estimated $200 million endowment.
Spelman College
Atlanta-based Spelman College has an estimated $330 million endowment and has 2,200 undergraduates as of 2015. The college received donations from 37.3 percent of its alumni, according to U.S News &World Report.
It appears we are living in a Golden Age for indie comics. Never has there been a better or easier time to write, create, print and sell comics as an independent creator and publisher. For independent publishers, setting yourself apart from the pack is crucial. Eric Dean Seaton, television director, creator and independent publisher of the graphic novel series, “Legend of the Mantamaji,” decided to use his “day job” experience [as an episodic director of hit shows like NBC’s Undateable, Disney’s That’s So Raven, and Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans and Bella and the Bulldogs] to create a live action short based on the first book in the Legend of the Mantamaji series.
“As an independent with a new superhero, you encounter some pretty big obstacles,” Seaton said. “You have to dispel some long held misconceptions people have about independently published comics – that they don’t have longevity, that they are inconsistently produced, hard to find or not well made. Then, you have to establish your characters and the rules of your world in a way that’s interesting and to the point. I say this all the time – when Superman first came out he couldn’t fly, there was no Lex Luthor or Kryptonite.That first Superman would never make it in the comics now, it took years of great writers to develop him into the hero the world knows today. Now, you have to rich content and highly developed characters with all their powers right from the start. That’s one of the reasons why we did the short. You get to see what the Mantamaji can do and a good representation of the action and fun in the book in eight minutes.”
In addition to creating the live action short, Seaton launched a web series on May 5th, 2015: “Legend of the Mantamaji: Behind the Scenes.” The web series follows Eric’s production team for three days as he films the live action short. Most episodes of the 12 episode series clock in at a social-media-friendly two minute run time and lead up to the release of the live action short in June. Originally slated for one weekly episode, the series will now show its fans two episodes per week of behind the scenes action.
“The series and the short serve three purposes: first of all, I want them to help promote the books. When you start off in the comics industry, it’s like being a freshman. You have an idea of how things work, but you have to get in there yourself and learn through experience. You aren’t very popular, no one knows who you are and even if the media and fans are interested, they tend to take a wait and see approach in favor of more well known titles and creators,” Seaton said. “Secondly, I wanted to create something live action for the fans of the series to say, ‘thank you’ for the support. They have made this so much fun and have been saying all along they’d love to see it this way,” Seaton said. “And lastly – I was curious. What does it take to bring a graphic novel to life? How will the Mantamaji armor translate from 2D to real life? What about the morphing of his weapons? I’ve been able to combine my two childhood dreams – directing and creating comics – into one and I’m having a great, great time. We’re underdogs, the new kids on the block, but I’ve always loved an underdog.”
Atlanta Black Star has the Exclusive First Look at this week’s episodes in the series. Check them out:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
Terreece M. Clarke is a freelance writer/journalist for a variety of magazines, newspapers and websites and a rocking’ wife and mother of three. Follow her on Twitter: @terreece!
Our students’ weak test performance is “the beginning of the end of what we thought of as America … that had a priority of leading the world,” Tyson says.
In 2016, the Oculus Rift headset hits store shelves for virtual reality enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy.
In August 2012, the Oculus Rift began as a Kickstarter project that raised $2.4 million. The project was created by Palmer Luckey who wanted to create a device that would jump-start the virtual reality community.
According to Mashable writer Chelsea Stark, “The original Oculus Rift development kit (known as the DK1) featured a 1280 x 720 resolution screen, a 60-hertz refresh rate and no positional tracking. It was a working proof of concept, but Oculus VR iterated and released a second-gen development kit (the DK2) in summer of 2014.”
The 2014 version was a more improved model that included 1920 x 1080 screen resolution and a camera for positional tracking. That was just the beginning stage of the creation of the consumer model.
The changes will be on full display when the Oculus Rift is released. A specific date has not been announced for the release, and there is little known about the exact specifications the headset will have. There is only speculation at this time.
What we do know is that the Crescent Bay 2014 prototype has been receiving very good press. “Oculus’ Crescent Bay prototype blew our mind when we first tried it at Oculus Connect last September — a VR alien waved at our man Hayden Dingman and he instinctually waved back, reports Brad Chacos, senior editor for PCWorld.
The goal of the headset is to be compatible with video game consoles to provide an immersive experience. According to Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell, it is very possible for the headset to be used for the X-Box and PlayStation.
Anticipation will continue to build as everyone waits for the release date to be revealed.
