The Crew #5: Big Trouble in Little Mogadishu, Chapter Five: Josiah

[superboyprime]

'Black Avengers really just nails What This Is in a way "The Crew" really can't. "The Crew" may summon, for some fans, unpleasant images of an urban hip-hop culture. I'd guess most comics fans are not universally fans of 50 Cent and Eminem and Nas. Most people have very specific cultural boundaries they respond to, and the hip-hop subtext of a name like "The Crew" may be off-putting. Hip-Hop, to those of us (myself included) who are neither, well, hip nor hop, can feel like either an accusation of un-coolness or as confirmation of our own insecurity about our place in popular culture. Being a fan of Rhino Records reissues more so than of what is new on the charts, I can certainly relate to that generational separation from the cutting edge of pop culture. To people who do not hop, Hip-Hop and its nascent cultural implications (urban clothes, the predatory street look and booming, thunderous music) can be received as a kind of attack. As violence. Having not read even a single page of THE CREW, many fans were predisposed to not like it simply based on (1) the race of the characters (and, perhaps, the author) and (2) the cultural subtext of the book's title. Black Avengers would have mitigated both concerns, but would have made Marvel into a kind of minstrel show. In 1972, Marvel could have gotten away with Black Avengers. In 2003, it would be seen as a kind of unfortunate in-joke. So, THE CREW it is.' - Christopher Priest