Every week I do a column full of comic book reviews as I’ve done since March 2003 and currently published at Comic Book Resources. Then, after the reviews post, I try to come over to my blog and expand on the thoughts and ideas listed there. Sometimes it’s profound, sometimes it’s gibberish, but it’s always about comics … let’s see what we get this week!

What? This week’s reviews …

THAT’S WEIRD: Looked at the column … and had nothing to add. I really have nothing. Maybe I’ve said so much prepping for Komplicated that I’m speechless. Even the store chatter — what’s up with Skynet day, or how @halfwayclassy as Dr. Roost will lead the Chunderbolts — is just kind of de rigueur these days. Odd.

THAT’S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: I’ll probably have something to say next week.

Playing (Music): “My Last” by Big Sean feat. Chris Brown

I think Thursday poems might suck a little. They have to happen after or during my weekly comic book reviews for CBR, which is a beezy in terms of sucking down my mental energies and what not. Still, you know, poems gotta get done. So here we go …

Batman is my dad.
Did you get that? I’ll repeat.
Batman. Is. My. Dad.
Imagine what I can do.
Think of how much you’ll suffer …

“Tanka: Damian Wayne Doesn’t Freaking Negotiate”
By Hannibal Tabu

I love the new Robin (here’s some of why), a self-confident jerk with the skills of a CIA assassin and the interpersonal skills of a chainsaw. I should spend more time with him, but I didn’t have time, of course. Maybe I’ll return to him.

Anyhoo, I have comics reviews to write.

Playing (Music): “Poor You” by Aviatic

Every week I do a column full of comic book reviews as I’ve done since March 2003 and currently published at Comic Book Resources. Then, after the reviews post, I try to come over to my blog and expand on the thoughts and ideas listed there. Sometimes it’s profound, sometimes it’s gibberish, but it’s always about comics … let’s see what we get this week!

What? This week’s reviews …

WHAT COMICS? Honestly, after doing the reviews, I was kind of baked. I’ve been focused so heavily on something else …

... truth of the matter is, I'm komplicated ...

… that it’s pretty much eaten up my brain this week.

I’ve been sitting on this information for maybe six months. That’s when Geekweek head honcho Jeff Katz and I first started about working together. Then there were the lawyers. Then there was the cage match. Then there was the staring contest. Then there was the crying. Finally, two signatures on one piece of paper and I’m the proud co-owner of a website you can’t see yet.

Why do this now? Well, first of all, please don’t believe there’s anything I have against Comic Book Resources, my home for many years and a collection of some damned fine people. Jonah Weiland has gone to the mat for me more than once, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him and the amazing body of work he’s created.

However, it’s not mine. If the site does well or the site does badly, I make the same amount of money. Since I stopped noting the column on Usenet (and yes, I miss that environment some times — when somebody hated my stuff, it always led to such interesting discussions) I’ve never done a single thing to promote the work. I’m too busy. To actually say I own part of a site gives me a great deal more flexibility. If I wanna celebrate Dwayne McDuffie’s birthday every year with an entire day of McDuffie-related programming, I can. “There’ll be no one to stop us this time.” That kind of freedom is intoxicating, especially when I don’t have to stop doing the things I love with CBR. Now I can just do more.

Likewise, the other major reason is that Black people in general have to kind of accept crumbs from everybody else’s tables. Sure, CBR has employed more Black people in comics than, say, most comic book companies and he’s gone out of his way to create a staff and a site that covers a diverse spectrum of entertainment options. But even if I learn to swim, I can never be Aquaman. Even if I flap as hard as I can, I can never be Hawkman. Even with all I say about this being “mine,” it’s already a collaborative effort. I’ll have … woops, almost let the cat out of the bag. Sorry, the exact stats on the team comes out next week. Suffice it to say you’ll hear my voice, but I don’t stand alone, and I will have the doors open to all kinds of African descended voices.

“No fair, what about …” Blah blah blah. A lot of the tech news will be inspired by my Hawaiian best friend and my Jewish best friend, both of whom are massively talented in technical arenas. I sing Coldplay and Owl City almost as much as I sing Stevie Wonder and X-Clan, so it’s not like there’ll be a monotone in the music coverage, even. Just like Public Enemy played to audiences around the world, just because there’s a slant to the coverage doesn’t mean it’s exclusionary. Heck, I’ve even had a good laugh at some O’Reilly Factor stuff. Can’t explain that.

I hope you’ll keep enjoying my work at CBR (I one day hope to be celebrating my 20th anniversary there) as well as checking out Komplicated.com when it launches (for now you can stay hip with the Twitter and Facebook pages). If not, hey, no worries, right?

THAT’S THE NEWS, AND I AM OUTTA HERE: Tabu out.

Playing (Music): “Alligator Sky” by Owl City feat. Shawn Chrystopher