Milestone Mondays: Reflections on the debut of the Black Superman

“A leader…is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”- Nelson Mandela

Icon #1 opens with an Alien crash land on earth in 1839 in the time of slavery. The Alien’s ship transforms him into the likeness of the first being it sees, a black slave woman. She retrieves the child.

In the present, the transformed alien is now a black lawyer who reminisces while holding his shackles from his time as a slave while wondering what more he can actually do to help people than he already has. Elsewhere in Dakota a young woman by the name of Raquel is an aspiring writer living in a ghetto. She can’t even afford a typewriter to hone her craft. When a group of friends convinces her to follow them on a joyride which quickly escalates into robbery, she immediately opposes but with the possibility of affording a typewriter too much to resist she follows.

Once in the suburbs they enter a lavish mansion and Raquel is in awe. When she reaches the library she is more concerned with the knowledge these books no doubt contain as opposed to stealing anything. They are caught by the owner who her friend shoots but the man rises up unharmed and reprimands the lot of them for what they had done. He wants them to keep his powers a secret and he won’t turn them in. They all agree and part.

Raquel can’t stop thinking about how he changed her life and how he could change so much more if only he would use his abilities out in the open. She confronts him and even though he seems reluctant at first her plea reaches his heart. She leaves with him designs she made of costumes and identities for both. He makes her a suit and gives her a belt which will “protect her”. In three weeks they meet in the ghetto where Icon realizes he may have been able to do more just as she had said. They gear up and try to assist the police but upon arriving the police turn their weapons towards them.

In Icon #2 we get a flashback as one of the mayor’s co-workers walks into her office and takes her hostage. A few hours later Icon and Rocket arrive to give the police their assistance things go wrong as Icon wants to comply with their request of being slapped in cuffs and hauled off while Rocket lashes out at them. When things stabilize the duo saves the cops and rush into the mayor’s office right after she actually confesses to being the one responsible for what happened at the “Big bang”. Icon disarms the man who casually hands over his gun but then transforms into a hulking beast!

In Icon #3 our heroes battle the man who now calls himself Payback. Icon at one point gets taken down and Rocket gives chase into the sewers where they continue their battle. Icon meanwhile deals with the rest of the thugs and flies the mayor down to safety where the press has a field day with their new hero. Rocket defeats the creature that once returned to normal form explains how the mayor had used experimental gas to subdue the people during the “Big bang” which left hundreds dead and fewer still changed into super-powered beings like him. Icon tells him to turn himself in; in exchange, he will give him a lawyer and ensure an investigation of the Big Bang and to bring those responsible to justice. He reluctantly agrees and they hand him over to the cops. Two weeks later the mayor gives Icon the key to the city and Icon informs Rocket that she is pregnant.

This opening arc has the mysterious and seemingly bougie Icon makes his debut thanks to the very TLC inspired Rocket. Rocket and Icon are an interesting dynamic duo who in many ways remind me of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin where the sidekick is the more confrontational of the two.

Icon remembering his earth mother and his time as a slave while holding onto his onetime shackles is a powerful image. Those shackles are unbroken but in the modern times we see him easily break free of his handcuffs. He chose to remain shackled in the time of slavery instead of being the symbol he is now. His Bougie attitude when he was robbed in the first issue left me angry in my original review:

He honest to God thinks that those who are poor have done something to deserve their station in life or simply have not worked hard enough. This is an interesting talking point in modern times as some black people think that it’s just as simple as “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps” when the playing field is not leveled anywhere in the American Diaspora. Colorism is real, classism is real, the school you attend whether its private or public, ghetto or middle class, if you have access to technology, how educated your family is, having both parents, family connections, gender, etc.

All these factor into how successful you are as a black person.

I have used that panel as a talking point when I discuss “Equity, access, and first-class education” in my Philosophy of Education class. This opening arc is a talking point as different black people and our Mo and Gbagbo shape not just what we achieve, who we become but also how we view the world.

Icon comes across as one of those educated blacks who have been in their skyscraper so long they can’t see their brothers and sisters walking on the streets below. It’s one of those mistakes many wealthy and successful black people make.  

In the current political climate, this debate still rages. You have people like Terry Crews married to a white woman saying all lives matter, then Kanye out here trying to discredit Harriet Tubman. TV is now filled with black shows like Empire, Queen Sugar, Dear White people, Blackish ect dealing with the myriad of issues black people face daily such as colorism, racism discrimination etc.

This series is still relevant because it provokes conversation and debate.

From a design, perspective Icon wears a domino mask and a costume with the pan-African colors of Red, Yellow, and Green. The Red, yellow, and green, the pan-African coloration are inspired by the flag of Ethiopia. The yellow is downplayed in Icon’s costume while the red and green are dominant.

In this way, the color of Icon’s costume becomes a symbol of Pan-Africanist ideology and perhaps gives great insight into the mind space of our hero despite his behavior to the contrary.

Pan-Africanism or Black Nationalism is often described as a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen the bonds of solidarity between all indigenous and Diaspora ethnic groups of African descent.

With Dwayne Mcduffie dead and Milestone 2.0 stillborn we may never know if the color choice of our iconic hero was meant to be more than just a clever palette.

In this black lives matter era Icon in this costume would be a galvanizing symbol as he descends from the sky.

Rocket is our POV character as we are introduced to not just Icon but the Dakotaverse, the mysterious BIG BANG, why it took place, which was responsible, and the fallout thereafter. Issue #3 ends with a cliff-hanger of a revelation with Rocket pregnant much to her own shock. I remember these first three issues fondly as the debut of the black superman. To someone who has never read the series, Icon is the hero, to the informed we all know Rocket was and is the only true Icon who like a shepherd leads from behind.

Milestone Mondays

[Milestone Mondays takes place on a random Monday of each month and talks about, reviews or highlights art, cards, etc from the ’90s phenomenon that was Milestone comics.]

R. Fraser

Linkage~

What do you think?

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