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September 23, 2022 Lorihanna Shushkova
Ismaël Bennacer: What makes him AC Milan's unsung hero this season? – scout report
Each season there are players that go under the spotlight and are described as "key" for their teams, and there are players who are crucial, but no one really talks about. AC Milan's best performers have been widely discussed, especially after their Scudetto-winning 2021/22 season. However, there are players that have been pivotal in their success that are not as widely recognised as their teammates. One of them is Ismaël Bennacer.
The Rossoneri midfielder has played a pivotal role in their tactics and has helped them maintain consistency to be able to get back to the Serie A leading positions despite the limited playing minutes he got last season. While there were concerns over the team's midfield performance after Hakan Çalhanoğlu's and Franck Kessié's departures, they have managed to keep the high level of discipline thanks to Bennacer.
The Algerian's passing abilities and movement help for a cohesive performance in possession and create a balance between the lines which is key for their success in attack.
His impact out of possession shouldn't be underestimated as well as he supports the team's pressing efforts successfully and frequently prevents them from conceding dangerous attacks.
In this scout report, we use tactical analysis to examine his importance to Stefano Pioli's side and explain what makes him one of the most underestimated yet important players in the squad.
Bennacer's role in Milan's tactics
His heatmap shows his box-to-box movement
Milan achieved a balanced-out performance under Pioli over the last few years. The team stick to their 4-2-3-1 formation and rely on high intensity in attack. They aim to have more of the ball and frequently threaten the goal through a lot of movement and individual skill from players like Theo Hernández and Rafael Leão who have been praised for their attacking contributions.
However, to succeed with their actions in possession, they have relied on Bennacer who fulfils the role of a regista for the team. Being deployed in a defensive midfield position allows the team to use his passing to progress the ball efficiently and his smart movement to add more bodies in the advanced areas and create havoc.
His ability to distribute the ball to quality areas and support his teammates' movement is extremely valuable for the team. That's why he is highly involved in building up from the back and combining with the defenders with the aim to bypass the press and advance the ball.
While he is very active in possession, his deep-lying position requires high awareness and concentration defensively. He is responsible for providing support to the defensive line and helping with ball interceptions, covering the depth and pressing the opposition. His ball recovery ability is one of his strongest assets which is key for Milan's defensive performance as he often moves to the opposition's half where he tries to recover possession.
Not only the Algerian follows his marked tightly, but he also covers depth for Hernandez who moves out of his position to cover the ball carrier.
His role suggests that he has to be confident in direct challenges and have a good understanding of the game to be able to anticipate the opposition's movement.
Bennacer's contribution in possession
The Algerian's contribution to Milan's actions in possession is defined by his passing abilities. Using his deep position to support building up from the back and help with ball progression has allowed his teammates more freedom to move forward.
He would usually stay close to the backline so he can receive the ball and then try to progress it. While his position requires him to stay mainly in the deeper areas, Bennacer often moves out of Milan's half to help with ball progression and bypassing the press.
That's where he combines his strong positioning with meticulous passing which he uses to either spread the ball out wide or to break the opposition lines centrally. His 2022/23 passing map shows the frequency of his passes along with the areas he distributes in. His deliveries are key not only for retaining possession and ball progression but also for creating attacking opportunities. The map shows that he rarely sends the ball back and he always aims to provide forward passes and to the ball out of the defence.
2022/23 passing map
As it also suggests, he often goes for long balls trying to dismiss the opposition's press and deliver the ball behind the defence. Bennacer often initiates switches of play, which helps the team in breaking through different defensive structures.
Bennacer's vision is demonstrated by a long ball behind the defence. He frequently moves into such advanced positions to support the attacking actions.
Bennacer averages two through balls per 90 which support his attacking teammates' movement.
His partnership with Sandro Tonali as a double pivot grew on Pioli and he started relying on them both more frequently. The Algerian is responsible for orchestrating play through his 89.8% pass completion rate and composure while providing Tonali with more time and space to cover ground and support his team whenever needed. The Algerian also supports the team's counter-attacking actions. Milan
His impact off the ball
Bennacer's defensive impact is impressive as well. While he does focus on forward playing and creating opportunities for the team in possession, his discipline and concentration off the ball make him an even more valuable addition to the team.
The 24-year-old's tactical intelligence and anticipation skills allow him to use his positioning to successfully block opposition attacks, while his well-timed interventions make him successful in 1vs1 situations.
His positioning is key for covering depth as the defenders often have ball-playing functions and move out of their positions. The midfielder can successfully identify attacking movements and action upon it either through pressing or diving into direct challenges.
He is particularly efficient in his pressing efforts and averages 11.47 ball recoveries per 90, supporting the team out of possession and often stopping dangerous attacks early on. Impressively, despite his considerably deep position, 57.6% of his recoveries are done in the opposition half. This allows Milan to employ their high press strategy and helps them in gaining back possession in the advanced areas where they can quickly make a turnover and create a goalscoring opportunity.
Bennacer's actions directly impact the team's time on the ball and increase their possession rate.
Map of his 2022/23 high regains.
As the map above suggests, he frequently regains possession in the advanced area, especially through his counter-pressing actions. This is extremely valuable for the Rossoneri and often helps them to keep the momentum and stay in attacking positions.
He has also contributed to five shots through his recoveries as his recovery of possession has resulted in threatening the goal within 20 seconds afterwards.
The Algerian is involved in 8.6 defensive duels on average with a 60.9% success rate, making him a reliable player during defensive transitions. His high awareness and anticipation skills also allow him to gain possession after loose-ball duel situations.
As our analysis shows, Ismael Bennacer is a complex player who can impact the play both in an out of possession and bring the team the needed confidence during transitions. He is expected to be a crucial figure in Milan's title-defending season and in their UEFA Champions League adventure as well.
Senior football performance analyst with years of experience in sports journalism and the betting industry. Interested in all aspects of the beautiful game and has a huge appreciation of intelligent deep-lying playmakers.
Serie A preview: How can Atalanta stop Napoli's dominance – tactical analysis
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by Lorihanna Shushkova | November 11, 2022


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HomeOpinionIs the West Deliberately Exacerbating the Current Situation in Ethiopia?
Is the West Deliberately Exacerbating the Current Situation in Ethiopia?
By Debebe S. Abebe, New York
Since the war broke out in Ethiopia on November 4 , 2020, there has been a flood of reports that have been released by journalists, governments, aid agencies, multilateral organizations, individuals, and human rights organizations around the world. While each has its own reasons and motivations, for us -Ethiopians, it is about the survival of our nation; it is not just another bad news anymore. The objective of this commentary is to highlight the flawed nature of some of these careless and potentially nation disintegrating messages and to urge the readers to take such reports with a grain of salt. We need to sift the grain from the chaff. We need facts!
I would like to start with what we know without a doubt and what we don't know about the conflict in Tigray. We know that the war started on November 4, 2020 by the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) attacking the Ethiopian National Defense Force, stationed in the Tigray region (as reported by TPLF's high profile member and the Trump department of state). We also know that, in response, Prime Minister Abiy's government declared a law and order restoration campaign. Other than these, the myriads of allegations that have been release from the two warring factions (The Ethiopian Government and the TPLF) beg for independent investigation. A well researched and unbiased investigation is needed. So far we have not seen such a finding that answers questions about alleged crimes and human rights violations that substantiate the claims by each side.
It is understandable to hear each side to blame the other; for that matter they have/had been in a war for months now. That is not surprising! What is troubling is 1) The so called "investigative reporting" by organizations like CNN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that violated all the ethics of acceptable research practices, and 2) Irresponsible actors /individuals who use their position of influence to mislead the world.
I am a researcher and my views here are not that of a political analyst; I am writing this to show the flawed nature of these investigations and to help policy makers and all interested from reaching to erroneous conclusions and consequently to wrong decisions. Below are some of the basic problems I observed that have been fueling the issue rather than providing objective findings and directing towards sustainable peace.
The first problem I observed is what is commonly known as Selection Bias. For any investigation to be objective, the manner in which respondents (such as interviewees) are selected is critical. Selection of respondents should follow a process that clearly shows due diligence that assures unbiased investigation. The recent CNN's massacre reporting , Amnesty international's "Massacre in Axum" report, and the Human Rights Watch's "report of massacre" , are all based on mainly on interviews collected from Ethiopian refugees in Sudan and phone interviews of Axum residents. For the starter, many of the refugees in Sudan have been accused by the Ethiopian government of taking part in the Mai Kadra masssacre. There is no clear criteria that these investigators used to exclude such individuals from the interview. There is also no clear and careful selection criteria on those interviewed via phone from Axum, if they are credible sources or not. Those of us who have been watching the pro TPLF social media and news reports in the local languages have been hearing all the misinformation and disinformation that are being spread. In all honesty, the reports of CNN, Amnesty international, and Human rights Watch have been similar to the Anti- Abiy campaign talking points of the pro TPLF side. I presume the interviewees selection bias played a role in such questionable findings. Any agency be it international news agency or human right group should assign the best of its human resource, who at least understand the basics of scientific research, when it comes to particularly matters that involve human lives, whether in Africa or anywhere else. It may be ok to assign any journalist to report about matters that has no consequence (such as interviewing people on the street about their favorite sport teams); however, assigning journalists and investigators about an alleged " possible war crime" deserves the seriousness the matter requires. Such poor and careless reporting , as if there is no or little consequence, is troubling and unconscionable.
The second problem is questions about the credibility of Evidences /Artifacts. I observed two types of evidences that lack credibility. One of them is Amnesty International's evidences of satellite image of "disturbed earth " which shows 2 burial sites (one of which is indicated as new). The very presence of a new burial site doesn't tell anything other than showing someone was buried, unless there is another evidence that corroborates to conclude that the killings were deliberate actions and the dead were not fighters who died fighting in the war. The other troubling evidences are the video clips of the Human Rights Watch report that tell literally nothing other than showing that : they were recorded in Axum, there were audible gunshots, some properties were damaged, there were pillage of health centers, there was a body, and there were some unarmed individuals wandering in the town. All of which are common in war situations and none of them show who did what (which is a key information needed in an investigation of this nature). The report didn't substantiate these videos other than adding "one witness said this" and " another witness said that " type of analysis. This adds to the questionable nature of the data collection and analysis conducted by the investigators. I urge the so called investigators to visit the said places and do actual, in person investigation, since the areas of interest are now open to investigators. We all want to know the truth; do us a favor!
The third problem is the involvement of entities who may have a possible Conflict of Interest. One of the hallmarks of scientific investigation is making sure the study is not influenced by a conflict of interest. There have been some aid agencies whose involvement and even opinions threaten the integrity of the investigation due to a obvious conflict of interest. Meaning, aid agencies exist only as long as disaster happens; while we appreciate their help in delivering aid to those who need it, their involvement or view about any disaster investigation is a pure conflict of interest. Therefore they should be neutral.
The fourth problem is the involvement of Non-neutral Actors. Political heavy weights who have time and again shown unreserved support to one side should distance their opinions from contaminating the objectivity of an investigation of this type. For decades, the TPLF has cultivated friendship with individuals like Susan Rice whose allegiance is to the TPLF's leadership as opposed to Ethiopia as a country. For many Ethiopians she is the embodiment of hypocrisy, especially following her utter disrespect to Ethiopians following a disputed election where the then ruling party, EPRDF, declared it won 100% of the vote . Supporters of the current government in Ethiopia (even in those in the opposition) are not at ease with Susan Rice's very first tweet and re-tweet about the current situation in Ethiopia which accused the Ethiopian Military of possible "war crime", even before any credible evidence was reported. It is unfortunate that her influence in the Biden administration and the reports and tweets that come from the current state department shows her direct or indirect influence.
The fifth problem is what is known as Selective Reporting. One of the ethical expectations of scientific investigation is to report significant findings without withholding critical facts. It is unfortunate that the Mai Kadra massacre, that the independent Ethiopian Human Rights Council concluded to have been committed by a youth group organized by TPLF, has been largely ignored by the major western media outlets. This raises a question about the impartiality of the investigators.
The sixth problem is Rushed Conclusion. Investigation by nature takes time. The rush by some governments and international organizations to accuse that Ethiopian and Eritrean forces of alleged "war crimes" is premature. While those like Antony Blinken have already concluded Abiy's government is at fault, as early as in November ,even before the above poorly investigative reporting surfaced; other governments and agencies may have been misled by these biased investigations and may be contemplating knee-jerk reactions.
In conclusion, all who genuinely seek the truth should hold on and allow facts and objectivity dictate the investigation. An independent and credible investigation is needed. Erroneous investigative process supported by unreliable sources definitely leads to a wrong conclusion.
The writer could be reached at : dbbabebe@gmail.com
Editor's note : To publish articles on this site, please send submission to info@borkena.com
Ethipia
Awash Lemma March 19, 2021	At	3:22 pm
Dear Debebe
The title of your article (which is excellent, by the way) is a question: The unequivocal answer is "yes, of course"!
The Western powers are not "seeking the truth..". They want to reach a predetermined conclusion which justifies their neo-colonial objectives..
rezen March 19, 2021	At	3:38 pm
Subject: "Is the West Deliberately Exacerbating the Current Situation in Ethiopia? " By Debebe S. Abebe, New York, March 19, 2021
Very Short Commentary, 19 Mar 2021
YES, YES, YES ………because Dark Africa is a play ground of the WEST, the EAST and OTHERS.
In that hard and painful reality, do EDUCATED AFRICANS with the highest academic degrees, entitled 'Doctor of Philosophy', get together to save AFRICA? NO WAY! NO WAY! They were NOT educated to be conscious of their beloved Africa. Instead, they attempted to become perfect mimickers, with a disastrous ending that we see TODAY.
Thank You Ato Debebe for that meaningful and penetrating question. Being extremely excited with the TITLE, I did NOT even read the Article at all!!
As always, my THANKS goes to borkena.com for the provision of space for us to release our submerged feelings of anger and sadness to be the witness of the destruction of our beloved BLACK AFRICA.
WE BECAME THE LAUGHING STOCK of the WORLD. I WILL BE EXTREMELY DELIGHTED TO BE WRONG.
AMEN and INSHALLAH, in alphabetical order, please. THE END
ZENEGNAW ETHIOPIAWI March 20, 2021	At	8:30 pm
My dear ETHIOPIAN brother Debebe, with all due respect to you, it shouldn't even be a question of whether or not the West is exacerbating the situations in ETHIOPIA, but rather, it is the instigator, as well as inciting, participating, financing, protracting and organizing the entire anti ETHIOPIA Nazi style gestapo propaganda, to the point where the situation is at, the forefront leading countries being AmeriKKKa and the human blood drinking white supremacist royals of the so called UK, who has been terrorizing THE BLACK CONTINENT OF AFRICA and continental ASIA for centuries and to this very day.
LONG LIVE ETHIOPIA AND AFRICA
Nightingale March 21, 2021	At	6:53 am
Thank you for a well presented thought piece. Somewhere in the nineties, a humanitarian information network reported how local and international NGOs had finally started to build a relationship with an Ethiopian Ministry at a friendship level. At the time, friendship was remedial in the reconstruction of broken homes and national economy. What a beautiful image to hold onto. Imagine raising your kids to the chant of such good deeds reflected on your TV screen! That prospective fairy tale is now gone and must be replaced by horror in true media entertainment form. The difference is of course that these stories are fabricated based on other histories – own histories have been saturated. Certainly, some countries have crafted powerful media organizations that have managed to run the world. Media were not planted on us by aliens, people befriend them for good reason not always understanding the friendly transaction is actually opportunistic. Longevity and profit is what makes media tick and legal regulators everywhere struggle to control them. There was never a level playing field and bulldozer articles to complement yours just might get the ball moving into the right goalpost.
Woldemariam July 24, 2021	At	1:41 pm
Well the overwhelming view is that they just don't care. Why would they anyway? They just throw comments such as "Oh we are so worried about the landscape the elections were held in". Not every country in the world has to be a Western-style democracy and the elections were more democratic than any elections ever held in the country. Dedub farenj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Golden Age Showcase: Olga Mesmer
February 26, 2018 ~ mblair112
When writing about the Golden Age of Comics, one of the fun little treats is discovering and sharing the origins of the tropes and ideas that permeate the genre to this day.
Batman was the the first superhero to have his parents killed,
Doll Man was the first superhero who used his ability to change size as a superpower,
Superman was the first hero to have a secret identity,
the list goes on.
We've talked at great length about the impact that female characters have had on the comic book industry, and while Wonder Woman may be the most famous super heroine of the Golden Age,
there were several lady superheroes who came before her and a woman named Fantomah is considered to be the first female superhero in a comic book.
However, today's entry comes from a time before we knew what superheroes were. Heck, it comes from a time when we didn't even know what comic books were.
Today we are going to talk about a woman with strange and mysterious powers and who some consider to be America's first super heroine: Olga Mesmer.
Origin and Career
Before comic books were a thing there were comic strips, serialized stories that were published in newspapers across the country and could range from a strip with a few panels,
to grand and complex illustrations that could take up an entire page.
While the comic strip industry laid the groundwork for an entire generation of comic book artists, it was the pulp magazines that laid the foundation for the themes and tropes that would define the future of superheroes.
The pulps were fiction magazines that were really popular for the first half of the 20th century. They got their name from the cheap pulp paper they were printed on, one of them many ways they cut corners and lowered production costs.
They made up for the cheap quality with lurid and fantastic stories that helped influence the heroes that came after. The Shadow was a pulp vigilante who prowled the streets at night and hunted criminals,
and John Carter was a war veteran who found himself transported to Mars, where the planet's gravity gives him superpowers.
While it's impossible to pinpoint it exactly, it's easy to see how the creators of Batman and Superman must have been influenced by their popularity.
Olga Mesmer was an interesting case. She was a comic strip that was initially published inside a pulp magazine. Specifically, she appeared in a magazine hilariously titled Spicy Mystery in September of 1937.
The book was published by a company called Culture Publications.
As for the art itself, nobody really knows who created the artwork or wrote the stories, since old timey publishers didn't give a damn about creators rights or credit. However, we do know that the artwork was contracted out to an art studio known as Majestic Studios, which was owned by a man named Adophe Barreaux.
Barreaux was a well known and established comic book artist from Charleston, South Carolina who worked for several ad agencies and drew other comic strips for Spicy Mysteries such as the raunchy "Sally Sleuth",
and his own syndicated strip: "The Enchanted Stone of Time"
As for Olga Mesmer herself, her origin story is actually quite interesting.
She was the daughter of a royal family originally from the planet Venus and ruled a secret kingdom under the Earth.
It's really interesting to see how people in the past were convinced that there was a whole different world underneath our feet.
Olga's mother was the queen named Margot who had been removed from power during a coup d'etat from a villain named Ombro. She lost her memory in the escape and met a scientist named Dr. Hugo Mesmer. The two fell in love, married, and had a child together. But while she was pregnant, the Doctor began to suspect that his wife was different and his curiosity led him to exposing her to "soluble x-rays", which left her blinded and bedridden.
Yeah, real father of the year material there.
Margot eventually recovered and discovered that she had the ability to see in the x ray spectrum and could see through walls. This gift wound up killing her husband (people didn't really understand x-rays back then) and Margot fled back underground.
Olga was born shortly after and inherited her mother's ability to see through walls and super strength.
It's worth mentioning that there aren't any pictures of Olga where she doesn't have ripped clothing. In fact, there aren't that many pictures of her at all.
She wound up rescuing a man named Rodney Prescott from a group of assailants, which she dealt with by casually killing them.
However, Rodney was seriously wounded and was only saved by a blood transfusion from Olga, which granted him a small measure of her power.
Yeah, people didn't really understand blood transfusions either.
The two became a duo, traveling underground to rescue her mother and defeat the evil machinations of Ombro.
The story ended in 1939, with the two traveling back to Venus and being proposed by a prince of Mars named Boris. Apparently the two planets were at war with each other and their union would hopefully bring peace to the two cultures.
I have no idea what happened next, although I would like to assume everything wound up fine.
Action Comics #1 came out in 1938 and pop culture and entertainment was changed forever.
Comic books became the new literary fad for young boys and girls and while comic strips continued to exist through syndication, the age of the pulp novel as a dominant cultural force was over.
Adolph Barreaux went where the work was and wound up producing comic book art for a whole bunch of publishers. He ended his career in 1953 after working as a children's book illustrator for a company called Trojan Publications.
Olga Mesmer is less than a footnote in pop culture history. She played a small part in a fairly small magazine that was part of a culture that preferred to read her stories and then throw them away. Even her status as America's first super heroine is up for some debate since she doesn't display many of the tropes we associate with heroes today.
However, it is my honest opinion that Olga Mesmer was a hero and that she deserves far more recognition than she is currently getting. Plus, it's kind of cool to see a woman from the 1930's kick so much ass.
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: Kaiju Gods
Full disclosure: this project contains work by Frankie B. Washington, an artist who has done work for this site. No money or special favors were exchanged for the writing of this article.
Today we're talking about a Kickstarter project entitled Kaiju Gods.
This is an anthology book featuring stories about the Japanese giant monster genre of movies known as "kaiju" movies. At the time of writing this project has 20 days left and has raised $4,960 of it's $16,000 goal. Funding ends on March 16th.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/208514895/kaiju-gods?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=kaiju
Why I like it
GIANT MONSTERS AND ROBOTS PUNCHING THINGS!
UNBELIEVABLE DESTRUCTION!
MONSTROUS ROMANCE!
HUMAN ANTS TREMBLING AT IN THE PRESENCE OF A VENGEFUL GOD!!! ALSO…BANANAS!
Sorry…got a little carried away there.
I am a sucker for stories about big things punching other big things and yes, Pacific Rim was a great movie and I am eagerly awaiting the release of Pacific Rim Uprising.
As you can tell from the artwork posted above, there is a huge amount of creativity and passion on display here. In fact, if you got to the campaign page and read it through, you'll find that the guy putting the anthology together had no trouble finding people willing to participate.
Now, while I am a big fan of big things being punched, I will admit that there is the possibility of it getting…boring. Thankfully, this anthology has gathered a wide and diverse pool of talent utilizing different backgrounds, art styles, and story techniques to tell a wide range of stories that deal with the kaiju monsters.
There seems to be a story where a samurai fights a kaiju with nothing but a bow and arrow,
I don't know any of the specifics, all I know is that it looks awesome.
Why you should donate
Because kaiju are the perfect metaphor for our time.
We live in a massive, interconnected, and increasingly complicated world that is in the process of changing in ways that we can't possible imagine.
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather live here and now instead of anywhere else, but when times change the chaos can be incredibly destructive.
The internet and social media may have given the individual a greater voice and reach bigger and bigger audiences, but all that noise and activity and be so overwhelming that it drives us to become more and more isolated and withdrawn.
Globalization has allowed millions of people to be lifted out of poverty, but has reduced millions more to jobs where they are nothing more than cogs in a very large machine that is nearly impossible to comprehend.
To top it all off, the Earth's climate is changing, creating an uncertain future where we are unable to sustain our current lifestyle and doom entire countries to ecological and environmental disaster.
If it all seems a bit overwhelming it's because it is. Our brains are incapable of processing tragedies that affect so many people, so we simply shrug our shoulders and write off the suffering of millions as just "something that happens".
That sort of dehumanization is terrifying, and it is that kind of horror that the Japanese knew all too well as they watched their cities being bombed into oblivion by the seemingly overwhelming and alien force that was the United States military.
One man who understood that horror well was a little known director named Ishiro Honda,
and in 1954 he gave that horror a name: Godzilla.
We can look back at the past and admire how far we've come, we can look towards the future and eagerly await what's to come, but it is important to look at where we are in the present and realize just how small and insignificant we really are.
Golden Age Showcase: Waku Prince of the Bantu
Did I go and see the Black Panther movie this weekend? Of course I went to go see the Black Panther movie this weekend!
It's a great movie, if you haven't seen it yet than you need to stop what you're doing and go watch this movie right now, you can read this article while you're watching the dozens of previews attached to the movie.
But I'm not here to talk about how this movie is important, other people are doing a better job of that than I can. While he was the first black character in mainstream comics, he wasn't the first black character to star in his own series.
That was Waku, Prince of the Bantu.
Waku made his first appearance in Atlas Comics' Jungle Tales #1 in September of 1954.
Yes, the title says "Jungle Action" we'll get to that.
The character was created by artist Ogden Whitney,
who worked as a fairly successful artist for several comic book companies and is most famous for co creating a hero named Herbie Popnecker.
It's pretty clear that the comic is following in the footsteps of the old Tarzan stories, which makes sense because this book came out during a time when comics were moving away from super heroes and into alternate genres such as romance and westerns.
It was also released at a time when race relations in America weren't at their best.
What's interesting about comics is that black people have actually been part of the comic book landscape since the beginning. It's just that the way they've been portrayed hasn't always been…
well let's be polite and say "sensitive".
Waku was the first black character to star in a series of stories as the main lead. Not only that, but the stories featured a predominately black cast.
Certainly sounds familiar.
The character was the head of a tribe living in the depths of South Africa, and it is worth mentioning that there is some respect paid to actual history here. The Bantu Migration was an actual historical event and is widely considered to have played an important role in developing African politics and identity.
The character's first adventure has him inheriting the leadership of the tribe from his dying father, who tells him to forswear violence and govern with kindness and wisdom. This proves problematic when he refuses to participate in ritual combat in order to take his place as king and loses his throne to a greedy and ambitious rival, who tries to sell his people's services to "white hunters" at great personal profit. Waku winds up killing this usurper and is about to kill himself in penance for what he's done when his father appears as an apparition and frees him from his vow.
The character would go on to appear in seven more issues and in each issue he would fight off some challenger to his throne or threat to his people. This ranged from wrestling lions,
to evil shamans capable of raising armies of the dead.
In all of his appearanc
Jungle Tales lasted seven issues and was later changed to Jan of the Jungle.
I guess it's true what they say, sex sells.
Normally changing a title like that hints at some serious problems for the publisher but this time it wasn't the case. Atlas Comics re branded in the 60's as the more familiar Marvel Comics.
I'm sure they need no introduction.
Marvel rode the coattails of a little known writer who had been working for them since the 30's and an artist with an incredible work ethic and a penchant for smoking cigars: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
For the handful of people that don't know their names, these two men basically invented the entire Marvel Universe that we know and love today.
And in 1966 they introduced the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52.
After a couple of guest spots with the Fantastic Four and Captain America, Black Panther was given his own solo series. The title of the book? Jungle Action.
Now, I'm not saying that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby used Waku as a direct inspiration for Black Panther, there isn't any evidence of that and any allegations made would be unfounded and unprofessional. But it's worth considering that both characters were kings of African nations and tribes, both of them were capable warriors, and both Lee and Kirby were working for Atlas at the time Waku was being published.
I'd say that is one hell of a coincidence.
Is Waku a better character than Black Panther? Not really. Should Waku have been the face of black characters in comics? No. But Waku was the first black character who was the star of his own stories and he was treated with respect and dignity.
He was a good man, a capable ruler, and a good starting point for Marvel's long and storied collection of black comic book characters.
Golden Age Showcase: The Eye
Last week we talked about a superhero known as "The Hand".
Everyone seemed to like it so here's a write up about another body part that decided to become a superhero.
Yes, there was more than one of these, and this one was actually a bit more successful.
Say hello to The Eye.
The Eye made its first appearance in Keen Detective Funnies #12 in December of 1939.
The book was published by a company called Centaur Publications, one of the earliest comic book publishers in American history and the company that helped Bill Everett get his start in comics.
Bill Everett is the man who helped create Namor the Submariner and Daredevil.
The character itself was created by a man named Frank Thomas.
You may not know the man's face, but I'm willing to bet that if you're an animator or a Disney fan you know his his name and his work.
The man was one of the original animators on Walt Disney's creative team when the company was just starting out and helped produce some of the most recognizable classics in modern animation history. One example? He animated this scene from Snow White.
He also helped write a book with a colleague of his named Ollie Johnston called The Illusion of Life,
a book that remains one of the most important milestones in 2D hand drawn animation to this day. In fact, the two men were so influential that they were given a cameo appearance in The Incredibles, one of my favorite movies of all time.
Basically Frank Thomas was a big deal, and The Eye was his contribution to the comic book world.
As for The Eye itself, his first adventure starts with the whitest Afghani family on the face of the planet.
The old man laments that he was once a prosperous businessman but had his livelihood stolen from him. Suddenly, a disembodied eye appears in the room.
Meanwhile, in Kabul we're introduced to the vain and pompous villain of the story, a man named Herat, who wants the old man dead.
You know, I can't help but wonder how differently this story would play out if it was published today.
Anyway, the villain tries to hire two hitmen to take out his rival. Fortunately The Eye stops them with his ability to travel anywhere and shoot heat blasts out of his…well eye.
Boy, I know red eye flights are a pain…but this is ridiculous. (wait don't go…come back!)
The story resolves itself quickly and just in the way you would expect. The villain is defeated, and justice is served. The Eye has saved the day and the old man and his daughter are free to return to their business.
The Eye would go on to become something of a regular back up feature in the comic. The stories weren't connected, it was more of an anthology tale where The Eye would drop in on a group of criminals committing a crime and use one of his many ill defined powers to save the day.
He was also given a sidekick, a young attorney named Jack Barrister who would assist The Eye whenever it needed a hand.
The Eye ran for eight issues in Keen Detective and must have been popular because he was given his own series in November of 1940.
The Eye may have been popular enough to get his own series, but his publisher wasn't so lucky. While Centaur may have been one of the first comic book publishers ever, poor distribution and business sense saw the company go under in 1940.
While the company folded, it did retain something of a legacy. In 1987 one of his stories was reprinted in a book called Mr. Monster's Hi Shock Schlock by Michael T. Gilbert.
And in 1992 a company called Malibu Comics revived a bunch of Malibu characters into a team known as The Protectors,
and the Eye was cast as a supporting character.
The Eye was a genuinely interesting idea and character for a superhero. He had an interesting gimmick and he had a legendary creator behind him. If it wasn't for his publisher going out of business I'm willing to bet it would have gone on to become a staple of modern comic book superheroes as well.
It's a real shame to see an idea like that go to waste.
Golden Age Showcase: The Hand
February 5, 2018 ~ mblair112
This one is going to be a short one, but boy is it a weird one.
We're all familiar with the idea of a giant hand that is used as a metaphor for controlling things. The hit video game Super Smash Bros. has the "Master Hand" as a final boss,
Marvel Comics has the super secret group of ninja demons known as "The Hand",
and many real life people love to claim that our lives and fortunes are at the whim of the "invisible hand of the market".
Yes, the hand is always there. It's big, it's powerful, and it's completely unknown to we small pathetic creatures.
But did you know that someone tried to take this idea of "The Hand" and turn it into a superhero in the 1940's?
Told you this was going to be weird.
The Hand made his first appearance in Speed Comics #12 in 1941.
The comic series was the first comic book title published by Harvey Comics, a relative newcomer to the comic book scene and a company that would become famous for licensed titles such as Caspar the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich.
Fun fact: Speed Comics had been bought from a struggling publisher called Brookwood Publications and was Harvey's entry point into comic book publishing. Without this title, Harvey wouldn't go on to become a major comic book publisher.
The character of The Hand was created by Ben Flinton and Bill O'Connor, two men who would go on to create the Golden Age version of the superhero known as The Atom.
Unfortunately, both men would wind up joining the armed services in 1942, and while both men survived they did not return to comics after that.
In his first and longest adventure, the Hand doesn't fight Nazis or stop saboteurs. Instead, he stops a couple of card sharks from ripping off a casino.
He is introduced with no fanfare, no explanation, and no backstory. He just appears and warns two men that they better watch themselves.
The two men ignore the warning and begin to clean out the house. The Hand warns management, who takes it all in remarkable stride and agrees to let the disembodied hand help him.
I like to imagine that the hand belongs to some sort of cosmic being that is actually a child and is trying to act all grown up by helping people.
Why not? It's more explanation than the comic gives.
The Hand is also a capable fighter…and capable of phasing through walls.
However, when the criminals attempt to stop The Hand by confessing, The Hand realizes that they will not be arrested or charged for their crimes. So he brands them on the forehead so the world will know what they've done.
Apparently, The Hand has never heard of hats. Which kind of makes sense.
On a side note: this comic issue deserves special mention for the story that came directly after this one. Since most comics at the time were anthologies publishing short stories of only a couple of pages, we got treated to this one.
A kid taking out a head of state with a rifle and people being okay with it? Boy the times really were different back then.
Anyway, The Hand would have one more story in the following issue of Speed Comics where he played the patriotic game and helped the F.B.I defeat some foreign spies.
It was shorter, but had more action.
So The Hand was an established hero with a gimmick and a creative team behind him…
…and that was it, those were the only two issues that featured The Hand as a superhero.
It's really not that surprising really. The character was a small backup feature in a series that didn't last very long and was published by a company that shifted focus away from original characters and into licensed stories.
Plus, let's be honest, the two stories that The Hand appeared in weren't that exciting or good.
The Hand may have been a small time character with boring stories, but that doesn't mean the concept wasn't interesting or that he didn't have any value. Sure, the creature was a hero and had a sense of agency and purpose, but it always had room for normal people to step in and take over when the time was right.
It appeared that The Hand was some sort of benevolent spirit who helped where he could and allowed normal people to do the right thing, and if that isn't heroic I don't know what is.
The Hand had potential, it would be a shame to forget that.
Comic book showcase: Black Lightning
January 22, 2018 ~ mblair112
So I just watched the season premiere of CW's Black Lightning yesterday.
It's pretty good. The effects were great, the character dynamics were well thought out and have a lot of potential, and it pulls absolutely no punches when it comes to dealing with the…well let's be polite and say "strained" relationship between black Americans and the police.
By all accounts the CW has another hit on their hands and it looks like Black Lightning is here to stay, so let's look at his origins and see what's changed and if the show can learn anything from the comics.
Black Lightning was created in 1977, a few decades after the Golden Age of Comics and the favorite time period of this blog. This is going to require a little explanation.
It's widely believed that the Golden Age of Comics ended in 1956 with the publication of Showcase #4 and the introduction of Barry Allen as the Flash.
This brought along the Silver Age of Comics, a time period that was known for comics that focused on a more sci fi and technological oriented appeal.
Magic had been replaced by space science and monsters had been replaced by aliens.
This was also the time when Marvel Comics came into the world as the comic book company we all know and love today. A little known creator named Stan Lee decided to create a super hero family that traveled across time and space to defeat strange and fantastic threats.
It did pretty well and helped kick off the Marvel Universe that we all know and love today.
However, by the 1970's things were changing again, and comics were moving out of the high concept science fantasy of the Silver Age. Times were changing. There were protests,
racial violence,
and there was a general sense of doom and gloom.
Yes, the 1970's were a unique and special time that we will never have to live through again.
The great thing about these changing times was that in the comic book industry restrictions on what comic books could be talk about were becoming looser and looser, and in 1970 we entered a time that comic book historians called "The Bronze Age of Comics".
This was a time where comic books got darker and edgier, talking about issues like drugs,
not shying away from violence,
and launching an explosion of black superheroes. Luke Cage is probably the most famous and successful of these heroes.
Anyway, DC had a problem in the 1970's, Marvel was growing too fast and taking away a huge portion of their business. So DC decided to try and beat Marvel by flooding the market with a slew of new titles. One of these titles was going to be DC's first black superhero and they eventually decided to publish….the Black Bomber.
The Black Bomber was supposed to be a white bigot who hated black people, but thanks to an accident he gained the ability to turn into a black superhero when under duress.
This is the only picture I could find of him. The only other reference he got in a comic book was a small reference in a Justice League of America comic written by Dwayne McDuffie.
Yeah, this was probably not a good idea.
So what convinced the editors at DC to change their mind? Why one of the writers of Luke Cage of course!
The guy on the right is Tony Isabella, one of the early writers of Luke Cage. DC had hired Tony to create their first black superhero and in 1977 he partnered with artist Trevor Von Eden,
to create Black Lightning.
Black Lightning's real name is Jefferson Pierce. He actually grew up in the poorest part of Metropolis known as Suicide Slum. After becoming a highly successful athlete an scholar he returned home and he used a newly created power belt that helped him shoot bolts of electricity to clean up the streets of drug dealers and gang members.
Where was Superman in all of this? Probably saving Earth from aliens but whatever.
Black Lightning did initially play up a lot of stereotypes that were prevalent among the black community in the 1970's. His costume and accent were over the top and almost comical but his intentions were good and he proved himself to be a respectable hero in his own right, gaining the trust of Superman and several other figures in the city in his battle against the gang that had made Suicide Slum their home, a group called The 100 and led by a large man known as Tobias Whale.
Aside from changing the location, the show appears to be pretty loyal to the comics. Granted, in his early appearances Black Lightning isn't married and doesn't have kids, but that would come later.
Unfortunately the individual series for the character only lasted 11 issues. While DC had high hopes in regaining its market share by flooding the market with new comics, it didn't work out so well due to rising printing costs, the 1977 blizzard, and an awful economic recession. A year later the company cancelled 40% of its titles in an event known as the "DC Implosion".
Black Lightning survived, although he would only show up in other books for the next couple of years. In 1983, he joined a group called the Outsiders, a group of superheroes led by Batman and featured mostly new characters like Katana and Geo-Force.
So yes, the idea that Batman is everything is nothing new.
In 1989 it was revealed that his powers weren't the result of his power belt, but they were actually derived from a genetic abnormality known as the "Metagene", a plot point that has been used throughout the DC universe as the source of power for a large number of their heroes.
DC's first black superhero would get another crack at a solo series in 1995, and they even brought back Tony Isabella to do the writing.
Unfortunately, history has a nasty way of repeating itself and the series was cancelled after 13 issues.
Black Lightning has continued to exist in the DC universe as a hero making appearances in other books. At one point, Lex Luthor actually made him Secretary of Education when he was elected President of the United States.
But let's not delve too much into the fact that a comic book company had a corrupt businessman elected to the Presidency, that's just too unrealistic.
He would also get a family and two children to look after. Their names were Anissa and Jennifer Pierce and they have been a staple of Black Lightning's identity ever since.
Even though he's never had much of a solo career, Black Lightning is a capable and talented hero with a great backstory and plenty of potential.
He is a teacher, a mentor, and a very capable role model for everyone in the DC universe but most importantly of all…he has the respect and attention of Batman.
I think this CW show is going to be awesome.
Golden Age Showcase: Lobo
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day everyone!
Today is the birthday of one of America's greatest civil rights leaders and in honor of the day I'm also going to post the video to his famous "I have a Dream" speech, which I highly encourage you to watch since it is one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century.
Fun fact: the man was also a huge Star Trek fan.
He was such a huge fan that he personally begged Nichelle Nichols to keep her iconic role as Lt. Nyota Uhura on the show.
Don't believe me? The Washington Post can do a better job of explaining it than I can.
Anyway, another tradition that this blog has for Martin Luther King Jr. Day is talking about black representation in the comic book industry. Today I thought it would be nice to talk about the first black comic book character to star in his own solo comic book series: Lobo.
The character made his debut in his own self titled series in December of 1965.
The comic was published by a company called Dell Comics, which had survived the comic book crash of the 1950's by publishing Disney licensed comics and grew to become the largest comic book publisher of the 1960's.
He was created by writer and Dell Comics editor Don Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico. Both of them were white men from Minneapolis and Brooklyn respectively and thought that having a black cowboy as the main character of a series might be a good sales hook to lure interested readers.
Since the comic was published two years after King's famous speech and in the middle of the American Civil Rights movement I can see the logic.
The story itself starts off at the very end of the Civil War, where it is revealed that the main character fought for the Union and is happy to finally be free.
Unfortunately, the unit is attacked by a bunch of Confederate soldiers who haven't heard that the war is over. The main character is fed up with the violence and decides to move West to start a new life for himself. He becomes a cattle drover on a ranch where he is framed for murder and decides to become a vigilante and hunt down other criminals. His trademark is a gold coin with a wolf's head on it, which is where he gets his name since "Lobo" is Spanish for wolf.
His name is never revealed and his race is never brought up as a point of contention. He's a good and capable man who just happens to be black.
Now, believe it or not, this story does have some basis in historical fact. There were black soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War,
many people did move out west in an attempt to start a new life after the war and there were black cowboys such as Nat Love who worked in the West as cattle drivers.
So we have a publishing company at the height of its power, with a character based in a genre that was doing really well at the time and steeped in historical fact, coupled with a good creative team telling a story about a black man in the middle of one of the most progressive and forward looking eras in American history.
The series was cancelled due to poor sales numbers. Basically, how the industry worked back then was that publishers would print a certain number of copies of a book and sell it to retailers who would mark up the price and sell it to the public. Any copies that weren't sold would have their covers cut off and returned to the publisher.
After publishing the first issue of Lobo comic book retailers returned over 90% of the copies that Dell Comics had shipped out.
It's worth mentioning that this is not the case with comic book distribution today since the distribution industry doesn't allow returns and is dominated by a singe company called Diamond Distributors,
but that is another story.
While there is not official explanation for the crappy sales numbers it's probably safe to assume that a comic book with a gun wielding black man on the cover in 1960's America probably didn't go over very well with the majority of the American comic book buying public, who just so happened to be white.
Still, it was a well written, well drawn character with some serious and well meaning effort behind his creation and while we may never grace the cover of another comic book ever again, his position in the annuls of comic book history is assured as the first African American solo comic book character.
Golden Age Showcase: Alias X
January 8, 2018 ~ mblair112
After a nice relaxing Christmas break, and a nasty cold, we're back to deliver more strange and interesting superheroes of the early days of comics.
2017 was a great year for this blog and we look forward to more of the same this year. In fact, let's get started with a good one.
Here's a hero that never made it past 1943, but could actually be a perfect hero for the modern day: Alias X.
He even has a cool name.
Alias X made his first appearance in Captain Fearless #1 in August of 1941.
We are definitely going to cover the guy on the cover later.
Alias himself was created by Ray Allen and Al Ulmer, two men who will remain mysterious since I can't find their pictures.
The cover of the book says that it's published by a company called Holyoke Publishing, but that isn't true. It was actually created by a company called Hellnit Publishing, which was owned by this man: Frank Z. Temerson.
Remember this, it becomes important later.
The character himself was created by Ray Allen and Al Ulmer, two people who are so obscure that I can't find any photos of them anywhere.
The hero's story starts in the middle. A mysterious costumed hero who goes by the name of "X" has been terrorizing the criminal underworld and the police commissioner and a newspaper editor are talking about him.
The hero makes an unexpected appearance and decides to tell the two men his backstory.
He refuses to give his name, but mentions that he was a small time taxi operator who was charged with the murder of a cop.
The man decides to do the right thing…by escaping prison and bringing those responsible to justice.
A man on trial for a crime he didn't commit? Being forced to answer questions without a lawyer? Making his escape in order to clear his name? Yep, sounds like a comic book character to me!
The man doesn't have any superpowers, but he does use his time in hiding to become a master of disguise.
The comic says his home was only ten miles away from the prison. He's either the smartest man in the world or these cops are idiots.
The new hero manages to foil a robbery using his powers of disguise, and tells the commissioner and newspaper editor that if he manages to complete his mission, someday he will reveal who he really is.
The rest of Alias' adventures would follow a similar pattern where he would find and catch a group of criminals using his powers of disguise. Sadly, he didn't have a whole lot of time or enough attention to give him an established super villain, although he did appear in a comic called Captain Aero where he fought a Nazi spy ring.
Alias X would only have a handful of appearances and ceased to exist after 1942, a much shorter lifespan than his contemporaries. Why? Well…
So you remember the start of the article, where I said the character was originally published under Helnit Publishing under the control of Frank Z. Temerson?
Well, get ready for legal shenanigans because here's where it gets weird.
Holyoke Publishing wasn't a book publisher, it was a newspaper business.
The company decided to enter the comic book business by taking books created by Helnit Publishing, along with the bankrupt Fox Publications, and repackage them under the Holyoke name.
This was how Holyoke became the publisher of the Blue Beetle, a Golden Age hero with a much longer history than Alias X.
If this sounds sketchy than you've got good instincts. Documentation over who owned what was pretty poor back then and the owner of Fox Publications would wind up suing Holyoke and winning.
Temerson, being the original owner of Alias X, would also reclaim what he lost and Holyoke would cease publishing comics in 1944.
Alias X is an interesting case as far as Golden Age superheroes go. Since he was published by a company that had a small audience and a troubled history he didn't get a whole lot of attention and respect. Also, unlike most of the heroes we talk about on this blog he fell off the map at the height of popularity for super heroes in American culture.
Could he have survived the post war years? Would he have gone on to become one of the great heroes of the modern age?
Probably not, but I think it would have been interesting to try.
Golden Age Showcase: The biggest space opera of early science fiction
December 18, 2017 ~ mblair112
I feel compelled to talk about a well known, nostalgic, space opera about a small group of plucky rebels against an all powerful empire that threatens the freedom and safety of the entire galaxy. It would also help if this space opera has a rabidly loyal fan base and has gone on to influence popular culture for decades
What, you were expecting something else?
Before Superman made comic books profitable in 1938 the best way to get sequential stories published was through a newspaper comic strip. The strips were published and distributed through something called syndication. This was where a syndication company would hire a creator to create a strip and then distribute it to various newspapers around the country.
One of the biggest names in the industry at the time was King Features Syndication.
How big is it? Well, it's still around today and if you've ever picked up the comics section of a newspaper before, I guarantee that you've read one of their strips.
Anyway, in 1934 King Features had a problem. A rival company had just rolled out a science fiction adventure comic called Buck Rogers to huge commercial success.
King didn't want to miss out on this explosion of sci fi popularity, so they turned to a staff artist in their employ named Alex Raymond.
He was the man who created Flash Gordon and in May of 1934, the first comic strip debuted.
The strip begins with the end of the world. A giant planet named Mongo is on a collision course with Earth and a half mad scientist named Dr. Zarkov kidnaps a Yale polo player named Flash Gordon and his true love Dale Arden to stop the collision and save Earth.
They manage to stop the collision and save Earth, only to come into contact with Mongo's evil ruler: the awesomely named Ming the Merciless.
Impact and legacy
The comic was a huge hit and would go on to inspire dozens of adventures, re imaginings, and become a massive multi media franchise with the release of several movie serials between 1936 and 1940.
The character remained popular through the 1940's and 50's, transcending the backlash that so many comic book characters faced in post war America. He even got a big budget re imagining several decades later which was a pretty blatant attempt at cashing in on its nostalgic value in 1980 where the main hero was re imagined for modern audiences.
Because the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Side note: the comic has a website that publishes strips every week. You can find it here and it's really worth checking out.
Everything about the character, from the comic to the movies, is deliciously cheesy and over the top. It's got strange aliens, grand romance, and the forces of good triumphing over impossible odds. It was also a massive influence for a lot of film makers and creative types at the time, including a little known film student named George Lucas.
Lucas would go on to use the Flash Gordon space opera, along with ideas from film legend Akria Kurosawa and a host of others, to create a little film called Star Wars.
It's a really obscure movie, you've probably never heard of it.
The more you look at it, the more similarities you can find. Like Flash Gordon, Star Wars has a band of plucky rebels,
resisting an evil ruler,
and tells a deeply personal story set against the backdrop of a massive and violent sci fi universe.
Oh, and both franchises are famous for the sheer amount of merchandise and spin offs they managed to produce.
Flash Gordon is one of the greatest and most influential science fiction stories of all time. It's epic scope and scale, along with it's amazing story telling and imagination, have ensured its place in the annals of pop culture history and as the direct ancestor of one of the greatest stories of the 20th century.
Crowd funded comics that deserve more attention: Mighty Mascots
It's been a while, mostly because of holiday stress and a chaotic work situation, but we're doing another one of these Kickstarter write ups this week!
Full disclosure: The author of this article does have a personal and professional friendship with the creator of this project and it does include artwork by Frankie B. Washington, the primary artist on a web comic published by this site. The author has also donated to this project, but no money or favors were exchanged for the writing of this article.
Today we're going to talk about a Kickstarter project called The Mighty Mascots
The comic is a superhero story about a collection of food mascots (think the Planter's Peanut or the Seakist tuna) who are brought to life through a freak 3-D printing accident and are brought together to fight various evil doers. While the Kickstarter is funding the first creation of the first issue there are plans to turn it into an ongoing series.
(this drawing was done by Frankie B. Washington)
The project was created by Keith Gleason and at the time of writing the project has $828 of its $1000 goal and has twelve days left to donate.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/914859599/the-mighty-mascots-comic-book-issue-1
As I mentioned at the top of the article, I know the creator of this project personally, and I can say without irony or coercion that Mr. Gleason knows his stuff.
More specifically, Mr. Gleason is very good at writing lighthearted and humorous stories that feature interesting characters and incredibly unique set ups.
This project is no exception. Where else are you going to find a bear with clawed boxing gloves,
fighting next to an anthropomorphic glass of water, sugar, and blue food dye?
The idea of using food brands as superheroes is an awesome idea. Sure it's been done before,
but I will bet a considerable amount of money that this comic will be better than that abomination.
The art team is also worth mentioning. As I said before, the comic features work from Frankie B. Washington and the principal artist is a man named Ian Waryanto,
who has done work for creators at Image and Marvel.
So it's a cool idea, put together by a great creative team, and most importantly it's a fun comic in an industry that has pushed fun and joy aside to focus on dark and brooding drama.
And then of course there's the nostalgia factor which leads me into…
If you're a nostalgia fan, specifically a fan of 80's and 90's cartoons that were thinly veiled advertisements for action figures and sugary snacks and beverages, you owe it to yourself to back this project. Let me explain why using two of the biggest nostalgic cash grabs in today's market: Transformers and Stranger Things.
We all know that nostalgia is big business, which has led to everything from big budget versions of our favorite toy cartoons,
to coming of age stories that reassure us that keeping our emotional attachment to the toys we grew up with isn't just okay, it can actually save the world.
What's interesting is that while Hollywood is riding a massive cash wave of nostalgic fervor, it's not Hollywood's kind of nostalgia.
The fact of the matter is that most of the people in charge of what kind of movies and shows get made are too old to wax nostalgic about the 1980's and 90's. Let me put it to you this way, do you really think Michael Bay grew up on the Transformers cartoon?
The answer is no, he was born in 1965 and would have been in his twenties by the time the Transformers cartoon rolled around.
To properly leverage nostalgia into a product that can be profitable and enjoyable to its target audience you have to understand why audiences loved the original product in the first place. This is usually helped by being part of the generation that grew up on said product and being given the time and freedom to put that feeling into film.
I think that it's the reason why Stranger Things works so well. The Duffer Brothers have demonstrated that they understand why people who grew up in the 1980's loved that time period so much and Netflix has been very generous in leaving creators alone to do their work.
So what would you rather have: an army of ancient Hollywood executives approving movies based off of nostalgic properties that they have little to no interest in, or a small team of creatives who genuinely care about what they're working on and who want to put their heart and soul into something that they care about?
If your answer was the second option than go ahead, donate to the comic about cereal and beverage mascots fighting crime and taking names.
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Singapore in 1 Day
How to see the best of Singapore in less than 24 hours? That was the question facing us, as the first part of my group tour was coming to an end. I booked one long trip, lasting 4 weeks, but it's composed of two shorter ones, and the group and leader would be changing for the second half. This also meant I couldn't book any extra time in Singapore, as I had to fly on to Indonesia immediately. We left Melaka in the morning, and took the public bus down to Singapore, which of course meant crossing the border, by disembarking the bus twice to pass out through Malaysian immigration, and in through Singapore's. We arrived at the hotel in the middle of the afternoon, and only had the rest of that day to explore, as my next flight was first thing in the morning!
Our tour leader took us for lunch first, at a local food court not far from the hotel, which in turn was near Little India. Just from this area, and the bus and taxi rides through the city, it was clear that Singapore is a vast, modern, international city (not unlike Hong Kong in some ways, but even more modern, since it's only 50 years old as a country). We didn't linger long for lunch though, as we were all eager to see as much of the city as possible in the time we had! We caught the MRT (though I kept incorrectly calling it the MTR, the same as in HK) to Raffles Place, named for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore, and owned much of the land the buildings in this area are on. There was a statue of him there, discussing trade with Chinese merchants. We walked along the river, where we could just make out a clocktower and the park where the Victoria Monument is. One of the most famous buildings along this part is the Fullerton Hotel, a 5 star hotel where important guests in Singapore stay. It looked very impressive, with its colonial style architecture, and the other side of it has views looking on to the bay.
We continued towards the bay ourselves, passing the hotel and crossing the road, eventually arriving at Merlion Square. The merlion is part lion, part mermaid, and the national animal of Singapore - this makes me feel much better about Scotland's national animal, a fellow mythical creature, the unicorn. At least we don't have gigantic fountains of it around our cities, though I must admit, the huge merlion statue spouting water into the bay isn't a sight you'll forget easily! This was also a great spot for views all around of the Singapore skyline; the Fullerton, and various tall banking buildings were beside us; the Esplanade, including the 'durian fruit' stadiums; and directly opposite, the Marina Bay Sands, a vast hotel of three towers topped with a boat-like deck, which has an infinity pool overlooking the bay. We neither had the time nor the funds to visit that one (apparently there's one price for only the observation deck, another for access to all the facilities up there), but it's definitely an impressive and memorable structure even just to view from below! We walked around the bay, starting from the Merlion Square, passing the Esplanade, and crossing the Helix bridge, leading towards the hotel. It was a fun one to walk across, with its metal strands twisting over us, and we noticed there were circles on the ground with the letters t, a, c, and g, which are the nucleobases that make up DNA strands (hence the double helix). Fittingly, the bridge also led towards the flower shaped art & science museum next to the Marina Bay Sands shopping centre, the lower building in front of the hotel. Neither was our destination though!
Instead, we headed behind the hotel, to where the Gardens by the Bay lay in wait. This was my top priority for Singapore, as I've been dying to see the Supertrees in person for years! There are three groves, and we passed the Silver trees as we entered the gardens, getting our first glimpse of these massive, iconic structures. I assume the plants growing up their trunks will eventually cover their branches too, but for now these are bare, standing out against the sky, and I still think it looks pretty cool. We could see the tops of the main Supertree Grove over the tops of other trees, but first we headed to the two conservatories, which require entrance tickets. We visited the Flower Dome first, which is home to various tropical and temperate plants, with gardens themed around various climate zones, including Australia, Africa, South America, and the Mediterranean. We browsed in here for over an hour, stopping to take photos of the prettiest blooms and most unusual plants, especially the cacti and baobab trees. We were also fascinated by the wood carvings, gnarled and twisted pieces made to look like different animals, the most impressive probably being the dragon, surveying the dome from up high. There was also an autumn harvest themed display happening in the basin of the dome, which clearly is changed seasonally. There was a a huge vegetable man in the middle, surrounded by hundreds of pumpkins, and various seasonal flowers, in hues of orange and yellow. Some of the pumpkins served as scarecrow heads, and others were even carved into jack-o-lanterns. I did prefer the flowers and other garden areas in comparison, as this seemed a bit more artificial, but I guess having changing displays like this is good for regular visitors, like those with annual passes.
The second conservatory is the Cloud Forest, and we conveniently managed to arrive just as it was being misted, as the flowers in here are from cooler, wetter climates in tropical mountains, such as from South East Asia, and South and Central America (I was certainly reminded of my time in the actual cloud forest in Costa Rica). When you first walk into this dome, the initial view is staggering; a 42m high mountain stands before you, decked in greenery and flowers, with windows on to its different levels, and waterfalls cascading down in front of the whole thing. Walking around it allowed us to get a closer look at the array of plants growing out the sides of it, which definitely included some more unusual blooms. We had to queue for a while to take the elevator to the top of the mountain, but the line was even longer later on as we were leaving, so our wait time wasn't too bad in comparison! We whizzed to the top, where we were met by the Lost World, which included a display of carnivorous plants - entirely constructed from Lego bricks! This level also gave us an impressive view of the Marina Bay Sands, as the sun was setting behind it. We wandered along the cloud walks - not going to lie, my fear of heights was sorely tested here! - which had you suspended near the roof of the dome, and took you up close to the walls of the mountain. There were some other displays on the different levels of the mountain too, like the crystal cave, full of rock formations and sparkling geodes. At the base of the mountain, there is also the Secret Garden, hidden from view on the ground level.
We exited the conservatories, with a brief stop in the gift shop, and headed for the Supertree Grove as it started to get dark. This grove is home to more than a dozen trees, the tallest of which has a restaurant on top, and two of the others are linked by the Skywalk. While the other, smaller groves are Gold and Silver, these are mainly purple in colour, from the flowers blooming up their trunks. The Supertrees are more than just interesting to look at though - they also function like real trees, and serve to help the whole Gardens, by harnessing solar energy to light themselves, collecting rainwater for irrigation, and acting as vents for the conservatory cooling systems. We sat and waited for it to get darker, watching the trees start to light up, ahead of their light show 'Garden Rhapsody'. This was a 15 minute sound and light display, set to musical theatre tunes, as the trees glowed in different colours, and their branches twinkled with fairy lights in time to the music. It was a very fun display, and certainly made the trees look even more spectacular than they already did! We then legged it over to Marina Bay Sands again as soon as it finished, crossing the bridge and passing through the hotel, to reach the roof of the shopping centre. Another light show takes place in the bay, but since it starts almost immediately after the Supertrees finish, we missed the start of the second one. It was a little hard to watch from the roof too, as there are wooden beams cutting across it, but we saw enough to get the general idea, and didn't feel the need to stay for another hour for the next showing. It involves lights, music, and fountains on the water, glowing in different colours, and projecting images on to the sprays of water sometimes; it was interesting, but I still think the Supertrees were more impressive!
We were more than ready for some dinner by this point (the light shows took place at 7.45pm for the Supertrees and 8pm for the Marina Bay Sands), and earlier our tour leader had pointed out a street of restaurants and bars along the riverside near Raffles Place. Rather than walk all the way back around the bay though, we went in search of a boat instead. There are cruises up and down the river, but we only bought a short cruise ticket, as we wanted to get off at the jetty near the restaurants. Although our journey was shorter, it was still a great way to take in Singapore at night, with all those same structures we saw by daylight lit up at night - the helix bridge was bright red it turned out! The boat had some commentary about the city too, and if I ever return to Singapore I'd quite like to do the whole circuit, to learn more about it, but we were quite content to disembark at our stop when it came - I think our ride lasted around 20 minutes or so. We wandered along the riverbank, browsing the available restaurants, which have all sorts of cuisines available, fitting for such an international country, before settling on one to have dinner and one last drink together, before catching the MRT back to Little India and the hotel.
My time in Singapore was short but sweet, and I'm pretty pleased with how much we managed to see in just one day! The Supertrees were my main priority, but I'm glad we paid to explore the conservatories too, and since there are so many famous sights situated around the bay, we were able to see a lot of them quickly and easily. There are plenty of other areas of Singapore to explore too, which I would have if I had more time, but I definitely think I ticked off the most iconic locations for this trip! And that brought the first half of my Intrepid to a close; the next morning I caught my flight to Jakarta, to kick off the second half, in Indonesia, which is also the final country of my summer of travel, and where I'll be spending about two and a half weeks in Java and Bali.
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Location: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Pemuteran | Bali Part 1
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Yogyakarta | Java Part 3
Pangandaran | Java Part 2
Jakarta | Java Part 1
Melaka | Malaysia Part 3
Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia Part 2
Penang | Malaysia Part 1


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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A flood of social media posts helped give a Plaza Midwood family a reason to smile through tears, on the day of the funeral celebrating the painfully short life of toddler Henry Caldwell.
"For a minute we couldn't look at it, it was too overwhelming," said Gray Caldwell, Henry's dad. "But then it became overwhelmingly heartwarming."
On the morning of Henry's memorial service, family, friends, and even complete strangers posted photos of themselves at the table eating waffles, using #WafflesForHenry.
Henry's recommended daily allowance of smiles often came from a chocolate chip waffle.
The child was just 17 months old when he died unexpectedly in his sleep on January 8. The cause of his death has not been determined.
"And we still don't know," his father told Queen City News. "They're doing an autopsy to try to find out—I think it's gonna be a number of months before we hear anything. But suddenly it was sudden and unexpected."
Henry's aunt, Lauren Harnett, helped organize the effort to post photos featuring waffles on the day of her nephew's celebration of life.
"And I thought, 'What if we could flood them with this brightness first thing in the morning. And maybe even just for a moment, the love could overpower the sadness," said Harnett.
The #WafflesForHenry pics were on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn.
"It was like, 'Oh, that's a happy memory.' And that felt like such a uniquely 'Henry' way to support us," Harnett says.
"I think he loved his family first and waffles second," his dad explained, showing us the box from the freezer. "But these are the magic waffles that Henry fell in love with."
And let's just say he rarely "leggo" of his breakfast waffle until he devoured every bite, even if he had to take it to daycare.
"He always had a little extra bit of waffle that he saved and brought with him into the classroom. You know he was too happy with the waffle, they didn't want to take it away from him," said Gray.
Whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we crave "comfort food" that takes us back to a special moment, place, or time.
At Cast Iron Waffles in the Ballantyne area, customers crave feelings of nostalgia, as much as the food itself.
"Comfort food brings people together. It's a time to take a moment out of your day to enjoy a simple pleasure," owner Krista Duggan said.
But when folks circled the wagons to show support online, #WafflesforHenry gave the family a different picture of "comfort food," as they cope with the loss that's truly beyond words. Every picture gave them solace as they cling to the sweetest of memories.
For example, the future foodie was often dabbling in the play kitchen at his grandparents' house.
"So Henry would sit right here," his father recalls. "Didn't matter what room you were in, you knew Henry was at the kitchen because he would just yank this open and pull all the shelves out."
"He would pop this open and just carry these around, chew on them," he added, opening a box of toy plastic waffles. "Henry was often thinking about waffles."
"That's been really crucial for us. To try to take it – not even, day-by-day– but minute by minute. And feeling that and seeing 'Waffles for Henry' was really special," Henry's dad says of the grieving process.
There's one prized freezer waffle left in the carton…. Perhaps more prized now than ever.
"But here it is the magic Henry chocolate chip waffle," said Gray Caldwell.
His son's beaming smile will be forever frozen in their minds.
"He was just so fun-loving. We knew so much about Henry in such a short time because he had such a strong personality."
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Federal Reserve, Oracle, Slack, Deutsche Bank, Waymo - 5 Things You Must Know
U.S. stock futures rise sharply and global stocks charge higher amid signals of lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve; Oracle tops fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations and says first-quarter profit likely will beat forecasts; Slack's direct public offering is Thursday.
Joseph Woelfel
Spencer Platt/Getty
Here are five things you must know for Thursday, June 20:
1. -- Stock Futures Jump as Fed Signals Lower Rates
U.S. stock futures rose sharply on Thursday and global stocks charged higher amid signals of lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee dropped a reference that they would be "patient" in monitoring incoming data in a statement Wednesday, following the central bank's decision to hold interest rates steady. The Fed instead said it would act "as appropriate" in order to sustain an economic expansion of nearly 10 years.
"Seven weeks ago we had a great jobs report and came out of the last meeting feeling that the economy and our policy was in a good place," Powell said in a press conference. "News about trade has been an important driver of sentiment in the interim."
"We are quite mindful of the risks to the outlook and are prepared to move and use our tools as needed," Powell said.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 225 points, futures for the S&P 500 rose 27 points, and Nasdaq futures jumped 97.75 points.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note yields traded at 2.011%, while two-year notes slipped to 1.716% as investors priced in multiple rate cuts from the Fed between now and the end of the year.
Jim Cramer: Buckle Up, Powell Is Sitting on a Powder Keg
Oil prices rose sharply Thursday after the United States confirmed a naval surveillance drone was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian missile. Brent crude was up 2.31% to $63.25 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.91% to $55.54 a barrel.
The economic calendar in the U.S. on Thursday includes weekly Jobless Claims at 8:30 a.m. ET, and the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey for June at 8:30 a.m.
Earnings reports are expected Thursday from Kroger (KR) - Get Report , Darden Restaurants (DRI) - Get Report , Canopy Growth (CGC) - Get Report and Red Hat (RHT) - Get Report .
2. -- Oracle Rises on Earnings Beat and Outlook
Oracle (ORCL) - Get Report rose 6% to $55.84 in premarket trading Thursday after the enterprise software company topped analysts' earnings and revenue expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter, and said first-quarter profit likely would top forecasts.
Adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter were $1.19 a share on revenue of $11.14 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.07 a share on revenue of $10.93 billion.
The company's cloud services and license support segment accounted for 61% of its revenue, bringing in $6.79 billion in the period, higher than forecasts of $6.76 billion.
"In Q4, we saw a surge in database license sales. We also saw very rapid growth in sales of those database options required to run our autonomous database," chairman Larry Ellision told investors on a conference call late Wednesday. "We continue to gain overall database market share as we migrate our database users to the cloud."
Oracle Gains on a Sales and Earnings Beat: 5 Key Takeaways
Oracle CEO Safra Catz said first-quarter earnings would be 80 cents to 82 cents a share, excluding certain items, vs. Wall Street forecasts of 80 cents.
3. -- Slack's Reference Price for Direct Listing Set at $26
The reference price for Slack Technologies' direct public offering Thursday was set at $26 by the New York Stock Exchange.
The workplace messaging platform's DPO bypasses the traditional underwriting process.
The reference price isn't an offering price, according to the NYSE. Slack's opening price will be determined by the stock's designated market maker based on buy and sell orders collected by the exchange from broker dealers.
Slack will trade under symbol " (WORK) - Get Report ."
Slack will be the latest unicorn to launch into the public markets, following IPOs this year from, among others, Uber Technologies (UBER) - Get Report , Lyft (LYFT) - Get Report and Pinterest (PINS) - Get Report .
Slack reportedly is expecting a valuation as high as $17 billion in the direct listing, a substantial increase over its most recent private valuation of $7 billion around 10 months ago, according to TheStreet's Annie Gaus.
In a season of many attention-grabbing IPOs, Slack's financial picture draws comparisons to Zoom (ZM) - Get Report , another highly valued enterprise communications company. Zoom, which began trading publicly in April, has risen 60% since its IPO and have jumped 25% since it posted robust revenue growth and a small profit in its first earnings report on June 6.
Don't anticipate a similar trajectory for Slack, however, according to Duckju Kang of the personal finance site ValueChampion.
Slack's Direct Public Offering on Thursday: Don't Expect a Zoom-Like Ascent
4. -- Deutsche Bank Faces U.S. Money Laundering Probe - Report
Deutsche Bank (DB) - Get Report declined 1.4% in Frankfurt Thursday after The New York Times reported the troubled German lender was facing a U.S. money laundering probe.
The Times said federal authorities were looking into how the bank handled reports of suspicious activity in certain accounts, some of which are allegedly linked to President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Times also reported last month that Deutsche Bank management prevented staff from reporting the concerns to U.S. authorities, with one employee claiming she was fired for red-flagging the moves in and out of accounts tied to the now-defunct Trump Foundation.
Earlier this month, Senate lawmakers Chris Van Hollen and Sherrod Brown wrote to the Federal Reserve and urged it to investigate Deutsche Bank's relationship with both Kushner and the president. House Democrats also have subpoenaed the bank for financial records linked to Trump, his family and his businesses.
The Times report marks a fresh setback for Deutsche Bank, Europe's biggest and most systemically important lender, which had seen solid gains over the past few sessions following reports it was prepared to create a "bad bank" to house underperforming assets and isolate its deposit base.
Deutsche Bank Slumps Following Report of U.S. Money Laundering Probe
5. -- Waymo Partners With Renault and Nissan for Robotaxis in France, Japan
Alphabet's (GOOGL) - Get Report Waymo will team up with automakers Renault (RNLSY) and Nissan (NSANY) to develop a ride-hailing service that will dispatch a fleet of robotaxis in France and Japan.
After launching its ride-hailing service in France and Japan, Waymo intends to explore other European and Asian markets with Renault and Nissan.
"This is an ideal opportunity for Waymo to bring our autonomous technology to a global stage," said John Krafcik, CEO of the self-driving car company.
Waymo, Renault and Nissan didn't set a timetable for when their ride-hailing service will launch, while also leaving other details vague.
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Should You Go to Taiwan If You Don't Know Chinese?
Posted by Mandarin Mama | Jan 10, 2020 | Learn Chinese for Kids | 0 |
Today's article is a guest post by Rebecca Wong. I met her in Taipei in the Summer of 2019 and knew immediately we were each other's people. I hope you find her piece helpful!
Maybe you've heard about all the benefits of Chinese immersion in Taiwan, but you don't know Chinese at all. You might be really apprehensive about going to a foreign country with your young child when you can't speak or read the language. But this might be an amazing experience for your family. What do you do??
Ni Hao! My Mandarin vocabulary doesn't go that much further than that. I do know some basic conversational Cantonese. I've spent three summers in Taiwan with my son (currently 8 years old), both in Taipei and Kaohsiung where much fewer people speak Chinese. My son's father is fluent in Chinese, but he is only able to be in Taiwan for two weeks out of the summer.
So how do I spend summers in Taiwan if I don't know Chinese? Below are answers to questions people are usually curious about.
How do you find a camp?
There are actually tons of choices for camps. It depends on what you are looking for. My recommendation is to search on social media and also join the Facebook group, Summer Camps in Taiwan. People post about all their experiences and ask questions.
Most of the camps for International kids have English websites. The websites for the local camps are sometimes difficult to navigate. I've emailed, messaged them on LINE (a messaging app), or sometimes called the camp and asked if someone spoke English. Someone has always helped me.
The tricky thing is that you usually need to pay with Taiwan funds. Luckily, we had relatives that could help with this. However, many camps, including the local camps, let me register and then pay in cash on the first day of camp, or there was a wire transfer option.
Where do you stay and how do you stay so long?
I have had pretty good luck with renting an AirBnb, and others use VRBO or rent service apartments. I needed laundry and a place to work remotely, so AirBnb worked best for me. There is usually a discount with any of these options when you stay for more than 30 days.
In terms of length of stay, you do what you can, and sometimes the trip can just be a trial run for a few weeks to see if your child likes it. I've been lucky to negotiate a work remote agreement in the summer. Sometimes parents switch off. Sometimes, one parent takes their children for the whole summer, including, my hero, Mandarin Mama, who takes her four kids all by herself!
How do you get around in Taiwan, if you don't know Chinese?
Because English is part of the curriculum in Taiwan schools, you'll usually find someone that speaks English in Taipei. In other cities, fewer people speak English. This was definitely the case in Kaohsiung. I used Google Translate and the scanner on the app for a lot of things. I also asked for English menus in restaurants.
Although I took public transportation most of the time, I also took Uber. I didn't have to deal with explaining where I wanted to go to someone that may not understand a lot of English. If there was a surge pricing, Uber would also call a taxi for me with the destination already communicated to the driver.
The best benefit of going to Taiwan not knowing any Chinese is that I have my son speak Chinese for me. Hey, if he doesn't want vegetables in his beef noodle soup, he'd better tell the waitstaff, so they understand!
I've found these summers to be incredibly beneficial to my son, not just for learning Chinese, but also making friends. His accent has definitely improved, and he picks up a lot of commonly used phrases playing with friends. My son now loves going to Taiwan in the summer, and we've made friends across the globe. I hope you try out Taiwan, even if you don't know Chinese.
Rebecca Wong has spent the past three summers in Taiwan with her son, who has participated in various summer camps. Her day job is marketing, but you can also find her searching for yummy food in a foreign country, walking her geriatric Yorkie, or training for a triathlon.
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Virginia Duan is the Entertainment Editor for Mochi Magazine and the Living Justice Editor for Diverging Magazine. You can find her work on various sites like Romper, Mom.com, Diverging Mag, and Mochi Magazine. She is the host of Noona ARMY Podcast.
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Virginia Duan is the entertainment editor for Mochi Magazine, the Living Justice Editor for Diverging Magazine, and curator for the Influencer Activist Toolkit. She's written for sites like Scary Mommy, Romper, Healthline, Mom.com, and Mochi Magazine and has been quoted in The New York Times. Virginia reacts to K-pop on YouTube, hosts the Noona ARMY Podcast, and founded BrAzn AZN, a series for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American creatives. Located in the Bay Area, Calif., she bilingual homeschools her 4 kids in Chinese and English.
Mandarin Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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The family of Korryn Gaines, the young Maryland mother who was shot and killed by a Baltimore County police officer in August, is planning to file a $4 million lawsuit alleging wrongful death, CBS Baltimore reports.
According to the report, the family plans to sue Baltimore County and the officer, identified only as Officer First Class Ruby, for $2 million each.
The family claims that Gaines' death was wrongful and that police suppressed her speech, used excessive force and showed gross negligence in the fatal encounter. The family also says that an eyewitness account from Gaines' next-door neighbor paints a different picture of the day from what police statements have indicated.
Police have said that Gaines was shot after pointing a shotgun at officers and threatening to kill them after they tried to serve arrest warrants on her and her boyfriend, the site notes. A seven-hour standoff ensued, with Gaines using social media to broadcast some of the situation.
Authorities asked Facebook to deactivate Gaines' accounts and remove those videos, alleging that her followers were encouraging her not to comply with their orders.
Ultimately, police said, negotiations broke down and Gaines said, "If you don't leave, I'm going to kill you."
One officer discharged a round at Gaines, but it is not known whether she was hit by that bullet. Gaines then returned fire but did not injure any officers. Officers then fired again, hitting and killing Gaines. Gaines' 5-year-old son, Kodi, was struck during the exchange of gunfire, suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
Gaines, Coleman said, also requested to inspect a copy of the warrant the police were attempting to serve, a request that Coleman says was denied.
According to court documents, Coleman said that police officers turned away Gaines' family members who "desperately offered and pleaded to help de-escalate the situation," and that right before the deadly gunfire, according to Coleman, an officer said, "I'm sick of this [s—t]."


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Imagem de disco consiste em um arquivo único contendo toda a estrutura e conteúdo de uma unidade de armazenamento digital de dados, seja um HD, CD, DVD, SSD ou outra. Uma imagem de disco geralmente é criada a partir da cópia setor-a-setor da mídia de origem, ignorando seus sistema de arquivos, e, dessa maneira, replicando perfeitamente a estrutura e o conteúdo da unidade de armazenamento.

Ver também
 Anexo:Lista de software para clonagem de discos rígidos

Ligações externas

Armazenamento de dados
Softwares de virtualização
Hackear

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia