S. Samuel
Music pioneer DMC, of Run-DMC, has announced plans to launch a new comic book series called Darryl Makes Comics in hopes of bringing hip-hop and superhero fans together.
According to the New York native, a past comic book convention sparked his interest in taking a serious stab at a new venture.
“Three years ago, I went to the comic convention in Philadelphia to do a celebrity signing. I just went to make a couple of bucks, and it ended up bringing my love of comics back again,” McDaniels explained. “I went there, and just being at this comic convention, the memories started coming back and filtering in. The problem was I lost a lot of money because I didn’t just stand there to sign autographs–I ended up taking a tour of the whole convention. I remembered a lot of old stuff, but I was introduced to a lot of new publications and productions.” (Entertainment Weekly)
To prove this is a real power move, DMC has hired some comic book heavyweights to help make this a reality.
McDaniels surrounded himself with top-shelf talent because he wants Darryl Makes Comics to be taken seriously, and he’s opening his doors to anybody in the comic book industry who is looking for an opportunity. “This production is first and foremost respectable and legitimate to comic book culture,” he said. “The same things DC and Marvel did, the same stories and passion is what this is first. My comic book passion has always been there, but I never pursued it, but I didn’t want to be a hip-hop dude trying to do a hip-hop comic book. “The key was to then get people who are even more passionate about comic culture than me. They understand past, present, and future.” (Entertainment Weekly)
A couple years ago, New Orleans rapper Curren$y gushed over DC Comics icon Batman.
“Batman,” Curren$y said when asked what superhero he would like to become. “Batman is cool. He’s got the secluded crib and an awesome whip. He’s always got cool chicks hanging around. He’s got the butler. And he didn’t have any outrageous super powers. He couldn’t see through nothing, he couldn’t fly. He was just a regular guy and that’s me. You know, just chilling. It’s just what it is. I’m just sitting here and if something’s happening, your purse gets snatched, OK, let’s f*cking get the purse back. That’s Batman’s style.” (iHipHop)
In 2010, West Coast rap veteran Snoop Dogg took on the role of a fictional superhero in his Malice N Wonderland film.
He’s happy with what he has done so far with his acting career, but hopes to pursue more roles that are out of character for him. “My star power is as big as any actor in Hollywood,” Snoop exclaimed, though he has run into issues with producers not being able to separate the public image from the character in the script. His hope is that more people in Hollywood will take a chance on him, and let him prove he has true talent. But in the mean time, he’s making his own movies. His latest film project is a companion piece to Malice N Wonderland: “I play a superhero named Malice, trying to bring happiness to Wonderland.” The film was made because, as Snoop proclaimed, “the video game is f*cked up,” with MTV barely playing music videos anymore, and BET quickly headed in the same direction. It was time to do something different that the fans could see and enjoy. (Prefix Mag)
Check out DMC talking about comics:
