As I went and checked out the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Black Comix Expo I noticed something that I didn’t think about before, Black nerd culture is nearing a zenith in media. Along with the general swing of the pendulum of the nerds inheriting the earth, media featuring Black heroes of sci-fi and fantasy are everywhere. Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in Star Trek Discovery. Will Smith’s leading role in Netflix’s Bright. John Boyega from his breakout role as Moses in Attack The Block to his role as Finn in the current Star Wars trilogy and his upcoming film Pacific Rim 2. The subset of superhero fare has been taking these ideas of heroes from the pages of “kids stuff” and brought them to the forefront reaching us in our homes and on the silver screen. From the highly underrated film Sleight, which I feel has a quite unique origin story if they so choose to go the route of a movie series, to Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning on CW’s Black Lighting series and the juggernaut that is Marvel studios Black Panther featuring the world of Wakanda. The legendary comic book home of the Black Panther. I won’t go further into that film because if you don’t know about it – just stop nigh impossible to escape this film. I say all of this to say that stories featuring Black heroes are everywhere. 
However its important to note that these visual instances on TV, streaming series, and film franchises these major points of interest in presenting Black culture and Black bodies doesn’t translate to sales on the other side of media, in print. Especially in comic book form. There is a whole history of Black sci-fi and Fantasy writes like Samuel Delany and Octavia Butler, I mention these two as a start if you want to explore more works. In the past couple of years I’ve seen a greater push for independent stories to be told that are outside of the sandbox of what can be readily pulled up a bases as somebodies screen play. As I walked through the packed space at BAM I saw family’s and folks all across the age and gender spectrum interested in comix. They weren’t just here because of a movie, although BAM does have a super hero film series, Fight the Power: Black Superheroes on Film going during the week and this expo is in conjunction to the film series. Most major comic book series that have received the live action treatment don’t turn around into sales but this event is packed.
So what was the deal? I asked a few folks about why they came and they all touched on some of the same issues. I’m out here looking at all the beautiful black faces, I’m glad to see kids here. I came out to check my mentor Karl Bollers writer of Watson and Holmes as well as other things and you know say hi to a few people. – Ra’Chaun Rogers Mostly talk revolved around community. I, myself, was there to see if I knew anybody who attended. I saw the cosplayers who are a family onto themselves meet up and shoot the shit. Cons like this, Black Comic Book festival at the Schomberg center for research, East Coast Black Age Comic Convention in Philadelphia, Onyxcon in Atlanta among others are ways that we commune with one another and the media we love and its how we can reach out to folks and how they reach back for things they see in media and go deeper. 
My fore-bearers put their soul, creativity on a page and sell it to the people who need it the most US. The people who need to see themselves as more than a bank robber, pimp or a whore or a hostage or a criminal – that we need to see that we we gods and are heroes. Hopefully they can capitalize off of the steam that Black Panther pushes, that people can see that we can make other types of stories other than the comedies, crime dramas. -Ra’Chaun Rogers 
Speaking with artist independent artist Cricket he touched upon a the idea that event though these cons are essentially good they still function at a fault, I still have issues with the terminology of “Black comic books” but I know that culturally we are still behind the eight ball, right now we still have to push the Black comic boo, the black superhero platform before we can be seen as equals. I want to see the platform pushed a little further. I almost came to tears downstairs because I just saw kids, parents with their kids and their kids are really eager to be here because growing up you always want when Spider-Man took of the mask that he was Black. When you see a hero that is as held up as like a Batman or Superman the big ones. We want to see a Black superhero up there so that little kids have something that they could look up to and smile. – Cricket
Black fans exist in the margins of nerdom. For all the glits and glam that is circling around the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-man Hell even ANT-MAN, and DC’s films Black fans have to fight to see themselves and they take the chance on finding that new mythology in the form of a new comic to take in. That’s why con’s like this matter, and I’m glad to to have made it out to this event. 
