Yesterday in the Nerd Verse… Feb 10, 2015

First Colbert, and now his predecessor! Jon Stewart has announced that he will be ending his tenure on The Daily Show. Source: The Daily Show

Scribd, described as the Netflix service for books, has added 10,000 comic books to its subscription list. Sign me up! Source: Scribd

Marvel is searching for a “high-school aged” Spider-Man, but are open to a Miles Morales. I know this probably won’t happen, but “baby I’m your hero, #donaldforspiderman.” Business-wise, the Spider-Man character will be sort of shared between Sony and Marvel, with both production companies being able to use the same character, but not getting any revenue from the other’s movie. Source: Variety

Excited for Fifty Shades of Grey this weekend? No? Well, how about 50 Shades of Buscemi? Check out the trailer, reenacted with scenes from various Steve Buscemi clips. If only it were real. Source: EW

A new New Suicide Squad team has been announced, consisting of Parasite, Black Hand, Poison Ivy, Reverse-Flash, Cheetah and Talon. If you thought the previous team was a mish-mash, this is a giant bowl of what-the-f***. Source: back of DC Comics publications this week.

Based off the toy line of the same name, a straight-to-DVD Batman Unlimited movie will be released in May called Batman Unlimited: Animal Instinct, and it looks a whole lot like it should be called Batman: Beast Wars. Also, details on the Combo-Pack are included. Source: ComicVine

The DVD of Justice League vs. Bizarro League came out yesterday. You can find all the other retail goodness on our Geekly Forecast here.

Straight from the mouth of Rome’s mayor, it looks like Zoolander 2 will begin filming in Italy sometime this Spring. Of all the comedies in the last 10-15 years, this is the one I was most excited for a sequel. Source: Bad Taste (get your Google Translator ready!

According to DC, February is Harley Quinn month. Check out all the variants coming out, and ways you can show her some Mad Love. Source: DC Comics

A Kickstarter campaign has launched or a Ghostbusters board game, created by Cryptozoic (makers of the DC Comics Deck-Building Game) and backed by Sony. The price of the game runs a little steep ($88), but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. Source: Kickstarter

Diggin’ Through the Crates: Childish Gambino “Run This Town (Bambi Remix)”

Song: “Run This Town (Bambi Remix)”

Artist: Childish Gambino

Album: (No album single)

Lyric: “Yea, the flow so absurd/It’s C.G. boy, king of the black nerds/I gotta get my Urkel on/ I won’t stop until i see an afro at Comic-Con/And not just Samurai.”

Character Reference/Meaning:

Childish Gambino is back with “DTC” to prove once again that nerds cannot fit into a one size fits all mask and cape. In this week’s song, “Run This Town (Bambi Remix)” he is out to spread a message to everybody out there that has ever experienced any sort of bullying simply for being who they are. If you have ever been teased or made fun of because you don’t fit into the stereotypes of your race or culture, or like to express yourself differently, this song is for you. Gambino talks about his experiences with such matters, just because he likes to wear pink clothing, yellow hats, and rainbow colored items people use to call him hurtful things and basically tried to destroy him just because of his style. He talks a lot about how this happens to black kids, while at the same time addressing various stereotypes. If you are a young black man who prefers a power ring to a dime bag, or likes to hit the skate park after school while listening to Coldplay and recite every syllable and letter, then you are made to believe that you should be ashamed of who you are.

Gambino said no to all of this, and tells us that we have dealt with haters like this for too long. It is well known that Childish Gambino is a huge nerd. With his #donald4spiderman campaign, various comic book references in music, TV, and comedy, and overall praise of nerd culture, Gambino is at the top of my list to wear that nerd crown. Even back in 2012 Gambino made a cameo appearance in an Image Comics series called The Li’l Depressed Boy. In issue #10, Gambino can be seen performing a concert, which inspires the main characters to get out and experience the world. The series is said to mirror Childish Gambino’s first studio album Camp. Although it is exciting to see Gambino represented in a comic book, the chosen lyric for this “DTC” reminds us that African-Americans are still vastly underrepresented in the nerd community, both in character and fandom. It may not be a surprise to most, but there are not very many black superheroes in the mainstream. Sure, we have had some: John Stewart, Storm, Black Panther, Bishop, Static Shock, Luke Cage, Falcon, and Blade. But beyond that, there aren’t an abundant amount of characters compared to white heroes – who always seem to be at the top of the comic book totem poll.

The same can be said for people who attend comic conventions around the world. Thing is, black people want to be represented at comic conventions beyond cosplay. And a majority of the time, at a majority of the conventions, that representation is not present. As the years have gone on and progressed, I believe this image and concept of the “black nerd” has been skewed and misunderstood. When people think of black nerd, they automatically think of Urkel. However, that is rarely the case nowadays. Black nerds are as diverse in their interests and styles as Iron Man is with his suits or armor. Urkel can no longer be the poster boy for black nerds. In fact I’m not so sure there even can be a go to black nerd for today, but if there had to be one, Gambino is a front runner. Currently Gambino is on the “Deep Web Tour” promoting and performing his latest album, because the internet. I know one thing, this black nerd is going to be in that crowd when he comes to Denver, CO. on April 29th. If there is one thing to take away from this article, I would say this, be who you are and love yourself because of that. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, brown, purple, orange, green or whatever, in the end we all want to be represented and we all want to be able to embrace what we love and be embraced by those around us. Because for every person who is willing to put you down for being you, I’m sure there has to be two people who that you are pretty cool for not giving a crap what the others think. And if not, then scratch all three in the face and make it known that they just got beat up by a nerd. So stay nerdy, stay proud, and be open to new experiences, because you never know if that person sitting next to you on the bus stop is also on their way to the comic book shop.

Diggin’ Through the Crates: Childish Gambino “Not Going Back”

Artist: Childish Gambino

Song: “Not Going Back”

Album: EP (mixtape released March 8, 2011) EP was released 8 Days before his official first studio album Camp. You can download it free here.

Lyric: “I didn’t know he had it in him/ Couldn’t see me as Spider-Man, but now I’m spittin’ Venom/ Now you payin’ attention, pick your fuckin’ face up/ When I wanna be a superhero, I just wake up.”

Character Reference/Meaning:

Who brought us the topic for today’s “Diggin’ Through the Crates?” Well It’s just your friendly neighborhood rapper, Childish Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover. Donald Glover is everywhere; he is one of the stars of NBC’s Community, he is a rising rap star, He has done stand-up comedy on Comedy Central, and he wrote for NBC’s 30 Rock, this kid can do everything. Why couldn’t he be Spider-Man on top of that? I’m all for it! In fact, so were many other people. In news of a Spider-Man reboot back in 2010, a fan of Childish Gambino’s suggested that he would be a great candidate to play Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man.

This news hit the Twitter-verse by storm with people retweeting #donald4spiderman after encouragement from Childish himself. Even Stan Lee, the godfather of comics said he believed Glover would be a great choice to play Peter Parker and should be allowed to audition for the part. Ultimately, he did was not given the role; however, a year after the campaign the new Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man introduced Miles Morales who just happens to be African-American and Latino…and look suspiciously just like Donald Glover. Writer Brian Michael Bendis told popular media that he had developed the concept for Miles Morales before the #donald4spiderman campaign yet he did give him credit for his overall appearance. Also, just another little Easter Egg, in the first episode of Season 2 of Community, Troy (played by Donald Glover) is seen hopping out of bed sporting his Spider-Man full body pajamas and stretching very hero like, possible campaign advertising, I think so! After seeing this Community episode, Bendis said, “I saw him in the costume and thought, ‘I would like to read that book.’” So basically when you are reading the new Ultimate Spider-Man you are reading Miles Morales a.k.a. Donald Glover a.k.a. Childish Gambino. Sadly, Gambino did not get the role of Peter Parker, but based on the new Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, I have no doubts it’ll be a fantastic film. Who’ knows, since we couldn’t see him as Spider-Man, maybe we could see him as Venom.

Written by Evan Lowe