Executive Summary as of June 16, 2021
From our initial announcement of Earth M at San Diego Comic-Con, to the 2020 Milestone Returns panel at DC FanDome, fans of classic Milestone comics and comic book fans in general have anxiously awaited the return of the Dakota Universe and its heroes to DC. The return of Milestone in 2021 has been covered across the media spectrum, with Publicity securing coverage across a variety of media segments, with stories hitting on sites like CBR, TheRoot and Publisher’s Weekly.
Static Season One #1 has debuted to strong reviews, with an average score of 9.1/10 on ComicBookRoundup.com (14 media reviews to date), as well as additional positive reviews on other non-scoring media outlets:
Comicbook.com (10/10)
- ”This is a great return to the Milestone Universe and I hope that every Milestone comic receives the same care and fantastic storytelling as Static: Season One.”
Comics Beat (“BUY”)
- “[Writer Vita] Ayala continues to make me a believer in teen superheroes, as they craft a story with flavorful dialog and upbeat pacing with the plot. Complementing that is the Manga-like style that Cross is known for, blended with [Nikolas] Draper-Ivey’s animation/anime aesthetic, using bold coloring, and gritty texturing the artwork is a kinetic force that works for this book.”
- “This is a great start for the heroes of Dakota and their new 21st century status quo.”
Graphic Policy (8.8/10)
- “Dynamic and crackling with energy.”
- “The comic is fantastic.”
- “Ayala delivers a balance of action of the grounded issues of growing up. It delivers a start in a classic style of superhero stories with a look that’s full of energy.”
- “Static: Season One #1 is a hell of a start that’s well worth checking out and the start of something exciting.”
AiPT Comics (8/10)
- “Static Season One #1 shocks Milestone back to life”
Comment
+ Permalink
“Friday Night Vibes” Host Tiffany Haddish Welcomes Deon Cole as Co-Host
Snoop Dogg is First In-Studio Guest to Appear on “Friday Night Vibes,” Premiering June 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT
The Doggfather Joins Haddish and Cole to Get the Weekend Started!
LOS ANGELES – June 10, 2021 – “Friday Night Vibes(TM),” a new 52-week movie destination that spotlights feel-good comedies, action-packed blockbusters and culturally significant storytelling inclusive of diverse voices, kicks off on Friday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on TBS with its first in-studio guest Snoop Dogg and the broadcast of “Creed” and “Creed 2.” The Doggfather will join hosts Tiffany Haddish (“The Last O.G.,” “Girls Trip”) and Deon Cole (“Black-ish,” “Grown-ish”) to launch the year-round celebration of all things for the culture, as well as commemorate and honor Juneteenth and Father’s Day.
The premiere episode of “Friday Night Vibes” is kicking off this celebratory weekend with Snoop Dogg to help get the party started. Since “Creed” and “Creed 2” are the double feature for the night, The Doggfather will join in to give a play by play of the top knockouts of all time. There will also be a moment to celebrate dads for Father’s Day and the party keeps going in preparation of Juneteenth.
With a mix of comedy, celebrity interviews and musical performances, Haddish, along with Cole, will guide “Friday Night Vibes” viewers through this celebration of life, cultural diversity, special behind-the-scenes moments and authentic conversation. The program will be ground zero for those who love movies, black culture, music and hanging out at the beauty salon and barbershop.
The weekly lineup will include thoughtfully selected movies that are filled with storylines and characters viewers love and vibe with and special guests will be announced accordingly. The “Friday Night Vibes” summer 2021 schedule is as follows:
Friday, June 18: Creed/Creed 2
Friday, June 25: Central Intelligence/Get Hard
Friday, July 2: Black Panther/National Security
Friday, July 9: Suicide Squad/The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Friday, July 16: Creed/Creed 2
Friday, July 23: Get Hard/Money Talks
Friday, July 30: Rampage/Pacific Rim
As an award-winning artist, Snoop Dogg has released 19 studio albums, sold over 30-million albums worldwide, reached No. 1 countless times on Billboard charts internationally, and received 20 GRAMMY(R) nominations. He is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, media personality, business mogul and actor, and has appeared in numerous films such as, “Dolemite Is My Name,” “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” “Beach Bum,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Soul Plane,” and the Oscar(R)-winning drama “Training Day.”
Deon Cole is a comedian, writer, and actor, who can currently be seen as Charlie on ABC’s “Black-ish” and Freeform’s “Grownish”. For his work on “Black-ish,” Deon won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 51st NAACP Image Awards, in 2020, and at the 52nd NAACP Image Awards in 2021. Deon can currently be heard as the voice of Dave, for Dreamworks Animation’s Netflix series, “Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts.” Previously, he starred as Detective Daniel “DJ” Tanner on the TBS comedy “Angie Tribeca” opposite Rashida Jones.
“Friday Night Vibes(TM)” is executive produced by Reginald Hudlin (“Academy Awards,” Emmy Awards,” “NAACP Image Awards,” “House Party,” “Django Unchained”) for Hudlin Entertainment, Phil Gurin (“Shark Tank,” “The Singing Bee,” “NAACP Image Awards,” “Weakest Link”) for The Gurin Company and Byron Phillips (“NAACP Image Awards,” “Emmy Awards,” “The Black Godfather”) for TBS.
Follow “Friday Night Vibes” on Twitter VibesonTBS, and IG VibesonTBS and join the conversation using #FridayNightVibes.
Comment
+ Permalink
Milestone Comics, the diverse and boundary-pushing superhero series, is back after two-decade hiatus
BY TERRENCE SAGE
JUNE 11, 2021 / 12:00 PM / CBS NEWS
The cover of “Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0.”MILESTONE MEDIA/DC COMICS
Milestone Comics are finally back. The diverse comic book universe, which built its name by pushing boundaries with a diverse cast of superheroes, returned this year after nearly two decades. Now, the creators want the comic universe to reach its full potential, saying they want the revival to be as “cutting edge” as the originals.
Milestone Media, the company behind the comics, was founded in 1993 by a team of African American artists and writers. The mission: tell the stories of underrepresented communities while tackling big issues like homophobia and racism.
“We were four Black creators who got together and formed a company with the intent of doing multicultural characters from our point of view and the people we wanted to work with — that alone was revolutionary,” Denys Cowan, a co-founder, told CBS News.
That same year, Milestone’s founders signed a distribution contract with the famed DC Comics. But throughout the partnership, DC often became uncomfortable with the progressive storylines and artwork on the pages. The most well-known example: the artwork for an issue of Static, the group’s most popular character and arguably one of the most beloved Black superheroes.
The artwork showed the hero, Virgil Hawkins, and his girlfriend kissing on a couch with condoms nearby. DC refused to print the cover, straining its relationship with the Milestone’s founders. Both parties compromised by printing a close-up of the two kissing. Inside the book, co-founder Dwayne McDuffie wrote a letter addressing the controversy: “Static is a fun comic but it’s never shied away from topics like gang violence, homophobia, and racism. It’s not about to start now.”
In 1997, a downturn in the industry forced Milestone to cease publication of its comics. Over the years, there were short-lived attempts to revive the comic book universe. Static joined the comics “Teen Titans” in the 2000s and later headlined his own comic series, which only lasted eight issues. In 2011, McDuffie died after complications of heart surgery and legal troubles between Milestone and his estate further prolonged attempts to bring back the universe to fans.
“It was a series of unfortunate circumstances that made that happen and it’s taken a tremendous amount of effort on behalf of all parties to bring it back, but it had to be done,” said Reginald Hudlin, a partner and writer with Milestone. “We said we were going to make this happen —we’re glad that that day has arrived.”
The comic book universe returned in February with the digital edition of “Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0,” a preview into the universe and its upcoming books, with the physical edition releasing on May 25. The revival draws from the original books by reimagining the “Big Bang” event. This time around, the incident takes place at an anti-police brutality rally where police fire untested chemicals at protesters who gain superpowers.
A page from “Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0.”MILESTONE MEDIA/DC COMICS
The book sets the stage for each major Milestone character to be featured in their own books, including Static (June 15), Icon and Rocket (July 27) and Hardware (August 10). Milestone has largely remained on the minds of comic fans thanks to the popularity of Static, who appeared in his own television series, “Static Shock,” from 2000 to 2004. Last summer, actor Michael B. Jordan announced he would join Hudlin to produce a new Static film for Warner Bros.
“When the first round of Milestone came out I was a fan. There was a hole that was open and that needed to be filled with great storytelling. There were no other books saying what those books were saying. The challenge for all of us bringing it back was we’re not interested in nostalgia. We’re interested in being as relevant and cutting edge today as the first launch of Milestone was,” Hudlin said.
Milestone returns to a comic book industry that is noticeably more diverse than the ’90s — with Black superheroes like Marvel’s “Black Panther,” “Luke Cage” and “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” gaining mainstream popularity with TV and film spin-offs. Still, Hudlin and Cowan believe Black representation in comics has a long way to go.
“Blackness is a constantly evolving and expanding term. There was a time when almost all Black Americans had a similar set of experiences — that’s not been true for generations now. So when you go by exploring every aspect of it, thankfully that’s a lifetime mission,” Hudlin said.
Hudlin says everything is on the table for Milestones’ future, including new television shows, live-action and animated films, along with toys and trading cards. And in addition to Milestone’s well-known characters, Cowan said the creators will introduce new characters to the universe.
Icon and Rocket in “Milestone Returns.”MILESTONE MEDIA/DC COMICS
When Devin Robertson, a 28-year-old fan, was a child, his mother would give him $10 before he tagged along with his brother to a local comic book store in Jackson, Tennessee. Robertson never enjoyed “Goodnight Moon” or Dr. Seuss’ books but credits Milestone with helping him learn how to read.
“Milestone Comics has been an integral part of my life since childhood,” Robertson said. “I loved seeing so many diverse characters interact, not just diverse in race, but diverse in every way.”
“Every character felt important and connected to the rest of the world, even the talking dog — the talking dog was my favorite,” he added. “I’m beyond excited to see how their world has evolved.”
Comment
+ Permalink
