Static: Season One #5

I've enjoyed all of the Milestone Comics which have come out in the past year: 

Static #1 June 15 2021

Icon and Rocket #1 July 27 2021

Hardware #1 August 10 2021

Although I have to confess that I'd be happier if they came out a bit more frequently. I'm still waiting on Hardware #4, and Static & Rocket and Icon #5 just came out. That's not exactly a monthly schedule, y'know? And there's STILL no sign of Blood Syndicate.

But I'm a patient guy, so I'm sticking with all of these books. And then some. In fact, my copy of Milestone Compendium One is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to every one of those 1,320 pages of comics from the original  Milestone books.

Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala--of whom I'd not previously heard, but Vita has done a fair amount of work for both Marvel and DC, as well as some other companies--has been outstanding from the get-go. Vita knows how to move a story forward, delve deep into characters, and, most significantly to me, how to connect the conflict to matters of significance in The Real World. 

Case in point, near the end of Static: Season One #5, this happens:

And it just brought me to a complete halt as I thought about that. And even though I'm not Black or Gay, I connected with it on a profound level.

I have a son who is autistic. I love him dearly, but there are times when he is so hard to be with that I feel myself getting angry. I've often been unable to keep that anger inside, and have expressed it (words only), sometimes thinking that that was the way to get him to stop behaving in the way that he was doing. In the past that often worked. As he's gotten older (28 now) and bigger (200 pounds), however, I've found that it almost never works. In fact, my anger is fuel to his fire, and his fire burns very hot. To the point where he becomes dangerous. So I've learned to keep my anger and frustration in most of the time. And there are times when that is exceedingly difficult to do. And it feels awful to defer in this way. It's emasculating. It's humiliating. But I do it, because not to do it only makes the situation worse. And it can make the situation dangerous. I have no desire to be beaten up by my son. 

So when I saw that panel from Static, I first thought about my son. Then I multiplied my feelings by 12 and thought, That is how it feels to be Black and be harassed by a cop. Or a store owner. Or a teacher. Or a random racist on the street. Etcetera.

America has got to pull its head out of its ass.

America has GOT to pull its head out of its ass.