The Four Color Media Monitor

Independent Online reported about an artist from Cape Town, South Africa who got a job illustrating yet another Batman-related comic that may spotlight a character introduced a decade ago, from one of DC's early attempts at diversity-pandering:

Cape Town-based visual artist Loyiso Mkize has made a breakthrough, becoming the first South African to illustrate an international comic.

Mkize, 34, was originally from Butterworth in the Eastern Cape and studied graphic design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Partnering with Warner Bros’ DC Comics, he has illustrated a Batman comic, set to be released next month.

But exactly what kind of Batman comic is it? Guess:

Mkize has illustrated volume 4 of “Batman: Urban Legends”, with Batwing, aka Luke Fox, taking on The Riddler, which is set to go on sale on June 8 in the US.

In the DC universe, Batwing is often referred to as the “Batman of Africa'', which has contributed to Mkize’s career being centred on comics since its inception.

Oh, good grief, this sounds like more selective hiring, or ghetto mentality, where artists and writers get an assignment based on background and the characters they're dealing with matching theirs. Which beggars the query what good it does for a creator's career to work in mainstream US comics if these are the only assignments they're actually going to get? Besides, I think it would've done a lot more good if the guy got hired to illustrate Superman comics. Instead, he gets the easy-peasy choice of working on the overemphasized franchise of the century, Batman. I'm sorry, but I don't think this is doing any good, and again, let's not forget that DC/Marvel alike have been going down the artistic drain for years already. Working for the mainstream is just not a good career move these days.

Labels: Africa, Batman, dc comics, msm propaganda