The 1970s also featured the Harlem
Globetrotters as animated, super-powered
hoopsters, and the hugely resourceful
Brown Hornet appeared within select
episodes of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Black Vulcan joined Super Friends starting
in the late 1970s. And who among us
can forget Hammerman, the musical
superhero in magic shoes voiced by
rapper MC Hammer in the 1991 series of
the same name?
"One thing I noticed about quite a
few of these superheroes in animation is
that there's a sort of comedic foundation
to them. Brown Hornet and the Super
Globetrotters are definitely humorous
superheroes," says Lehman. "Their
adventures are meant to be funny, and,
to a certain extent, Hammerman is the
same way. Maybe that was the only way
that the studios could successfully pitch
their series to the networks—if they
were able to not have African American
superheroes depicted quite so seriously."
below: Virgil Hawkin's best friend
Richie Foley was one of few people
who knew Virgil's secret identity as
the superhero Static. left: Replacing
Peter Parker as Spider-Man, Miles
Morales was born and raised in
Brooklyn, the son of a Black father
and Puerto Rican mother.
Image
courtesy
of
Sony
Pictures
Animation.
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