Evaluating Jason Johnson’s “How Stan Lee, Creator of Black Panther, Taught a Generation of Black Nerds about Race, Art

Evaluating Jason Johnson’s “How Stan Lee, Creator of Black Panther, Taught a Generation of Black Nerds about Race, Art, and Activism”

Introduction

The article How Stan Lee, Creator of Black Panther, taught a Generation of Black Nerds about Race, Art, and Activism was written by Jason Johnson, a professor and political contributor at Morgan State University, in The Root in 2018 after the departure of Stan Lee. Johnson takes a reflection on how the comics of Lee changed his personal vision of identity and social justice by demonstrating how such characters as Black Panther and the X-Men were racially conscious and thoughtful and embracing. According to Johnson, using personal recollection, historical context, and emotional reflection, the comic books were among the most useful in organizing the activism and equality struggle, particularly in a mainstream culture that might so readily fail to bring up the voices of Black people.

Summary of the Article

Johnson explains that comics that were written by Stan Lee did not only amuse the members of society, but they also educated them about issues regarding equality and humanity. He recollects his childhood experience of the 90s in Virginia whereby he used to drive with his friends to nearby comic outlets and continue reading stacks of X-Men, Captain America and Spider-Man comic books. According to Johnson, these stories were his racial and political education, which he could not get in his suburban life. He points out how Lee would make efforts to create different heroes that would rise to fight the unjust system, be it the symbolic figure the X- Men to the Afro-futuristic Afro-empowerment in Black Panther. Johnson also points out activism of Lee in his Soapbox editors that he continually referred to as a way of denouncing bigotry and advancing equality. After all, the article still idolizes the history of Lee as not only a narrator but also as a social activist.

Evaluation Criteria

The essay is analyzed with regard to the clarity and structure of the essay written by Johnson, based on the use of rhetoric and literary styles, based on the believability and functionality of the examples he gives and also due to the emotional and intellectual appeal of the writing. The manner in which Johnson puts forth his case concerned the cultural impact of Stan Lee is successful due to his form, his tone, and his knowledge of his listeners.

Evaluation of Strengths

Personal Narrative and reflective Framework

The reason why Johnson composed the article in terms of childhood memories renders the article to be authentic and emotionally powerful. His vivid portrayal of spin-racks and comic books scattered on a floor of a bedroom creates a personal touch with the readers. Though this regressive view is significant in that it turns the essay into more of an experience of culture than cultural commentary. The nostalgic wording makes the readers notice that the influence of Lee was not by a distant voice but a highly personal and shaping one to the vast majority of the young readers.

Historical and Cultural Implication.

Johnson emphasizes his point where lies the connection in comic book stories to actual struggles of racial equality. He states that the X-Men came about in 1963 as a pictorial representation of the conflicting ideologies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X that Lee was keen on. By the 1990s, his classroom shunned such subjects as Johnson was reading about Genosha, an apartheid-like nation in the comics. These are some of the examples of how the work of Lee reflected the history and made the reader cognize the racial injustice with the help of stories.

Rhetorical Appeals

Throughout the essay, Johnson uses ethos, pathos and logos effectively. He is empowered as a political analyst and a professor. His writing is sincere when expressing the emotional side since he says that he cries when he writes and this makes readers relate to him. One can provide logical examples, e.g., the fact that Lee defended the name that was pressed by corporations and still chose not to change the name to Black Panther, which is a great indication of the equality that Lee acknowledged.

Audience Awareness

Johnson appeals to two or more audiences simultaneously. He appeals to comic fans with his nostalgia, black audience who want to be represented and to general audiences who might be unaware of comics. His style of expression causes every reader to be impatient to join in his contemplation and his simple explanations of comic sources allow one to understand him easily.

Evaluation of Weaknesses

i.        Limited Critical Analysis

Despite the fact that Johnson is admiring it is heartfelt, the admiration does not make the essay deep enough. He does briefly admit that the aspect of projecting racial struggles by using primarily white characters can be a problem but does not dig further into this fact. Crossing other complexities in the Lee legacy like his disagreement on creative ownership or restrictions in the initial form of Marvel are also avoided by him.

ii.      Overgeneralization

Johnson at times generalizes on what was happening to Black youth in 1980s and 1990s. His words about comics as something white make a complex set of personal experiences and attitudes much easier. These generalizations contribute to the building up of harmony in his story, but the risk would be the neglect of the diversity of the black comic book community.

iii.    Lack of external perspectives

Personal perspective of Johnson is used throughout the essay, rather than using other academic perspective or fan perspective. Having voices of cultural critics, other Black creators or academics would be a supplementary measure and a demonstrated balance such that the experiences of Johnson can be attributed to bigger cultural trends.

Overall Effectiveness

The essay by Johnson has managed to present the way the works of Stan Lee transformed the concept of race, identity, and heroism. The essay is convincing and vivid since he employs the heartfelt honesty and nostalgia. Though the article might be critical of the work of Lee in a more profound way, the honesty and zeal generate a good case of the social role comics books have played over the years. Johnson is able to demonstrate that the work of Lee could continue to bring up controversies about diversity and inclusion in the modern media.

Conclusion

Jason Johnson is both a personal narration and cultural commentary to prove the topicality of Stan Lee as an artist and an activist. His essay does not forget that art and politics tend to overlap and how individuals perceive themselves and societies. Johnson, reflecting on the occurred event of his childhood, notes to the intergenerational relevance of the representation and equality to the media sphere. Stan Lee continues to offer hope and remedies to the atomized world with his heroes. The legacy of the acclaimed woman is being celebrated by the efforts by Johnson in his reflection; he has succeeded in portraying to the world creativity as an effective tool to provoke prejudice and raise humanity.

References

Johnson, J. (2018). How Stan Lee, creator of Black Panther, taught a generation of Black nerds about race, art, and activism. The Root.