The Black Infinity Gem: Black Nerd Problems - The Essays
On January 29th, 2022, @ 6:30 AM, I finished reading the Book, Black Nerd Problems: The Essays by acclaimed authors William Evans and Omar Holmon.
William Evans and Omar Holmon (featured left) are the creators of the phenomenal website, Black Nerd Problems; a pop culture website that examines all spectrums of the pop culture ecosystem and places a melanin spin on it as they intersect what it’s like to be BIPOC in the now augmented world of superheroes, video games and streaming pop culture.
What I found in this phenomenal piece of work are kindred spirits whose love of anime, pop culture, video games, and Wakanda matched mine. The Essays made me realize that the shows, video games, and comics I’ve read, seen, and imaginatively portrayed and played as a kid, helped me navigate the experiences of what it’s like to overcome adversity; similar to Vegeta training in the acclaimed gravity room in Dragonball Z to surpass Goku. When Crunchyroll was in its infancy stage, I remember the bootleg anime VHS tapes at those underground video stores I was scrambling to buy. I remember the awesomeness that encompassed meeting another kindred spirit, whose love of pop culture matched mine in high school. ReadingThe Essays paralleled me to those days, when anime was limited and in short supply. This book, in my opinion, is the “purple tape” (Raekwon, I.Y.K.Y.K.) Black pop culture needs to read, for it’s the embodiment of the future of Blerd culture and provides a scripture-like explanation of the “evolutionary diversity” of superheroes, both old and new.
This, my readers, is the beginning of a new style of language, discussion, and reflection in pop culture.
Black Nerd Problems: The Essays (The Essays) intersects the past, present, and future on the evolving dynamic of Pop Culture. For example, the authors bear their souls as Omar discusses and pays homage to his Mother in Go On: An Evergreen Comedic Series That Helped me Navigate Loss and William Evans, to his father in On Hope, Escapism and Attrition Discussed Between Black Men. They showed, in these chapters, that their love for pop culture stemmed from them. That, and learning how to play SPADES (I felt you on that one) which was on another chapter. To the audience, some might feel that they discuss their family, love of anime, video games, fantasy, and comic books in an analytical way. Well, YES and NO. In my opinion, it reads more like a passionate memoir as they take the reader on a journey that embraces the same essence of the movies: The Wiz, The Last Dragon and the famed classic anime Akira, yet as you continue the journey, the language morphs as the dialogue starts to turn into Naruto, Lord of the Rings, and The Wire. Yeah, Read That Again, they’re that fvcking good. Especially as they dig into Gohan….They Bodied Him.
The Essays also started to bring back, to me, those nostalgic moments of gameplay as the original NES guided me through the virgin digital landscape of 8-bit gaming with titles like Ninja Gaiden by Tecmo, Mega Man 2 by Capcom, and becoming the awesome vampire hunter in Castlevania by Konami. But now, I’m reflecting on it through a greater Blacker lens….
And now, for 2022, is it safe to say that they are the patriots of BLERD Culture?
Astoundingly... I say yes. Right underneath the wordplay of BIGGIE, TUPAC, Jay-Z, ICE CUBE, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
The 7th Infinity Gem: BNP: The Essays
They found a way to take all those fond memories, intersect them with what it’s like to be Black in America, mix it with Hip-Hop, Anime, Video Games and Pop Culture to create the “seventh” infinity gem in the Michael Jackson Infinity Gauntlet of Black Pop Culture.
But it doesn’t stop there….
This book also opens the door to the BLERD multiverse for those whose love of Blackness and Pop Culture intersect. Here, however, this book provides a message to the reader saying; "I've done the heavy lifting for you. It's okay, I leave you with the rest. The load is lighter”.
I predict more Blerd writers will be droppin their mixtapes real soon.
Imagine if X-MEN’s Professor X and Magneto wrote a book called, “Being a Mutant in America”, or if Naruto wrote a tell all, called my “Parents used me for Demon Fondling”. The Essays is a confessional from start to finish with a brilliant set of minds to help create, The Blerd BIBLE or chapter one of it, with references that take you on a quest of being a pop culture fanatic. Because of this book, I’ve been searching for the House of X series only to find issues 4-6 in their first printing, issues 2 and 3 in its third, and issue #1, which is just as hard to get as Amazing Spider-Man #361. Their Flash interpretation also showed a great example of how one interprets an ass whoopin on superheroes. Think the movie Friday, and you won’t stop laughing when you read that chapter.
Sure, it’s okay to be knowledgeable about a particular genre of pop culture. Your time in that particular spectrum will not be wasted. Toward the end, the authors, in their own way, confide to the readers to “keep going, finish, manifest your powers, become the expert”. This book made me laugh, cry, and reflect on being a Black Nerd whose love of playing video games, enjoying FATHERHOOD with my kids and being in an awesome marriage help conquer the stigma of being BLACK [w/Problems] in America.
I'll be the first to say that this book is a definite 2022 Eisner Award winner right here as it is the HOLY grail of Blerd Pop Culture. As I see many people wearing anime-inspired clothing and having loud discussions of fights that parallel Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End, even now, I have to ask, ‘how can you be both Tetsuo Shima and Shotaro Kaneda, and interweave a discussion of superpowers and Black stories; and then rock the mic like Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, Gang Starr and the Wu-Tang Clan?’ Throughout the chapters, Jay-Z and NAS are having a 3-month tour spittin’ lyrics with a message in every chapter. The question is, which one is which?
Who knew the purple tape was in book form.
For now, I’ll call this book the Black Gem. Not the one that made the Black Lantern rings from Sector 666, it is the gem from the Stone that the Builder refused, the stone that shows visuals, provides inspiration, and make people know the blues…(Boondocks Plug).
BNP: The Essays is THE BLERD Gem.
Read That Again.
