"Can one woman make a difference? When I was growing up, there were few role models for young black girls. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to discover Honey Williams one Saturday afternoon. She was different. Feminine but powerful, and tough as nails. Kinda like me." Williams was a Pam Grier type used up and spit out by Hollywood when the blaxploitation fad ended, "but this intombi* never forgot." Although it had been twenty years since Mari McCabe had last seen the grindhouse classic "Scream, Baby, Scream," she still remembered every frame that flickered across the silver screen as she ate popcorn in a darkened, sparsely populated movie theater for Halloween. The part where Frankenstein's Monster stepped out of the frame and began terrorizing the patrons was new.
"Hey, Purple Rose of Bavaria! Over here!" Mari had her Vixen costume on over a coat, but shedding it cost her time better spend not taking an uprooted theater chair to the face. A bystander in an Aquaman costume complimented Vixen's suit. "It's 'Jackie Brown,' right?" The Lady Fox replied "You should go. Now." Especially since the Wolf Man and the Mummy had joined into the breaking of the fourth wall. The Vixen had always wanted to be like Honey Williams, but starring in a chitlin' circuit Abbott & Costello riff while innocent lives were imperiled wasn't what she had in mind. Williams had always done the unexpected, so Mari tried slashing the screen instead of the monsters, which was not clever. However, Honey Williams stepped off the frame to literally point out the obvious, that the movie projector was to blame. Vixen leapt through a wall to the booth, and found an "insane creation" full of mirrors that was manifesting the monsters. One punch killed the camera, saving a father and daughter from the boogeymen. Mari mourned not getting Honey's autograph though, and missing the chance to explain what her movies had meant to her.
Mirror Master had been tipped by Harley Quinn to a fortune buried under floorboards in the theater, but hadn't counted on the Lady Fox being present. "Hi, Evan. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. And since you just ruined my night off, please make it the hard way." Mirror Master figured she'd need her JLA buddies to get this particular job done, but his ass swiftly meeting the floor meant she didn't. "Never get between a black woman and her stories." The Flash Rogue was soon led away in handcuffs, and Mari was introduced to the little girl she'd saved, Shaunequa. "I've never seen a lady like us beat up bad guys before. Can I be like you when I grow up?" Mari thought the "imbali encane" had a beautiful name and the right idea. "Can one woman make a difference? Yes, she can."
"Role Model" was by Eric Wallace and Tony Shasteen. The art was Photoshoppy, referenced to board stiffness, and the story didn't offer a Vixen that was too impressive, but I respect the overall intentions. Per an editors note, "intombi" meant "young lady/girl" in "African," which was helpfully translated into Western Hemisphere speak for us Upper Equatorians. "Imbali encane" meant "little flower."
Join the Spooktacular Samhain Celebration at this coven of blogs!
GHOSTS ANNUALS
- "Bough Breaks" @ Batman: Gotham Knights Online
- "Haunts" @ The Flash: Speed Force
- "Dead Calm" @ The Aquaman Shrine
- "The Distance Gone" @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
- "Ghosts' - The Corpse Corps!" @ Green Lantern: Corps Conjecture
- "The Death Sentence" @ Superman: Great Krypton!
- "Heart's Afire" @ Martian Manhunter: The Idol-Head of Diabolu
- "Life Itself" @ The Captain's JLA Homepage
HALLOWEEN HEROES
3 comments:
Your loquacious never ceases to amaze me Frank. Yet another great entry. How do you even have TIME for this stuff?
Cool writing
Vixen costume over a coat would look very odd. Under a coat makes more sense.
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