In continuation of my theme for Black History month, I’m pushing more spotlight on the Milestone Returns characters — specifically the modernizations of their origin stories and what these changes mean for the Black heroes featured within.
This week’s focus is on Hardware: Season One, whose fourth issue is also coming soon to DCUI!
Tying in with Static’s current storyline in Static: Season One, Curtis Metcalf is being framed as the father of the Big Bang that horrifically killed several people in a Black Lives Matter protest — and permanently mutated the survivors. In reality, Metcalf’s mentor/father figure, the infamous Edward Alva, is the very one setting him up!
Brandon Thomas continues the Milestone narration of how the Big Bang affected, and largely criminalized, its Black victims in particular. In Thomas’s portrayal, Metcalf’s “betrayal” paints him as a violent murderer thanks to Alva’s power and heavy influence; we see how far the pipeline of Alva’s manipulation goes as Metcalf takes us through each red flag he saw in his mentor growing up. We also see how a young Black boy is punished for looking up to Hardware as a hero instead of a wanted “villain”, and how Metcalf in turn sees himself in that boy, wide-eyed and full of hope for their future.
One line that stuck out to me in particular (and the line that pins Metcalf’s character and intent for the story at all once) was:
"They don’t care about who I could be one day – or who I am now."
This is the line that prompts Hardware to go no-holds-barred and do whatever he has to to stop Alva once and for all; not just for his own innocence, but for the fate of all the Bang Babies. This mood is also what I’ve centered my piece around this week!
Hold up, Static. What the heck is a moodboard?
Putting it simply, moodboards are a series of graphics that are used as a way of capturing the atmosphere surrounding a particular subject to briefly immerse the viewer into the “mood” of said subject. Kind of like collages! Which is why there’s no right or wrong way to make one. You could make one entirely out of relevant quotes, or organize one by a certain color palette, or just fill it up with pics of things that represent the subject point-blank. It’s your board!
How do I make a moodboard? How do I post it here?
Personally, I find the easiest way to make moodboards is through Pinterest. For those who aren’t familiar with the site, it’s a hub for images/videos that can be added to “boards” you create based on personal interests or whatever you’re particularly searching for. Many people use it for the sole purpose of creating moodboards, so there’s plenty of stuff to work with there if you’re not inclined to create one from scratch.
That said, you’re also free to make one through any editing program if you don’t wanna go about making a whole Pinterest account! Just paste the graphic(s) here as you would any other image. If you’re doing a Pinterest board, feel free to drop the link to it, or provide a preview screenshot!
And finally, for those who don’t wanna do either of those things but still want to participate, you’re more than welcome to create a moodboard of your own here by posting any pictures you may find relevant and just sort of talking about your thought process on them. (Ex. post a photo of masks and talk about how that may relate to “Crazy” Jane.) Otherwise, feel free to just openly discuss your thoughts on the topic at hand.
As always, remember to keep all contents of this thread respective of the Forum Guidelines. This includes doing your civil duties to keep a check on profanity, keep things SFW, and remain respectful towards one another’s work. For now, let’s also stick to posting 
ONE BOARD PER PERSON (PER TOPIC)!
