Aaron McGruder

This weekend we attended Comic-Con in San Diego. What a mind-blowing experience! Star Wars was probably the main attraction, both in the exhibit hall and in numbers in attendance at presentations, including the revelation of the title for Episode III, Revenge of the Sith.

I knew there were a lot of comic book titles out there, but never imagined there were thousands. Long gone are the days of Beetle Bailey, Superman and Richie Rich.

It was good to see the stars of Farscape (my all-time favorite TV show) along with the director (Brian Henson) and creator. SciFi channel is releasing a miniseries this fall and the panel promised it would be even more fabulous than the series, which was cancelled one season too early. The audience for the Farscape presentation proved as sophisticated as the show, and the fact that every single cast member and significant member of the original production returned after two years to make the miniseries proved the value and effect of an original, intelligent program.

Our biggest thrill was hearing Aaron McGruder lead a Q&A about his life, Boondocks and his newest book, Birth of a Nation. I asked Aaron how he handles the controversy generated by Boondocks. Basically, he said that he can never predict what will cause it. For example, he thought his series on Colin Powell would blow up, but all he got were lots of yawns. However, other subjects he sideswiped sometimes caused the Washington establishment to come back at him with both barrels blasting. When asked why he didn't feel like a hypocrite when he receives a paycheck from the white man (his syndicator) and yet takes potshots at Condi Rice and Powell, his simple, yet complete answer was, "It's all in the body count." McGruder is possibly the most gifted political commentator of his generation.