Get It Straight 2.1, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #324 (Sort of) | @MDWorld

September 13, 2013 Michael Davis 4 Comments

Here’s a first: TWO Straight No Chaser articles IN ONE DAY!

OK-this is important. The DC Comics I refer to in this article was the DC Comics of 20 years ago NOT the DC Comics of today. I’ll say it again for the extra stupid out there-my anger at the way I was treated at DC Comics was me 20 years ago. Not today-20 years ago. What do I think of DC Comics today? Nothing but respect and admiration for them and they remain my favorite comic book universe. That said-Loki showing up at the Marvel Panel at Comic Con and The Avengers movie kinda pimp slapped any remaining excitement (if there was any) of the New 52. So, to recap. 20 years ago DC mean to me. Me hate them. 20 years later, (NOW) DC nice to me. Me like them.

One more important note-everything I wrote about Les Daniels is how I felt in the past. And when I say ‘past’ I mean this morning.

On Facebook today, Dean Motter mentioned a Milestone retrospective “coffee-table” book as a way (NOT the reason to do the book) to help clear up some misconceptions about Milestone. Here’s my favorite: in the massive hardcover book DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes, the Milestone section states that Cowan, Dingle, and McDuffie founded Milestone.

What mention did I get? “A fourth partner, Michael Davis, quickly left to run Motown Animation.”

If by “quickly left,” you mean one year of development, another year of promotion and launch, damn near another year of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” making my life miserable, and the time the Motown deal took — once I decided “Fuck this noise, let’s see what else is out there” — then yeah, I guess I was out the fucking door as soon as Massa said I be free.

I hope the writer, Les Daniels, reads my book about Milestone. Especially chapter one — “Fuck Les Daniels.”

I think Les Daniels quickly left his research with the first motherfucker he talked to.

I’m also thinking Daniels and the guy that said Denys didn’t have the idea for Milestone are using the same sources.

While I’m on the subject of fucked journalism — could he have not found another way to say I was no longer with the company?

“Milestone was founded by Cowan, Dingle, McDuffie, and Davis. Davis is no longer with the company, deciding to accept an offer to run Motown Animation.”

Or…

“Milestone was founded by Cowan, Dingle, McDuffie, and Davis. Davis is no longer with the company; he was treated like SHIT by a motherfucker at DC Comics, so he decided to accept a position as PRESIDENT & CEO of the film and television arm of one of the most famous entertainment companies in the world. Because THAT’S how he rolls.”

WHY am I so pissed? Because DC Comics is still my favorite comic book universe. I’m a big part in a small way of that universe, and this MAJOR work on DC comes out and my contribution? I’m a fucking fleet-footed Negro who saw a prettier piece of ass and “quickly left” my friends, partners, and the company I helped create. The most famous black-owned comic book history IN THE UNIVERSE by the way. This is not something I want to share with my family. This is not something I mention with pride to anyone. The day that book came out, I was in the bookstore and I opened to the Milestone chapter like a kid on Christmas would open the biggest gift under the tree.

And that gift was a near total dismissal of my part in the Milestone story and place in DC Universe history. That shit hurt.

Really.

It didn’t help when hurt turned to fury, which manifested over a few months into total vehemence, when I made more than one good-natured attempt to contact Daniels, as did my agents at the time at WILLIAM MORRIS, in an attempt to set the record straight in future printings.

Never heard from him.

“Quickly left” may be how women describe a certain writer’s erectile dysfunction, but it’s not the truth when it comes to my time at Milestone or my dick.

In this instance “dick” doesn’t mean what you think it means. It’s a rule when you are from the hood and pissed off, you work in how much bigger your dick is than the guy you are pissed at. It means you have better influence, position, and standing than the subject of your ire…and your cock works and is huge.