Milestone Just Made Static Shock’s Origin More Relevant Than Ever

Static Shock is the most popular Milestone Comics character. The electrifying hero just received a new origin in Milestone’s exciting new reboot.

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Static Shock just received a timely new origin story in the relaunch of the Milestone Comics line. Virgil Hawkins is Milestone Comics’ flagship hero because of his popularity. First appearing in the early ’90s, Virgil quickly captured the hearts of readers, both young and old. He was a fresh new type of superhero: a young hero of color. Virgil was like any nerdy inner-city kid. He had his small circle of friends. He had a crush. Virgil also had something many kids around the world cannot avoid. He had the attention of a bully.

In the original Milestone series, Virgil was embarrassed by the bully when defending his love interest Frieda. The bully was a gang member and taunted Virgil with racial insults. After Virgil took a beating, he was saved by one of the bully’s rival gang members. He told Virgil that the only way to stop being a victim was to shoot his tormentor, and gifted him with a gun. Virgil appeared as instructed and ended up in the middle of a gang war. Though he decided he would not use the gun, he was still caught between the gang war and the authorities that arrived. The authorities deployed a gas that turned everyone in the vicinity into metahumans. The event would later come to be known as “the Big Bang.”

In the Milestone Returns Zero collection by Reginald Hudlin, Khoi Pham, Scott Hanna, and many other talented artists, Static Shock has an entirely different origin story. Virgil is still a nerdy teen who gets bullied. Strange gas is also the source of his powers in the new series. But the setting of the updated origin represents a major difference between the original and relaunch. In the relaunch, Virgil attends a Black Lives Matter rally for two reasons. His love interest is there. The second reason is that he genuinely believes in the cause. Every Static Shock title has tackled social issues. This iteration of Static is no different. He is as socially conscious as ever.

Virgil’s new origin accomplishes several tasks at once. It establishes Static Shock as a socially conscious hero, while also setting the tone for the title, character, and even the new Dakotaverse. Milestone’s writers are not shying away from social justice. They are diving headfirst into the social issues that are currently plaguing our country, as they always have.

Static Shock has always been a unique hero. He not only fights crime, but he also fights bigotry by representing his culture and race as an amazing Black superhero. Milestone Comics characters like Icon may be more powerful than Static, but the teen crimefighter is much more relatable. Virgil is a character with extreme depth and an electrifying personality. He represents a generation of people of color who are enlightened and unafraid to be activists for the causes they support. Static Shock has once again shocked the world with his timely new origin.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/milestone-static-shock-reboot-origin-black-lives-matter/