The Disney Pop Culture Takeover - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Disney Pop Culture Takeover - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Let’s face it, Disney owns the entertainment industry. When you turn on the TV, chances are you’re watching a Disney owned network and/or produced show. The same applies to movies. I bet Mickey owns quite a few movie studios that you never knew he had his grubby balloon-esque hands all over. With the purchasing of Marvel and Lucas Film, however, Disney has charged full-force into a realm that the company has never tread before - pop-culture. Is this overtake of the pop-culture scene by an overwhelmingly wealthy entertainment giant a good thing? Here is the way I see it:

The Good

Disney has money, A LOT OF MONEY. Therefore, they are able to take a vast universe such as Marvel, and do with it what no other movie studio has dared to even dream of doing, that is, throwing billions of dollars into super-hero properties and turning them into cutting-edge films that share the same storylines and universe as a whole. 

The way that Disney and Marvel Studios have linked together their big screen films and Television shows (yes, I said shows - there’s a new one that they managed to pull out of the air that’s coming soon) astonishes me and makes me hungry for more! But not too much, which leads me to…

The Bad

Disney has money, A LOT OF MONEY (is there an echo in the room?). When people get a lot of money, they do stupid things with that money. Corporations are no different. I fear that Disney will beat both Marvel and Star Wars to death before the decade is over. Over exposure can be a bad thing, even if it does include lightsaber fights and the Hulk smashing everything is sight.

The Ugly

The Disney pop-culture overtake makes it extremely hard on the competition to compete. And where there is no competition, the corporation on top feels they can do no wrong, and that’s where franchises and properties are ruined. Not only that, but Marvel and Star Wars properties basically account for the majority of the licensed products on the market. Think about it, Star Wars and Marvel characters are on clothing, LEGOS, video games, comics, books, cartoons, food items, housewares and countless other goods and products. Disney knows that Star Wars and Marvel are powerful brands, which is why they dished out ridiculous amounts of money to own them.

But when one company owns two properties that are so high in consumer demand, it makes things hard on the little guys like Black Streak Entertainment to find companies that are willing to place our characters and our properties on their products. As I stated in “The Bad”, over-exposure can be a bad thing, both for consumers who are tired of seeing the same ol’ Marvel and Star Wars stuff on every product in a store, and for upcoming entertainment brands, like Black Streak, who constantly get rejected by product manufacturers because we aren’t as recognizable as Marvel or Disney.

Black Streak Store Highlight

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Becky gif

I wanted to make a Becky gif so I did. This didn't take that much time to make thank goodness but that is only because her eyes are the only things moving. Animation takes a long time to complete by yourself. It's also not worth the trouble, well unless you are really into doing animation. I'm not really into doing animation but I do try it sometimes.

Looks like she's saying "No... not really.".  How she sounds is up to you. Becky is a Black Streak original character from the future project Milk and Coffee.

Store it up! The Black Streak Store is back and better than ever!

That's right the store is up! To be honest the store never actually went anywhere but it is better than ever now with our new theme and effort.

We do have plans for getting rid of the main Black Streak Books site to focus our sights more on the store web site, blackstreakstore.com. The store is mobile friendly and along with the great social media pages that Black Streak maintains you won't need another site like Black Streak Books slowing you down. That being said, the store is up and beaming with cool items. There's also a new link at the bottom of the store's pages for Black Streak Mailing List sign-ups!

It looks like this:

Be sure to follow our Tweets (@BlackStreakE) or Facebook (Black Streak Entertainment) posts for the latest in everything Black Streak.

Giveaways, Kickstarter, and Discounts - OH My!

Black​ Streak Entertainment is always doing big things, and the Raimey brothers are always on their grind! Get the latest scoop on what's new with Justin and Terry L Raimey's relentless quest to make their brand, Black Streak Entertainment a powerhouse in pop culture! Join OUR culture, and be a part of the birth of a new and great movement in pop culture - The Black Streak Culture!

Black Streak Entertainment Highlights

Support Knights of 2nd Earth on Kickstarter!

A revolution is coming, and we want you to join the cause. Become a part of this 

ambitious 3 book YA-Fiction, Urban-Fantasy, Action-Adventure project! Pledge your 

money to the revolution, recruit your friends to join the cause, and STAND AND 

FIGHT! Learn More

Monthly Giveaway!

Wanna look as intense as Terry L Raimey does in this pic? Do you want the POWER wristband?Shoot an email to giveaways@blackstreakbooks.com for a chance to win one of these beasts!

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Comics, Pop-Culture, and Race - Is the Industry Doing Enough?

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Comikaze 2014 Recap - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Comikaze Expo means different things to different people. For some, it's a magical hub of information; a place to get the latest info on what's hot and upcoming in the world of comics and popculture. For others, it is sacred ground where one can cosplay outside of Halloween and not be viewed as a freak, where being a nerd is synonymous with being the ish. And for the few exhibitors, small publishers, and artists looking to promote their original brands in the mondern monopolized world of popculture, Comikaze was a land of disappointment.

The Good

Comikaze, overall, had a positive vibe about it. Justin and I met some good folks and engaged in some good conversations with new fans of our work! There's nothing more that we love than seeing smiles on the faces of people who witness Black Streak products for the very first time and answering their questions about our small (and soon to grow) brand.

Kick-Ass and Hit Girl doing what they do best!

It's the man himself! Mr. Lee takes the main stage!

We saw a lot of aswesome cosplays, and let's not forget - Stan "The Man" Lee was in the house!

The Bad

Okay, now for the not so nice, not so fun stuff. Comikaze wasn't all sunshine and rainbows - especially if you were an exhibitor in the Small Press/Artist Alley section as Justin and I were. Stan Lee's Comikaze Con might as well have been called "Marvel Con" (or Disney Con, depending on how you want to look at it...).

Wish you were here...

Comikaze did a terrible job of directing guests to the Small Press/Artist Alley section; and by "terrible job" I mean they didn't attempt to direct folks to our section at all. Now, I love Marvel as much as the next guy. Heck, Spider-Man has been my mentor since the airing of the 90's cartoon series! But c'mon Comikaze! Justin and I (along with a plethora of small presses) spent mad $$$ on exhibiting at YOUR show! The least they could have done was gave the small press section a shoutout over the loudspeaker, like, "Hey guys, make sure you check out the small press and artist alley!". Unless, they did give us a shoutout and I was so bored from the lack of traffic in our section that I was zoned out (hey, it's a posibility).

And possibly, the baddest aspect of them all - $60 for a Stan Lee autograph? WTH?! 

The Ugly

And finally, this is the section where some of you may get offended (don't say I didn't warn you). ONLY 2 OF YOU SHOWED UP TO OUR TABLE! What happened L.A.? Justin and I traveled all the way from Ohio to share the joy that is Black Streak Entertainment with you guys, we brought our brand to your doorstep, and only 2 of the people who signed up for our Comikaze promotion showed up to rep L.A.

Oh yeah - I'm ready! Justin at our Comikaze set-up!

Needless to say, from a business standpoint, Comikaze was a HUGE disappointment for Black Streak Entertainment. Despite the disappointment, though, we love L.A., and we plan on relocating Black Streak there in the near future! But in order for us to do that, we need you to take action and get involved with us! Shop from our store blackstreakstore.com and tell your friends to do the same! Simple, right?!

Did you spot our ad in the Comikaze show guide? 

Here's a hint: it's on the inside front cover. Make sure you take advantage of the amazing blackstreakstore.com discount coded printed in the lower right corner! And just in case you don't have the ad on hand, here are the codes one more time:

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Black Streak Store update you all!

New art prints are now available at the Black Streak Store.  Really cool pieces this time.  There are some Fijis and MSLs mixed in there.  Also there are still plenty of buttons to choose from.  I'll slowly update the current stock of buttons on the store's web site with photos of the finished product like this: 

We figured our customers would like to see more than just the graphic so actual photos were taken.  

It's a Prin-Splosion!

Hey there, summer is winding down and people are going back to their exciting school lives.  But don't fret, all is not lost for Black Streak is here to save the month of September with an explosion of new art prints by artist Justin Raimey.  This is the biggest batch to be released yet and it is sure to please.

The new prints will feature a majority of Black Streak properties.  

A list of the new print properties are below:

• Milk and Coffee
• My Sweet Lady
• Fiji Random
• Knights of 2nd Earth

How does seven 8.5"x11" high quality art prints sound? How about the fact there are more prints than the mighty 7 on board for the 9/12/2014 release?

That's right all you... lovely people, we have 3 more prints up to bat!  They are 4"x6" art prints that posses a different picture on each side.  So that brings our total up to 10 prints!

The 8.5"x11" art prints are $9.99 each

The 6"x4" dual art prints are $4.99 each

Head on to the Black Streak Store on 9/12/2014 and beyond to order any of these great prints.  Also, since you are getting the prints straight from the source, the artist will sign your art print for you, for free!  Me, I'm the artist and I'll sign 'em, oh I'll sign 'em good I will!

Two more prints bounce into the store!

Not only do we have more button pin designs on the way we've got a couple of new art prints in the store. There is a Dusty print and a My Sweet Lady print.  Don't forget about the new bookmarks!  Two more of those have been added to the store as well.  This time around there are new Dusty and Orange designs.

More prints are on the way but they will be farther down the road.  Other prints are also in the store if you have not seen them before.

The new button designs are in the store! Ohayocon also!

Hello there, the Becky and milk related button designs are now in the store.  You can view the awesome yet cute designs on the picture below.

 They were first sold at this year's Ohayocon, an anime convention in Columbus Ohio, and people liked the "Milk is Evil" design most of all.  Whatever design you fancy they are up on the store right now.

Some other button pin designs have slipped its way into the Black Streak Store as well.  There's one with a dolphin, another with Dirty and a cool peace one.  More designs will be placed in the store in the near future so keep a lookout for goods.

Yes, we were at Ohayocon this year.  The con had a great turnout and we are glad we were able to sell Black Streak items there.  We were able to spread cuteness and coolness to all of you who walked by the table.  We saw crazy good cosplayers and the people who attended and stopped by the table were very nice.  Thank you very much to those who stopped by the table!  We may see you next year or we may not I don't know.