Heroes: Kang Is The First Black Villian And He Matters

“When I grew up, criminals were my heroes” — Heroes by Macklemore

Allow me to be vulnerable for a moment and share one of my character flaws with you. I appreciate your patience with this indulgence. I must admit that I am a product of video/computer games, and while my wife views this as a flaw, this is not the character deficiency I am confessing. Like many children of my generation, I was a latch-key kid. My Atari 2600 was my trusted babysitter. It occupied my days and nights until my mother got home and then summoned me to report on what I had done with my day. Then I was forced to do some form of school work to keep my mind sharp or practice my piano lesson. My father didn’t care as long as I did not make a mess. He knew it kept me in the house, and I was less prone to get in trouble playing with a joystick. Later my Nintendo Entertainment System would become my new guardian.

I will turn 50 soon, and I still play video games. As I type this I am simultaneously playing a mobile game. I love video games. However, that is not what I want to divulge to you. My confession is that I can only play these games if I play as the hero. I cannot play as a villain. I do not know what it is about me that does not allow me to participate in the chaos and anarchy sowed by being the bad guy. For some unknown reason, I cannot do it. Perhaps the reason is that when I was growing up, none of the villains on TV or on the big screen that had schemes to conquer the…