'Harlem Shadow': Russell Simmons, Common team for Jazz Age animated hero series
by Geoff Boucher on Aug 2, 2013
Music and fashion mogul Russell Simmons says he has October’s New York Comic-Con circled on his calendar for the first big reveal of The Harlem Shadow, a new animated online superhero series that will be set in the Jazz Age and features hip-hop star Common in the title voice role.
The series is an adaptation of the indie small-press series of the same name from RavenHammer Comics and the creative team of Brian Williams and Christian Colbert. (That version of the hero is shown in the poster image above.) After the Javitts Center debut, some early content will be online by year’s end at All Def Digital, the YouTube channel from Simmons and Brian Robbins of Awesomeness TV.
To Simmons, who built empires with both Def Jam and Phat Farm, the animated series presents a heroic opportunity to meld the influence of classic superhero stylists like Will Eisner and the Fleischer Brothers and the cultural backdrop of “a timeless New York era” that echoes louder than ever in pop culture.
“The Harlem Shadow not only brings to life the rich culture, art, fashion, music and creativity of the Harlem Renaissance through the first black superhero of the era – but it also exposes the same grittiness and glamour that heavily influences the modern-day hip-hop community, ” Simmons says. “The Harlem Renaissance scene set the style with the music clubs, cars, all of it from that era – and the fashion, absolutely.”
Simmons adds that he can’t wait to hear the final soundtrack: “The music of that era and the music of this era, there are so many connections that can be made in interesting ways.”
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