A NEW SHADE OF SUPERHERO

A rising generation of black comic-book superheroes are beating back skinheads, blowing up crack houses, and knocking off drug dealers. But the creators of these hip new warriors are finding themselves under siege, by enemies they never expected: each other. The squabbling comes as black-owned and black-created comics are reaching their largest audience ever in the $700-million-a-year comic industry. More than 1.3 million books have sold since debut issues were launched in February and April by the warring factions-Milestone, a slick, black-owned New York partnership that has a lucrative distribution deal with DC Comics, and ANIA, a consortium of four small publishers around the U.S. But the battle between the two is not so much economic as political: It is over which comics portray blacks more suitably. Milestone's warriors include Hardware, a brilliant black inventor who uses high-tech gadgetry to thwart his evil boss, and Blood Syndicate, a multicultural Fantastic Eight who defend their territory within an urban jungle. ANIA's heroes are Ebony Warrior, a black man who spurns corporate America to return to his Alabama hometown and battle crime wearing a helmet that gives him special powers; and Zwanna, Son of Zulu, an African who comes to the U.S. to study, carrying a spear that helps him fight injustice. ''We're trying to do to the comics industry what Bill Cosby, Oprah, Arsenio, and Spike Lee did for their media-spice it up and bring the Afrocentric culture to the mainstream,'' says Nabile Hage of ANIA. But while the two sides' superheroes would seem to have much in common, Eric Griffin, head of the Oakland-based ANIA, charges that Milestone's more traditional heroes aren't true black voices. ''Basically what Milestone does is create white characters painted black,'' says Griffin. ''They're not culturally aware.'' He also claims Milestone's deal with DC compromises Milestone's integrity: ''Who is in control and who gets the money strikes a chord in the African-American community.'' The accusations naturally rile Milestone partner Michael Davis. ''How many black publishers are there in this country?'' he asks. ''What we need are 78,000 more of them. What we don't need is to be jumping on each other's throats.'' While Milestone has sold more than 750,000 copies of its first two titles over the last three months, ANIA's first two have sold only 130,000 since April. ''I'm black, so I tried to give ANIA's product a chance,'' says Mike Johnson, a buyer with Golden Apple Comics in L.A. ''But people just leaf through it and put it back.'' Accordingly, Maggie Thompson, coeditor of the trade publication Comic Buyer's Guide, notes that what matters most in the marketplace isn't necessarily political correctness-it's what's on the page in black and white. ''All the industry is looking for is good stories well told.''