Most celebrity interviews are predictable. The subject starts off with a polite word of thanks or greeting before detailing enthusiasm for upcoming projects. Denys Cowan was different. At the start of our phone call, the senior vice president of animation at BET threatened to beat down Ron King, the very owner of this magazine. When asked why the need for violence, Cowan explained that after scouring every page of UVC’s first three issues, his name could not be found anywhere. The reasoning seemed a little irrational until we went over his resume. Cowan began a career in the comics industry over 20 years ago with pin-ups and fill-in work for Marvel. Quickly proving himself, he was soon penciling characters such as Black Panther and Deathlock. Not limiting himself to the House of Ideas, he co-created the villainous Ducard 15 years before Liam Neeson made him famous in the critically acclaimed Batman Begins. In 1991, he co-founded Milestone, the first comic book imprint dedicated to black superheroes. This led to the Emmy nominated run of the Static Shock cartoon on the WB, as well as producing work for The Boondocks on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup. After such a versatile career, he was handpicked for his current job as VP of animation for BET. For the past two years, his work has helped the network achieve some of the highest ratings in its history. He was right. There’s no excuse that a man with such accomplishments should be absent from the Urban Voice in Comics.
 “What? I’m not black?”

“After accepting our apologies of lateness and retracting his vows of bodily harm, Cowan gave us a taste of the kind of animation we can expect over at BET. Regular viewers have no doubt already seen the controversial new video Read a Book from Bomani “D-Mite” Armah. Labeled “conscious crunk” by at least one Web site, the hilarious anthem marries a catchy, club banging beat with lyrics such as “Your body needs water, so drink that s---!” and a 20-second loop of “Wear deodorant n----!” All the while, an unapologetic, cartoon knock-off of Lil John assaults victims with works by Donald Goines and Zora Neale Hurston. A quick Internet search and you’ll find that the spectrum of opinions vary from brilliant to racist.”

“Read the entire Denys Cowan article in the latest issue of UVC - on sale now!”