Tony’s Timeless Thursdays™: The Stories That Built Me: How Television, Movies, Books, Comics, Games and Pop Culture Made Me Who I Am

Every week, Tony’s Timeless Thursdays™ gives me a chance to revisit a television show, movie, comic, book, video game or piece of pop culture that stayed with me.

But this week, instead of looking at one particular favorite, I wanted to step back and think about why all of this still means so much to me. The truth is that television, movies, books, comics, games and stage plays did far more than entertain me growing up. They helped shape my imagination, my interests, my faith, my career and eventually the stories I would create for myself.

Long before I became a journalist, novelist or creator of S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™, I was a kid absorbing stories and quietly learning what heroes, villains, families, sacrifice, fear, courage, humor and hope could look like.

Television Opened the Door

I grew up during an incredible time to have an imagination. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe gave me fantasy, heroism and a battle between good and evil. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gave me brotherhood, martial arts, humor and mutant superheroes. Superfriends, The Adventures of Superboy, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series deepened a love for superheroes that has never really left me. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers made teamwork, transformation and standing together against evil feel like a weekly event, while shows such as The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel showed me that fantasy and science fiction could also deal with grief, prejudice, redemption, loneliness and the cost of carrying extraordinary burdens.

Superman had an influence on me that went beyond capes and flying. Clark Kent was a reporter. He asked questions, pursued truth and wrote stories for a living, and somewhere along the way that image stayed with me. Years later, I became a journalist myself and spent several years covering crime for a newspaper. I certainly did not sit in front of the television as a child planning my future career around Clark Kent, but looking back, I can see that the seed was there. That is one of the amazing things about stories: sometimes they are shaping you long before you realize you are listening.

Television also helped me understand the importance of seeing Black people at the center of their own stories. The Cosby Show, A Different World, Sanford & Son, Good Times, and Family Matters gave me Black families, Black college life, careers, relationships, humor and everyday experiences that were allowed to matter. Showtime at the Apollo and Star Search celebrated talent and possibility, while shows like Perfect Strangers and Saved by the Bell simply reminded me how much fun television could be. As I grew older, I came to appreciate that Black storytelling should never have to exist inside one box. We belong in comedy, drama, science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror and superhero stories just as naturally as anybody else.

Movies Made Everything Feel Bigger

Movies showed me how enormous a story could feel. Christopher Reeve’s Superman films made me believe a man could fly, while Michael Keaton’s Batman movies gave superhero storytelling a darker atmosphere. RoboCop, The Terminator franchise, The Crow, Blade, the X-Men films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Matrix gave me action and spectacle, but they also asked bigger questions about humanity, technology, vengeance, prejudice, destiny and identity. The Indiana Jones films taught me how adventure could mix history, danger, mystery and humor, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles proved that something completely outrageous could still have real emotion underneath it.

Then there were movies such as The Color Purple and Malcolm X, which reached me in completely different ways. They reminded me that storytelling could confront history, racism, pain, dignity and survival with tremendous emotional power. On the other end of the spectrum, movies like Fools Rush In and Mannequin showed me that romance, humor and whimsy mattered too. I never wanted to love only one kind of story, and I still do not. That mixture of genres eventually became part of my own writing.

Books and Comics Taught Me How Worlds Are Built

The Holy Bible occupies a different place among the books that shaped me because it became part of the spiritual foundation through which I understand good, evil, temptation, sacrifice, redemption, purpose and faith. Those ideas existed in me long before S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™ had a name. My love of superheroes, fantasy, horror and science fiction eventually met that spiritual foundation, and that collision helped shape the kind of stories I wanted to tell.

Other books stretched my imagination in different directions. The Death and Life of Superman and The Further Adventures of Superman allowed me to go deeper into a mythology I already loved, while Goosebumps, Fear Street, Fear Hall, Animorphs, Spooksville and Sherlock Holmes gave me horror, suspense, transformation, mystery and adventure. Books taught me that imagination has no special-effects budget. A handful of words can create a monster, destroy a city, build an entire universe or place you inside another person’s fear.

Comic books taught me how those universes could keep growing. Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Static, Icon, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Walking Dead showed me the importance of continuity, supporting characters, villains, consequences and legacy. The X-Men demonstrated how superhero stories could wrestle with prejudice and belonging. Static and Icon reminded me how important it was to see Black heroes occupying those spaces. Superman continually showed me that having extraordinary power means little without compassion and responsibility. Comics taught me that what happens today can matter twenty issues later, that a supporting character can become central and that heroes can fail, grow and pass something meaningful to the generation that follows.

Games and Theater Taught Me Two Different Kinds of Participation

Video games allowed me to stop watching the adventure and enter it. Mortal Kombat gave me martial arts, supernatural mythology, different realms and unforgettable heroes and villains. Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hybrid Heaven, The Division and the Batman: Arkham games each gave me different worlds to explore, but games also taught a simple lesson that applies well beyond a controller: failure is not necessarily the end. You lose, learn the pattern, adjust and try again. That is useful in gaming, writing and life.

Stage plays taught me almost the opposite lesson about storytelling. A Raisin in the Sun, The Crucible and 12 Angry Men showed me that you do not need explosions, superpowers or elaborate effects to create tremendous tension. A family sitting in a room can carry generations of hope and disappointment. An accusation can destroy a community. Twelve people talking around a table can become a battle over truth, evidence and prejudice. Theater reinforced something I still believe as a writer: spectacle can be powerful, but the right conversation can hit just as hard.

Eventually, Those Stories Became Part of Mine

When I look at S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™, I can see the fingerprints of a lifetime spent loving stories. Faith is there. Superheroes are there. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, family, mystery and action are there. Questions about identity, responsibility, sacrifice, legacy and destiny are there. Angelo™, Angeline™ and the world around them did not come from copying the stories I loved. They came from everything those stories taught me was possible.

That is really why Tony’s Timeless Thursdays™ means so much to me. Nostalgia is part of the fun, but nostalgia becomes more powerful when we ask what those old stories left inside us. Superman helped point me toward journalism. Black television reinforced the importance of representation. Comics taught me how universes grow. Horror taught me how fear works. Games taught me persistence. Theater taught me the power of dialogue. The Bible gave me a spiritual foundation.

All of it became part of the storyteller I eventually became.

I am made, in part, from the stories I loved. They entertained me, challenged me, frightened me, made me laugh, expanded my world and gave my imagination somewhere to go. And every Thursday when I revisit another piece of pop culture, I am doing more than remembering something old. I am revisiting another piece of the road that brought me here.

The credits may roll. The curtain may fall. The game may end and the book may close. But the best stories never completely leave us. Sometimes, if they reach us at the right time, they become part of who we are.