Static in Africa

Static Shock episode
"Static in Africa"
Airdate:	February 8, 2003
Production Number:	28
Airdate Order:	27
Animation Services by:	Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.
Written by:	Dwayne McDuffie

"Static in Africa" is the third episode of season 3 of Static Shock. It first aired on February 8th, 2003. On a vacation to Ghana, Static meets the African hero Anansi.

Plot

Virgil and his family go on a trip to Ghana. While there Virgil calls Richie and tells him that he's closer to his heritage and doesn't feel like a minority but a person. On a train trip, a criminal called Osebo tries to steal a professor's map to an ancient city of gold that is buried under a lake. A superhero named Anansi, aka "the spider", stops Osebo from crashing the train, but not from taking the map. Virgil puts a tracer on Osebo and later reveals his secret identity to Anansi because they need each others' help to stop Osebo. They track him at the dam that holds the man made lake, and together they stop him from blowing it up. Static tells Anansi he's his hero and he has very few black heroes in America.

Continuity

• Anansi and Osebo return in "Out of Africa".

Background Information

Production Notes

• When Osebo's bomb blows up, the resulting explosion is reused footage from the scene of Superman: The Animated Series episode "World's Finest, Part III" in which one Wayne/Lex T-7 blows up another droid.

Production Inconsistencies

• Robert and the bus driver say Ghana was the first independent (decolonized) country in Africa. This is not entirely true, as several countries were independent before Ghana, and what is now Ethiopia was never colonized at all. It was, however, the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence in the post-World War II decolonization era.
• No director is credited.

Trivia

• The episode centers highly on the Ashanti culture.
  • Anansi, the spider, is a trickster in West African folklore.
  • Osebo is only a minor character in one of the legends, a leopard tricked, caught and killed by Anansi.
  • "Dr. Anokye" is likely named after Okomfo Anokye, cofounder of the Empire of Ashanti.
• Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti region.
• The dam, though unnamed in the episode, is the Akosombo Dam
• Virgil refers to his sister as "Shoppa Zulu", a reference to the Zulu king Shaka Zulu.
• Virgil asks Anansi to "hit [Osebo] with a web blast", and poses his hand in Spider-Man's traditional web shooter pose.

Cast

Actor	Role
Phil LaMarr	Static/Virgil Hawkins
Jason Marsden	Richie Foley
Kevin Michael Richardson	Robert Hawkins
Michele Morgan	Sharon Hawkins
Carl Lumbly	Anansi
Michael Jai White	Osebo
Roscoe Lee Browne	Dr. Anokye

Quotes

Robert: (to Sharon) Aw, honey, you look so beautiful. Like an Ashanti Princess. Your mother would be so proud. Virgil: Yeah. You look so African, maybe we should leave you here.

Sharon: I'm gonna miss Africa so much. Virgil: I don't know why. You're bringing most of it home with you.

Virgil: I never knew how important it would be to meet a role model like you... Anansi (surprised): Role model? Virgil: Yeah! A black superhero. I don't know, it validates me somehow. Anansi: Heroes come in every color, my friend.

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