Troy D. Smith

In support of the Thirteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, the authors of this report provide input on setting the level of military pay and the annual adjustment to military pay. They conclude that the U.S. Department of Defense should raise the benchmark it uses to set military pay and change the way it calculates the annual increase in military basic pay.

The perennial debate about whether U.S. allies are contributing sufficiently to the collective defense of the post-World War II liberal international order has resurfaced in recent years. In this report, RAND researchers describe the Burdensharing Index that they constructed to aid in measuring and analyzing allied contributions.

Shaolin Brew: Race, Comics, and the Evolution of the Superhero looks at how the comic book industry developed from a white perspective and how minority characters were and are viewed through a stereotypical white gaze. Further, the book explores how voices of color have launched a shift in the industry, taking nonwhite characters who were originally viewed through a white lens and situating them outside the framework of whiteness. The financial success of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu films in the early 1970s led to major comics publishers creating, for the first time, Black and Asian superhero characters who headlined their own comics. The introduction of Black and Asian main characters, who previously only served as guest stars or sidekicks, launched a new kind of engagement between comics companies and minority characters and readers. However, scripted as they were by white writers, these characters were mired in stereotypes. Author Troy D. Smith focuses on Asian, Black, and Latinx representation in the comic industry and how it has evolved over the years. Smith explores topics that include Orientalism, whitewashing, Black respectability politics, the model minority myth, and political controversies facing fandoms. In particular, Smith examines how fans take the superheroes they grew up with—such as Luke Cage, Black Lightning, and Shang Chi—and turn them into the characters they wished they had as children. Shaolin Brew delves into the efforts of fans of color who urged creators to make these characters more realistic. This refining process increased as more writers and artists of color broke into the industry, bringing their own perspectives to the characters. As many of these characters transitioned from page to screen, a new generation of writers, artists, and readers have cooperated to evolve one-dimensional stereotypes into multifaceted, dynamic heroes.

Shaolin Brew: Race, Comics, and the Evolution of the Superhero looks at how the comic book industry developed from a white perspective and how minority characters were and are viewed through a stereotypical white gaze. Further, the book explores how voices of color have launched a shift in the industry, taking nonwhite characters who were originally viewed through a white lens and situating them outside the framework of whiteness. The financial success of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu films in the early 1970s led to major comics publishers creating, for the first time, Black and Asian superhero characters who headlined their own comics. The introduction of Black and Asian main characters, who previously only served as guest stars or sidekicks, launched a new kind of engagement between comics companies and minority characters and readers. However, scripted as they were by white writers, these characters were mired in stereotypes. Author Troy D. Smith focuses on Asian, Black, and Latinx representation in the comic industry and how it has evolved over the years. Smith explores topics that include Orientalism, whitewashing, Black respectability politics, the model minority myth, and political controversies facing fandoms. In particular, Smith examines how fans take the superheroes they grew up with—such as Luke Cage, Black Lightning, and Shang Chi—and turn them into the characters they wished they had as children. Shaolin Brew delves into the efforts of fans of color who urged creators to make these characters more realistic. This refining process increased as more writers and artists of color broke into the industry, bringing their own perspectives to the characters. As many of these characters transitioned from page to screen, a new generation of writers, artists, and readers have cooperated to evolve one-dimensional stereotypes into multifaceted, dynamic heroes.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has flexibilities when setting compensation to support the recruitment and retention of personnel who are critical to the DoD cyber warfare mission. The authors examine labor demand and supply for seven DoD cyber work roles to help determine whether pay adjustments are necessary.

Roy Carpenter, harmonica-playing bluesman in 1957 Nashville, knows great music when he hears it. He also knows a dangerous woman when he looks at her . . . and finds her looking back. Beautiful Sallymae has a brutal husband--just the sort of guy to end up dead, with Roy taking the fall. Prize-winning western writer Troy Smith turns to the crime novel with dazzling results. A tough, passionate, honestly written tale. "One of the best crime novels I've read recently " James Reasoner. Original publication date: February 24, 2011. Advertised in Mystery Scene Magazine. This second edition includes the BONUS short story "Stomp Boogie." They love Cross Road Blues: "If Robert Johnson made a deal with the Devil at the crossroads, then Troy Smith must have made a deal with the ghost of Robert Johnson. He delivers a story told with the power and passion of the great Blues Man himself." - Robert J. Randisi "Award-winning historical novelist Troy D. Smith makes a fine crime fiction debut with CROSS ROAD BLUES. Skillfully evoking a time and place-the world of blues musicians in 1957 Nashville-Smith spins a tale that bristles with action and razor-sharp dialogue. This is one of the best crime novels I've read recently and I hope the first of many from Troy Smith." - James Reasoner, author of TEXAS WIND "Drugs, murder, a little Voodoo, and the blues-a lot of blues. Troy Smith's got his mojo workin' in this fast-moving, atmospheric crime novel set in the blues joints and back alleys of the 1950s. Check it out " - Bill Crider