article via jbhe.com
Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond has more than 175,000 volumes in its Comic Arts Collection, including more than 125,000 comic books. The university recently acquired a rare copy of All-Negro Comics No. 1, the first comic book written and drawn solely by African American writers and artists.
The 48-page comic book was published in 1947 and features characters such as police detective Ace Harlem and Lion Man, a college-educated scientist and superhero. All-Negro Comics No. 1 was published by Philadelphia newspaperman Orrin C. Evans.
A letter from the publisher in All-Negro Comics No. 1 reads: “Dear Readers: This is the first issue of All-Negro Comics, jam-packed with fast action, African adventure, good clean humor and fantasy. Every brush stroke and pen line in the drawings on these pages are by Negro artists. And each drawing is an original: that is, none has been published ANYWHERE before. This publication is another milestone in the splendid history of Negro journalism. All-Negro Comics will not only give Negro artists an opportunity gainfully to use their talents, but it will glorify Negro historical achievements.”
It was the first and only published comic in the series.
Posts published in “Graphic Novels”
article by Hadassah Egbedi via venturesafrica.com:
The growth of Africa’s comic culture has given rise to the likes of Comic Republic with superhero characters and lifestyles that Africans can finally relate with and the reception so far has been incredible. However, a young Cameroonian may just have taken this initiative to the next level. Madiba Olivier, who has always enjoyed video games, is now pioneering his own brand of games with African content and characters in central Africa by incorporating African folklore.
Olivier decided to invest in his passion by establishing Kiro’o Games, central Africa’s first video game studio that is creating a new narrative and visual benchmark for the gaming industry. With their latest project, Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, an action-RPG (Role Playing Game), the studio intends to unify and transmit African culture by combining various myths, tales and traditional values into the gaming experience.
“The history of our continent is rich … we took inspiration from local Cameroonian traditions, like the Ngondo festival celebrated by the Sawa people, and we also incorporated symbolism adapted from that of the Akan people of Ghana, specifically the Adinkra writing style,” said Olivier.
“Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan” is set in a world of elemental energies and ancestral powers, where players assume the role of a traditional ruler, Enzo Kori-Odan, rightful ruler of the Zama kingdom, who uses the Aurion power granted him by his ancestors to regain control of his kingdom.
Initially named Madibao Corporation Studio, Kiro’o Games was established in 2003 by Olivier Madiba with two of his friends, Yakan Dominique and Waffo Hugues. The name Kiro’o is derived from “kiroho maonno” Swahili for “spiritual vision.” However, establishing and pioneering one of Central Africa’s first indigenous video games was not easy. Aside tackling daily power outages, the company’s business director, Boyogueno Roland, said it was quite difficult to get initial funding because investors were sceptical of the project.
“We started the project in 2003 but it was very difficult for us to find funding in the first place,” he said. But with the support of Cameroon’s ministry of arts and culture, Kiro’o Games got the much needed credibility it sought.
The project also got a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter gaining $50,000 in support from backers. And regarding power cuts, the company has resorted to the use of solar energy for future projects. However, the company would like to gain more trust and support from local investors. According to Roland, the business can be profitable, and its success would encourage other Africans to delve into the gaming industry.
To read more, go to: http://venturesafrica.com/kiroo-games-central-africas-first-gaming-studio-is-creating-games-with-a-combination-of-african-myths-tales-and-traditional-values/
The next time you find yourself in Philadelphia and in need of a comic books and coffee fix, there’s a destination in town that has you covered. Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse is owned by Ariell R. Johnson, the first Black woman to open a comic book store on the East Coast.
Johnson, a Baltimore native, says she got the idea for Amalgam over 12 years ago when she was a student at Temple University. A comic books fan herself, her favorite store sat across from her coffee shop of choice. She would buy copies of comics then head across the street to have a cup of joe while reading her new finds. When the coffeehouse closed, Johnson’s wheels began turning and she began planting the early seeds for Amalgam.
Amalgam rests in Philly’s up-and-coming Kensington section, and she hopes that it becomes a haven for longtime comics fans and newbies alike. There is also a push for diversity, as there are comic book lines that focus on underrepresented groups such as people of color and the LBGTQ community.
Another focus of the store is to feature not only the major lines from top companies like Marvel and DC, but also the growing number of independent comic book lines from across the nation. Johnson envisions Amalgam as a place where everyone feels welcomed and has put in place a staff that will help guide the less experienced on their comic journey.
There has been some debate whether or not Johnson is the first Black female comic store owner ever, but nonetheless she is definitely a rarity in the white and male-dominated world of comics.
article by D.L. Chandler via blackamericaweb.com
Michael B. Jordan‘s first attempt at playing a superhero didn’t go over well with movie buffs. The 2015 reboot of “Fantastic Four” bombed at the box office but similar to his character in “Creed,” Jordan is a fighter! He’s now planning to star in his own superhero franchise.
Jordan and Nathan Edmonson are co-authoring the comic book, “North.” Here’s the premise of the series from The Hollywood Reporter:
“[‘North’] follows a soldier who is recruited into a top-secret paramilitary program that modifies his mind to make him a spy like no other. When an operation goes south, he is betrayed by the organizations he serves but quickly discovers he is far more dangerous than even his betrayers realize.”
While it sounds a lot like “Captain America,” Edmonson is an accomplished writer who wrote “The Punisher” and “Black Widow” for Marvel. He and Jordan met, ironically at one of Los Angeles’ top comic shops, Golden Apple, and decided to collaborate on their own comic.
The pair have already completed two issues which will be published by Dark Horse Comics in 2016. According to THR, this is the start of something big for the 28-year-old. “The duo want the comic to stand alone on its own merits, one of the goals is to craft an eventual producing vehicle for Jordan.”
article by Zon D’Amour via hellobeautiful.com
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… Icon!
Or is it Hardware rocketing through the skies, or Static Shock surfing on his big, floating garbage lid?
These three Black superheroes soon will return to a comic book store near you. If all goes well, cartoons, television appearances, movies and toys will follow.
That is the message that Milestone Media and DC Comics has been leaking out, by dribs and drabs, all year long.
Industry professionals Denys Cowan, Derek Dingle, Dwayne McDuffie and Michael Davis planned Milestone in the early 1990s as an independent, African American-owned and controlled comic book. It launched instead as an imprint of one of the “big two” publishers, with a special arrangement between Milestone and DC. It was hailed as a pioneering event in the comic book world.
Milestone would have total creative control over its comics, retain the copyright to all of its characters and have the final say on merchandising and licensing deals, according to the deal. Marvel and DC, the Coke and Pepsi of the comics industry, had dabbled in creator-owned projects before. But a deal of that size and scope was unprecedented.
The arrangement was “very unique in that it allowed Milestone access to a complete system of distribution and promotion while still maintaining a great deal of independent control over the content of the books,” Jeffrey A. Brown, Bowling Green University professor and author of BlackSuperheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans, said to Urban News Service.
The agreement “proved beneficial to both DC and Milestone,” Brown said. It “facilitated the Static Shock animated series,” which ran for 52 epi
sodes on the WB Network from 2000 to 2004. It also “kept the characters alive with occasional appearances in the DC Universe after Milestone closed down.”
Milestone’s comic book line launched in 1993 and went on hiatus in 1997 after giving readers hundreds of individual issues. Why did it shut down? “The various titles published by Milestone had a very dedicated fan following but the glut of new publishers over-saturated the market,” Brown said.
Despite rapid expansion, the American public’s interest in comics waned in the late 90’s, partly due to fascination with the still relatively new internet. Dozens of comic book companies and thousands of comic-specialty retailers went bust.
Now, thanks to television, social media and stronger story lines, comics are in another growth phase. The number of shops has risen and other distribution channels have emerged and improved. You can buy individual issues at comic book stores, digital comics for your tablet — via Amazon or ComiXology — and graphic novels are now seen as a legitimate genre of literature.
Ta-Nehisi Coates can be identified in many ways: as a national correspondent for The Atlantic, as an author and, as of this month, as a nominee for the National Book Award’s nonfiction prize. But Mr. Coates also has a not-so-secret identity, as evidenced by some of his Atlantic blog posts and his Twitter feed: Marvel Comics superfan.
So it seems only natural that Marvel has asked Mr. Coates to take on a new Black Panther series set to begin next spring. Writing for that comics publisher is a childhood dream that, despite the seeming incongruity, came about thanks to his day job. “The Atlantic is a pretty diverse place in terms of interest, but there are no comics nerds,” besides himself, Mr. Coates said in an interview.
His passions intersected in May, during the magazine’s New York Ideas seminar, when he interviewed Sana Amanat, a Marvel editor, about diversity and inclusion in comic books. Ms. Amanat led the creation of the new Ms. Marvel, a teenage Muslim girl living in Jersey City, based on some of her own childhood experiences.
“It was a fruitful discussion,” he recalled.
After that event, Marvel reached out, paired Mr. Coates with an editor, and discussions about the comic began. The renewed focus on Black Panther is no surprise. Created in 1966, he is the first black superhero and hails from Wakanda, a fictional African country.
“He has the baddest costume in comics and is a dude who is smarter and better than everyone,” said Axel Alonso, the editor in chief of Marvel. The character not only adds to the diversity of Marvel’s comics; he will do it for their films too: Black Panther is set to make his big-screen debut next year in “Captain America: Civil War,” followed by a solo feature in 2018.
Sixteen-year-old actress (and more) Amandla Stenberg has launched a new comic book franchise titled “NIOBE: She is Life,” which she co-wrote with Sebastian A. Jones, and is illustrated by Ashley A. Woods, with a layout by Darrell May.
It’ll be published via Los Angeles-based Stranger Comics (founded by Jones) – a multi-platform company which seeks to produce and distribute narratives about the experiences of people of color, via different artistic mediums; comic books being one of them obviously.
May serves as the company’s art director.
The official synopsis for the “NIOBE: She is Life” describes it as a coming of age tale of love, betrayal, and ultimate sacrifice: “Niobe Ayutami is an orphaned wild elf teenager and also the would-be savior of the vast and volatile fantasy world of Asunda. She is running from a past where the Devil himself would see her damned… toward an epic future that patiently waits for her to bind nations against the hordes of hell. The weight of prophecy is heavy upon her shoulders and the wolf is close on her heels.”
“I was drawn to give voice to Niobe and co-write her story because her journey is my journey. I connect to her mixed racial background and quest to discover her innate powers and strengths, to learn who she truly is,” Stenberg told The Huffington Post.
Stenberg first became involved with the project when she met Stranger Comics founder Jones at the Mixed Remixed Festival – an annual celebration of people of mixed race heritage through the cultural arts.
Jones added: “It did not take long for me to know she was the person I needed to develop; she’s the most beloved character in a franchise I have been brewing for more than two decades – a hero that has the weight of the world on her winged shoulders, a woman who will bind nations.”
RELATED POSTS:
- Marvel Announces New African-American Superhero “Moon Girl”
- Erika Alexander Co-Writes Graphic Novel with Black Heroine
- CW Network Announces Animated Black DC Comics Heroine “Vixen” Series
Niobe first appeared in Jones’ series “The Untamed,” which follows the story’s protagonist, known as The Stranger, and his quest to seek vengeance for the deaths of his wife and daughter.
“She [Niobe] is on a path to a destiny that will test her faith and her will, something we can all relate to,” said Stenberg, “But there’s never been a character quite like her – one who shatters the traditional ideal of what a hero is. We need more badass girls!”
“NIOBE” is scheduled for release in November alongside “The Untamed” graphic novel.
By the way, it may just be a coincidence, but Niobe also happens to be the name of the character Jada Pinkett Smith played in “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions,” and one of the protagonists of video game “Enter the Matrix.” And she certainly was a “badass girl,” to use Stenberg’s words.
article by Tambay A. Benson via ShadowAndAct
Black girl magic has just been further actualized with the new Marvel superhero Lunella Lafayette, who goes by Moon Girl. Lafayette is a new take on a 1978 Marvel comic Devil Dinosaur that involved the adventures of a red Tyrannosaurus Rex and a young caveman-like boy known as Moon Boy. Today, Lafayatte may take over the Moon-child role but there’s nothing cave-ish about her. The new Moon Girl is an African American pre-teen genius.
Entertainment Weekly reports Moon Girl will be similar to an inspector gadget, but even more clever due to her “unpredictable alien DNA.”
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur were brought to life when Marvel’s team of creatives realized they did not have many books and characters that appealed to all age groups. The unlikely duo of dinosaur and girl genius will seek adventures across the concrete jungle of New York City.
“Generally, we’re skewing a little bit older with a lot of our titles and we wanted to create something that adults and kids could really love, like a Pixar feel. That’s where the tone jumped off for us,” said Emily Shaw, Marvel’s assistant editor.
However, it isn’t the age group we’re thrilled about – it’s the representation of a black girl superhero that has excitement over the new comic growing. Nancy Bustos, the artist behind the new superhero, spoke on her excitement of seeing the representation come to life.
“It’s great to be a part of the creation of something which can mean something special to so many people,” said Bustos who is Afro-Brazilian, Chilean, and Spanish.
Bustos can relate to growing up with a lack of characters that looked like her, “I myself have come up against this dilemma of finding few or no cultural references, especially in Spain,” she noted.
Cyborg, the techno-powered teenage superhero, is rising to the ranks of peers like Superman and Batman by headlining his own comic book series. But what makes him different from other mainstream superheroes? For starters, he’s black.
A freak accident turns Victor Stone into the half-human, half-robot hybrid hero with Herculean strength and mechanical telepathy. In spite of his of abilities, Cyborg has a complex life dealing with the challenges of being different both as a black male and as a superhero.
David F. Walker, the award-winning journalist and author who penned the series of black private-eye and vigilante Shaft, is the writer bringing Cyborg’s story to life. We caught up with Walker to get the scoop on the cultural impact of the prolific comic book publisher DC Comics and spearheading a leading storyline for one of the greatest black superheroes ever to exist.
The Huffington Post: Who is Cyborg, and how did he gain his powers?
David F. Walker: Cyborg is Victor Stone, who first appeared in the pages of a series called The New Teen Titans, back in 1980. Vic is a young African American man who was nearly killed in a laboratory explosion, only to have his life saved, and his body restored through the use of advanced cybernetics. Vic is somewhat unique, in that he doesn’t have an alter-ego, and Cyborg isn’t so much of persona as it merely is his state of being — the result of this devastating accident that almost took his life. The technology that is used to keep him alive makes him look more like a robot, gives him incredible strength, and allows him total access to the Internet by way of the computer implanted in his brain.
What sort of significance do you think it means for Cyborg, a black superhero, to officially have his own series?
There simply aren’t that many black superheroes with their own series, which leaves a rather large cross section of the comic-reading audience under-represented. I go to conventions, and I see incredible numbers of women and people of color in attendance — in some case making up the majority of convention attendees — and yet that is not reflected in the mainstream comics on the shelves. Cyborg having his own series is a step in the direction of greater representation, which is significant for quite a few reasons. Perhaps the most significant reason is that it helps to activate the dreams of young black people. Lack of representation becomes a form of oppression, sending a message that there is no place for black people or women or the LGBT community in these fantasy worlds that serve as a metaphor for the lives we live, and an escape for the horrors of everyday life.
What traits make Cyborg an interesting hero?
I could say that it is the fact that he is more machine than man — that he can fly, and possesses superhuman strength, and that his brain has the most advanced computer in existence plugged right into it — but that’s not what makes him interesting. What makes him interesting — what makes all heroes interesting — are the flaws and weaknesses that remind us of their humanity.
What things can we look forward to in the Cyborg solo series?
Obviously, there will be action. This is, after all, a comic book, and action drives a large part of the American superhero comic genre. So, we will see Vic facing various threats, from cybernetic-aliens looking to hijack his tech, to super villains we love to hate. But the thing that I think many people are looking for, and that I hope to deliver, is the development of Vic Stone as a character. Cyborg has been around for 35 years, and we’ve seen bits and pieces of his life, but he has always been a co-star in team books like Teen Titans or Justice League, which means there is only so much of his story that can be told.
What elements do you think make for a great superhero comic?
I may get in trouble for saying this, but superheroes are the modern equivalent to the gods of ancient mythology. These are power fantasies and morality tales that are meant to help us better understand the way we live our lives, and give us an escape from both the mundane and horrific that we face on a daily basis. A great superhero comic is brimming with the same things we deal with, only exaggerated to the most wild of extremes.
Cyborg, the techno-powered teenage superhero, is rising to the ranks of peers like Superman and Batman by headlining his own comic book series. But what makes him different from other mainstream superheroes? For starters, he’s black.
A freak accident turns Victor Stone into the half-human, half-robot hybrid hero with Herculean strength and mechanical telepathy. In spite of his of abilities, Cyborg has a complex life dealing with the challenges of being different both as a black male and as a superhero.
David F. Walker, the award-winning journalist and author who penned the series of black private-eye and vigilante Shaft, is the writer bringing Cyborg’s story to life. We caught up with Walker to get the scoop on the cultural impact of the prolific comic book publisher DC Comics and spearheading a leading storyline for one of the greatest black superheroes ever to exist.
The Huffington Post: Who is Cyborg, and how did he gain his powers?
David F. Walker: Cyborg is Victor Stone, who first appeared in the pages of a series called The New Teen Titans, back in 1980. Vic is a young African American man who was nearly killed in a laboratory explosion, only to have his life saved, and his body restored through the use of advanced cybernetics. Vic is somewhat unique, in that he doesn’t have an alter-ego, and Cyborg isn’t so much of persona as it merely is his state of being — the result of this devastating accident that almost took his life. The technology that is used to keep him alive makes him look more like a robot, gives him incredible strength, and allows him total access to the Internet by way of the computer implanted in his brain.
What sort of significance do you think it means for Cyborg, a black superhero, to officially have his own series?
There simply aren’t that many black superheroes with their own series, which leaves a rather large cross section of the comic-reading audience under-represented. I go to conventions, and I see incredible numbers of women and people of color in attendance — in some case making up the majority of convention attendees — and yet that is not reflected in the mainstream comics on the shelves. Cyborg having his own series is a step in the direction of greater representation, which is significant for quite a few reasons. Perhaps the most significant reason is that it helps to activate the dreams of young black people. Lack of representation becomes a form of oppression, sending a message that there is no place for black people or women or the LGBT community in these fantasy worlds that serve as a metaphor for the lives we live, and an escape for the horrors of everyday life.
What traits make Cyborg an interesting hero?
I could say that it is the fact that he is more machine than man — that he can fly, and possesses superhuman strength, and that his brain has the most advanced computer in existence plugged right into it — but that’s not what makes him interesting. What makes him interesting — what makes all heroes interesting — are the flaws and weaknesses that remind us of their humanity.
What things can we look forward to in the Cyborg solo series?
Obviously, there will be action. This is, after all, a comic book, and action drives a large part of the American superhero comic genre. So, we will see Vic facing various threats, from cybernetic-aliens looking to hijack his tech, to super villains we love to hate. But the thing that I think many people are looking for, and that I hope to deliver, is the development of Vic Stone as a character. Cyborg has been around for 35 years, and we’ve seen bits and pieces of his life, but he has always been a co-star in team books like Teen Titans or Justice League, which means there is only so much of his story that can be told.
What elements do you think make for a great superhero comic?
I may get in trouble for saying this, but superheroes are the modern equivalent to the gods of ancient mythology. These are power fantasies and morality tales that are meant to help us better understand the way we live our lives, and give us an escape from both the mundane and horrific that we face on a daily basis. A great superhero comic is brimming with the same things we deal with, only exaggerated to the most wild of extremes.