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Gonna do a Black History in Comics/Cartoons this month. Thread...
1971: "27 years after Herrimanās death, when the sociologist Arthur Asa Berger sent off for the cartoonistās birth certificate it was found that he was listed as ācoloredā. Herriman, who was able to āpassā as white, lived his whole life with this secret."
https://apollo-magazine.com/george-herrimans-krazy-kat-revisiting-an-abstruse-but-charming-comic-strip/
https://apollo-magazine.com/george-herrimans-krazy-kat-revisiting-an-abstruse-but-charming-comic-strip/
āFrom Phantom Lady & Canteen Kate, to what many consider the first graphic novel, It Rhymes with Lust, [Matt] Bakerās fun-loving, glamorous gals and classy, statuesque women could be seen on every newsstand across the United States.ā
http://cbldf.org/2016/02/profiles-in-black-cartooning-matt-baker/
![āFrom Phantom Lady & Canteen Kate, to what many consider the first graphic novel, It Rhymes with Lust, [Matt] Bakerās fun-loving, glamorous gals and classy, statuesque women could be seen on every newsstand across the United States.ā http://cbldf.org/2016/02/profiles-in-black-cartooning-matt-baker/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtVRdVsWgAA5Bkj.png "āFrom Phantom Lady & Canteen Kate, to what many consider the first graphic novel, It Rhymes with Lust, [Matt] Bakerās fun-loving, glamorous gals and classy, statuesque women could be seen on every newsstand across the United States.ā http://cbldf.org/2016/02/profiles-in-black-cartooning-matt-baker/")
http://cbldf.org/2016/02/profiles-in-black-cartooning-matt-baker/
āThe real change isnāt going to be some black books or hiring a few more black writers or artists, itās systematic change. We need everything from the top down, from executives to editors to all the people behind the scenes.ā
Denys Cowan
http://www.tcj.com/we-were-never-comforting-and-were-not-comforting-now-the-denys-cowan-interview/
Denys Cowan
http://www.tcj.com/we-were-never-comforting-and-were-not-comforting-now-the-denys-cowan-interview/
My dude @Tribe_XX is throwing me assists on the thread. Article on āInvisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Booksā by Ken Quattro... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/arts/design/black-comic-book-artists-racism.html#click=https://t.co/9LkV8C4Vzc
āThe iconoclastic Robert Crumb called Herriman the āLeonardo da Vinci of comics,ā while the ambitious Spiegelman argued that āKrazy Katā ācrossed all kinds of boundaries, between high and low, between vulgar and genteel.āā https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/books/review/krazy-george-herriman-biography-michael-tisserand.html#click=https://t.co/afCp2GhdtM
Nabile Hage, publisher and writer
The Comics Journal, No. 160, June 1993
http://www.tcj.com/the-comics-journal-no-160-june-1993/
The Comics Journal, No. 160, June 1993
http://www.tcj.com/the-comics-journal-no-160-june-1993/
[17th century: the Portuguese tried to destroy mocambos, made of refugee slaves in the woods, but mostly failed. 1630ā40: Dutch came to Brazil & began the occupation of the NE & soon after, the largest mocamboāPalmaresābegins expansion.]
Marcelo DāSalete
http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/
![[17th century: the Portuguese tried to destroy mocambos, made of refugee slaves in the woods, but mostly failed. 1630ā40: Dutch came to Brazil & began the occupation of the NE & soon after, the largest mocamboāPalmaresābegins expansion.]Marcelo DāSalete http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtYadDgWQAU6Wz7.png "[17th century: the Portuguese tried to destroy mocambos, made of refugee slaves in the woods, but mostly failed. 1630ā40: Dutch came to Brazil & began the occupation of the NE & soon after, the largest mocamboāPalmaresābegins expansion.]Marcelo DāSalete http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/")
![[17th century: the Portuguese tried to destroy mocambos, made of refugee slaves in the woods, but mostly failed. 1630ā40: Dutch came to Brazil & began the occupation of the NE & soon after, the largest mocamboāPalmaresābegins expansion.]Marcelo DāSalete http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtYadDjXMAAa2vU.png "[17th century: the Portuguese tried to destroy mocambos, made of refugee slaves in the woods, but mostly failed. 1630ā40: Dutch came to Brazil & began the occupation of the NE & soon after, the largest mocamboāPalmaresābegins expansion.]Marcelo DāSalete http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/")
Marcelo DāSalete
http://www.tcj.com/there-are-some-experiences-that-bring-us-closer-an-interview-with-marcelo-dsalete/
[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html
![[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtYlqcUWgAMl_T3.jpg "[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html")
![[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtYlqzbXIAEvJol.jpg "[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html")
![[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EtYlrKLXYAUPfvm.jpg "[Ms. Glickman recognized that loyal āPeanutsā readers might be nonplused by a new character. So she wrote a letter to Mr. Schulz in April 1968 that made a reasonable case for adding a black character while acknowledging the risks involved.] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html")
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/harriet-glickman-dead-peanuts.html
Jackie Ormes. Pittsburgh stand up. The first Black American lady cartoonist. During her time, THE ONLY Black American lady drawing cartoons whatsoever.
The short film below is well worth your timeā¦
The short film below is well worth your timeā¦
[All Negro Comics # 1 carries a cover date of June 1947. A second issue was planned and the art completed, but when Orrin C. Evans was ready to publish he found that his source for newsprint would no longer sell to him, nor would any other vendors.]
http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4
![[All Negro Comics # 1 carries a cover date of June 1947. A second issue was planned and the art completed, but when Orrin C. Evans was ready to publish he found that his source for newsprint would no longer sell to him, nor would any other vendors.] http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eti5X2YWgAg77mu.jpg "[All Negro Comics # 1 carries a cover date of June 1947. A second issue was planned and the art completed, but when Orrin C. Evans was ready to publish he found that his source for newsprint would no longer sell to him, nor would any other vendors.] http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4")
![[All Negro Comics # 1 carries a cover date of June 1947. A second issue was planned and the art completed, but when Orrin C. Evans was ready to publish he found that his source for newsprint would no longer sell to him, nor would any other vendors.] http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eti5YBLWQAAcp4u.jpg "[All Negro Comics # 1 carries a cover date of June 1947. A second issue was planned and the art completed, but when Orrin C. Evans was ready to publish he found that his source for newsprint would no longer sell to him, nor would any other vendors.] http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4")
http://www.tomchristopher.com/comics4/orrin-c-evans-and-the-story-of-all-negro-comics/?fbclid=IwAR2JkBspFHou_CtRmdM50DYzN4T8jXdVufF6mgViHnG__VCiDXMHEOs1pJ4
Found a downloadable copy of All-Negro Comics #1 onlineā¦
https://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=22625&fbclid=IwAR0b_9Ll5Xi8SZdu7hZL6hhDHRsmP2oOJASXg6mysj_uO6QSuggdfp74Tps
https://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=22625&fbclid=IwAR0b_9Ll5Xi8SZdu7hZL6hhDHRsmP2oOJASXg6mysj_uO6QSuggdfp74Tps
[Jay Jackson, of Oberlin, Ohio, creator of Speed Jaxon, a secret agent who crash lands in the hidden African city of Lostoni, a self-contained civilization that predates the Black Pantherās Wakanda by two decades.]
https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-1/
![[Jay Jackson, of Oberlin, Ohio, creator of Speed Jaxon, a secret agent who crash lands in the hidden African city of Lostoni, a self-contained civilization that predates the Black Pantherās Wakanda by two decades.] https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-1/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EttMXWxXUAUz780.png "[Jay Jackson, of Oberlin, Ohio, creator of Speed Jaxon, a secret agent who crash lands in the hidden African city of Lostoni, a self-contained civilization that predates the Black Pantherās Wakanda by two decades.] https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-1/")
https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-1/
Jay Jackson also created Bungleton Green, considered to be the first Black superheroā¦
https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-2
https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-pt-2
In addition that, Jay Jackson also created Home Folks, a comic that normalized the quotidian lives of Black Americans, something which was not a consideration in the 40sā¦ https://chicagodefender.com/op-ed-chicago-defender-cartoonist-jay-jackson-and-the-first-black-superhero-finale/
ā¦and lastly, folks may best know Jay Jacksonās artwork from the can of Murrayās Pomadeā¦
A new personal favorite artistā¦
āIn the 1940s, Ollie Harrington was a correspondent for the Pittsburgh Courier; first he visited stateside military bases and later he was sent to North Africa and Europeā¦
āIn the 1940s, Ollie Harrington was a correspondent for the Pittsburgh Courier; first he visited stateside military bases and later he was sent to North Africa and Europeā¦
He reported on the contributions blacks were making in the war effort; his stories and images transmitted the perspective of the black soldier in the segregated armed services.
By the 1950s, he had become an expatriot, in part due to the repressive political climate engendered by the McCarthy investigations. Living in Paris (1951-1961) his circle included other American expatriots; author Richard Wright and Harrington became especially close friends."
This comic by Ollie Harrington really struck me. Still aptā¦
An interesting facet of researching Black American cartoonists is that their work was usually not archived. Many folks exist only in name. One such person is Doris McClarty, the other Black lady cartoonist of the 50s (along with Jackie Ormes).
Her comic āFireball Freddieā was published in the 50s in Hep magazine, the predecessor to Jet magazine (page 43, holler if you hear me). This particular comic was reprinted in 1981 in Robert Crumbās āWeirdoā comic anthology (issue 6). Thatās all I know about Mrs. McClarty.
Born in Oakland, Morrie Turner was a former mechanic for the Tuskegee Airman, who turned his interest to cartooning after his military service. He once asked Charles Schultz why there were no minorites in his comics.
Schultz suggested that he make his own (the best possible suggestion), so that's what Morrie Turner did. His most successful cartoon, Wee Pals, debuted in 1965 as the first multicultural comic in existence (we don't count the racist bullshit which preceded as "multicultural").
At first only two papers would publish Wee Pals. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the mainstream American press finally became interested in his cartoon.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/28/267866929/morrie-turner-1923-2014-drawing-gentle-lessons-in-tolerance
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/01/28/267866929/morrie-turner-1923-2014-drawing-gentle-lessons-in-tolerance
"Educator, artist, essayist, and civil rights activist, Brumsic Brandon, Jr. gained his greatest acclaim for his six decades of cartooning.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/arts/design/brumsic-brandon-jr-creator-of-luther-comic-strip-dies-at-87.html?smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/arts/design/brumsic-brandon-jr-creator-of-luther-comic-strip-dies-at-87.html?smid=url-share
After selling gag cartoons to magazines for two decades, in 1963 Brandon self-published SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ā a soft-cover book of 22 social commentary cartoons. Self-distributed, it made rounds and gained recognition, most notably from Langston Hughes.
Brandon was a regular contributor of social commentary cartoon features to Freedomways: A Quarterly Review of the Freedom Movement from 1963 to 1985, and Black Media (also known as Black Resources) from 1974 to 1999.
Brandonās comic strip LUTHER, featuring a cast of inner city children, made its debut in 1968 and ran nationally from 1970 to 1986. There have been six published collections of LUTHER, including LUTHERāS GOT CLASS, which has an intro written by Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm."
Source for the text on Brumsic Brandon, Jr.
http://www.medialiagallery.com/artists/Brandon/Brandon.html
http://www.medialiagallery.com/artists/Brandon/Brandon.html
Brooklyn stand up!!!
[If any man should be regarded as the personification of the "black is beautiful" philosophy, that man is Tom Feelings. Feelings spent a lifetime as a painter, sculptor, and book illustrator underscoring this message.
[If any man should be regarded as the personification of the "black is beautiful" philosophy, that man is Tom Feelings. Feelings spent a lifetime as a painter, sculptor, and book illustrator underscoring this message.
While at the School of Visual Arts, Feelings's personal style received an unexpected boost. During a discussion of art history that ranged through the works of many artists, Feelings asked the professor why none of the artists being studied were African.
He was told that African art was regarded as "primitive" rather than innovative art. Clearly, the teacher felt that a painter's method was far more important than what was being expressed. Feelings refused to accept that as a lesson worth studying, so he walked out of the room.
His comic creation, Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History, began to appear in New York Age, a Harlem newspaper with a black reader-ship. Tommy Traveler told the story of a black boy who read his way through all the library's books on African American history.]
![His comic creation, Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History, began to appear in New York Age, a Harlem newspaper with a black reader-ship. Tommy Traveler told the story of a black boy who read his way through all the library's books on African American history.]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuWDSgnWgAITOSi.jpg "His comic creation, Tommy Traveler in the World of Negro History, began to appear in New York Age, a Harlem newspaper with a black reader-ship. Tommy Traveler told the story of a black boy who read his way through all the library's books on African American history.]")
Source for the text on Tom Feelingsā¦ https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbiography.jrank.org%2Fpages%2F2346%2FFeelings-Tom.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2UtH_UxSOzOPt0qqIXG-AOmQGQNNdw72GQ4g-ihOkh_yzhUgjxt7bVOKM&h=AT3wFGAMYumR39-cZWrEqCddEDbgVYz82NmlyYDhUJUzVHrZEDTerdqflrpww0JQuFflV_XV6eQQyECfWuBTx-St42w2NXEUWFh51qa8GnBrN1QZ2I7FyiVTUl8I5SgTAzQxDmzGceRIQmuoPMU
