Research Prompts from IJOCA 26:1 - #3 What about black superhero cartoonists before Milestone and after?

  Some Ideas for Articles, written by Mike Rhode, and excerpted from the print edition.

There are significant black/African-American cartoonists, besides those

who have been part of the Milestone company.

One normally does not think of Thor or the Fantastic Four’s Thing as something you would find in a black comics history article, but both of them were drawn for a long time by black cartoonists. Keith Pollard and Ron Wilson had long runs with Marvel Comics, as did writer Jim Owsley/ Christopher Priest. While some university libraries are collecting African-American comics, they are probably not collecting Thor or the Thing. Brian Stelfreeze had a major Batman run, as did Shawn Martinbrough. Mark D.

“Doc” Bright passed away recently and while he was part of Milestone Comics, he had a long career on either side of it. He drew runs of Iron Man and Green Lantern before Milestone, and co-created Quantum and Woody after Milestone. His death perhaps means that we should look at other black superhero cartoonists while they are still alive. 1960s-1970s cartoonists Grass Green, Billy Graham, and Wayne Howard are already gone.

A similar historical amnesia applies to the black comic strip artists of the 1960s and 1970s. While Charles Schulz is getting a lot of renewed attention this year for introducing one black character, Franklin, and Barbara Brandon-Croft’s strip is having a renaissance, still Brumsic Brandon’s “Luther,” Ted Shearer’s “Quincy,” and Morrie Turner’s “Wee Pals” could use more attention. E. Simms Campbell’s magazine cartooning career is only known to specialists as well. Significantly-recognized cartoonists include: Oliver Harrington, Matt Baker, and Jackie Ormes. It is also important to keep in mind that George Herriman publicly identified as Greek, and not black, so he is not a pioneering black cartoonist, in spite of claims made for him.