Black Superheroes On the Web

Black Superhero stories from around the Web

• The Rehabilitation of Whitewash Jones
• Another Black Superhero Is Now Dead....
• The Black Super Hero versus The American Gangster!
• There's a New Superhero in Town: Dangerman
• A re-written panel from Justice League: Cry For Justice #1
• Black Superheroes: DC Comics
• Black Superheroes: Marvel Comics
  

Death, rehabilitation, and explanation. There appears to be a lot to say about Black Superheros online lately.

Drawing From The Soul

If any of you are going to be near Atlanta, GA on August 1st, check out the Brotherman comics art exhibit. Take a lot of pictures and tell me what it's like. If you make it down there and want to guest blog an article about it, that'd be great. We'd love to hear all about it.

John Smith: A Respectable Black Sidekick

Balbo, the Boy Magician was a comic book character that first appeared back in 1942. He had no super powers whatsoever but was an accomplished stage magician that used skilled slight of hand to perform his feats. The stories took place in a world without real magic and were skeptical towards anyone seeming to display it. Balbo and his friends would frequently observe seeming impossible feats that, after investigation, proved to be merely some sort of stage illusion.

What really made this comic noteworthy for me was his Black adult sidekick John Smith. Contrary to most depictions of Black characters of that time, John was well dressed, articulate, and intelligent. He was always calm, cool, and thoughtful and was of great help to Balbo. He was no stereotype.

The adventures of Balbo, the Boy Magician did not deal with any political issues. Topics of discrimination and Civil Rights never came up in the comic. The fact that John Smith was Black was simply that. It does go to show that even back in the 1940's it was possible to portray a Black man positively in comics. It's too bad most examples of that era, with few exceptions, showed Black men as fools.

Black Superheroes On The Web

Black Superhero stories from around the web:

• LactoMama: My Black Breastfeeding Superhero
• Who was the First Black Superhero?
  
• Who is the greatest Black Superhero?
• Where are Canada's Black Political Superheroes?
• Black supremacist super-heroes, villains, and other characters 
• DC Comics had a customer survey in 1970 that inquired how interested its readers were in reading about black people.

Even Black comes in many shades.

Looking for Afrikan Comic Books

http://uganda.democrat.com/

I have a reader in the UK that has asked me a question I don't know the answer to so I'm putting it out to the readers. He writes, "Do you have a contact or any advise as to where I could purchase Afrikan comics from any Afrikan countries direct or via other distributors? I have searched the net and have found an Italian outfit that only sells TPB. I actually want the individual comic books."

I'm a bit ashamed to say I haven't really been very aware of comics from Afrikan countries but this list did come up in my search. I'll have to do some digging but if you have any information that would help, it would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to drop a note in the comments or email me. Thanks all.