In 2010, Professor John Jennings and Dr. Damian Duffy compiled and
published a 176-page collection of art and essays celebrating the vibrant
African American independent comics community. Black Comix featured over 50
contributors, including Dawud Anyabwile, Eric Battle, Kenji Marshall, Afua
Richardson, Larry Stroman, Rob Stull, Lance Tooks, and many, many more. It met
high praise throughout the industry and quickly sold through its respectable
print run despite interest and demand—used copies now fetch $60-150 on
Amazon and eBay. Flash-forward eight years: the comic industry has changed a lot
since then, and the amount of African American talent continues to grow and
amaze. While huge strides in diversity have been made, John and Damian felt the
time was right for another spotlight on the topic. Rather than simply reprinting
the first edition, considering the number of fresh new voices and changes in the
industry, a whole new volume felt necessary. This massive volume will be a
brand-new milestone spotlight on the amazing diversity in comics
today.
I really thought this was going to be an anthology of some kind... and judging by the reviews on here, I wasn’t the only one. I did enjoy looking at the artwork, and I wrote down the names of people I want to check out further, but yeah can’t give this book more stars because honestly it wasn’t what I had expected. I do recommend checking this out if you want to find some more great (black) comic artists!
