It circulated only within the Black community, and stories included tales of Ace Harlem and Lion Man, both considered early Black comic book heroes. It was the first publication exclusively by Black artists. In 1947, the All-Negro Comics single-issue comic book was published. In the late 1940s and during the 1950s, Black comic book characters evolved from their comic relief niche or their roles as helpful sidekicks for the white heroes to major characters. Over the years, but especially in later reinterpretations of the series, the character developed beyond the stereotype. Ebony White helped out the hero, detective Denny Colt, in many tricky situations. His name was a racist play on words his looks - big white eyes and thick, reddish lips - as well as the way he spoke made him a prime example of a racist, stereotypical depiction of Blacks in mainstream comic culture.Įisner later claimed the depiction was deliberate, arguing it corresponded to society's sense of humor at the time. In 1940, Will Eisner introduced him in The Spirit comic strip. EstevezĮbony White was also a Black sidekick to a white cartoon hero. A pioneering cartoonist: Will Eisner with copies of his comics 'The Spirit' Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/A. In 1965, Lothar was "modernized": As of then, he spoke correct English and wore shirts, though often with an animal print. Wrapped in a leopard skin, a fez on his head and with a poor command of the English language, Lothar was the magician's strongman.
#BLACK BOOK CHARACTERS SERIES#
Perhaps the first Black hero in comic strips was the invulnerable, crime-fighting servant Lothar, from the series Mandrake the Magician created by Lee Falk in 1934. In addition, the entire US press landscape was "extremely white," he told DW.
Early America illustrators for the most part lived on the East Coast, which had a larger white population than the states to the south, according to German cartoon expert Andreas Platthaus.
The storyline was reportedly written before the death of George Floyd and the current Black Lives Matter protests.īut since comics are especially popular in the US, how are Black characters portrayed there?įor a long time, there were few prominent Black cartoon characters. Later this year, however, an African-American is to play a major role for the first time in another comic series from Belgium, Lucky Luke. In an upcoming book, Lucky Luke gets help from Bass Reeves, who in real life was the first Black deputy sheriff west of the Mississippi Image: 2020 Lucky Comics/Egmont Ehapa Media Hergé, the Belgian illustrator of the popular Tintin series, was accused of racism for his stereotypical portrayal of the Congolese characters in Tintin in the Congo. In the past, whenever Black characters would pop up in such series, they were cliché figures. Batman, Superman, Asterix, Lucky Luke: the best-known heroes of popular comic series are white.
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