nonfiction
Lion Man. Ace Harlem. The Phantom.
Using the Dumas Family as its foundation, this compact text starts with the fact that in 1844 The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas was banned by the Catholic Church. From there it moves to the 1947 debut of Lion Man in All Negro Comics. Parallels between that fictitious character's goal of protecting Africa, its people and natural resources and the current real-life in/humanitarian crisis on the African continent related to cobalt mining are hard to ignore (or avoid being complicit in as my laptop, tablet, and cellphone are used to produce this content and live my daily life). Incidents of racist caricatures and the white-washing of Black characters created by Black artists and publishers also seem relevant to conversations about the American Fiction film currently in theaters.
Black Comic Book History offers readers an intriguing overview in seven parts, encouraging further investigation into the Dumas Family (my personal rec: The Black Count, Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss), All Negro Comics, Crown Comics, artist/illustrator Matt Baker and more truth milestones as it lays out the long and winding path from The Three Musketeers in the 19th century to Black Panther now. This author's enthusiasm for the topic radiates outward and sparks inspiration for deeper study.
Winter Holidays Reading Extravaganza
[Don't Let Them Bury My Story by Viola Ford Fletcher & Ike Howard, Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown, The Chosen One by Echo Brown, Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura, Better Hate Than Never by Chloe Liese, The Island Villa by Sarah Morgan, From a Certain Point of View anthology, Slay by Laurell K. Hamilton]
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