Black Comic Book History in Full Color

Black Comic Book History by Demetrius Sherman, author & publisher

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]

Comments

Hot Love in the Kitchen & Travelling Through Time

Redemption of the Heart by Moni Boyce contemporary romance Love Snacks Publishing 8 January 2019 Despite addressing heavy themes of domestic violence, incarceration, and grief, Redemption of the Heart is a charming and sweet spicy read in the tradition of a 21st-century interracial homage to Janet Dailey’s monthly romance era. Gemma’s open-hearted ingénue contrasts starkly with Alex’s jaded workaholic. They struggle with a variety of challenges, but ethnicity isn’t one of them—a spin that feels particularly modern. Once readers commit to their suspension of disbelief regarding the cascading impact of lacks in due diligence by several characters, it’s easy to settle in to enjoy this love story. The recent public debate about the pros and cons of Gillette’s “We believe the best man can be” campaign ties in with the contradictory messages in the story threads about toxic masculinity. There’s a scene in which Alex apologizes to someone who was openly bragging among cowork...

The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen Delivers All the Feels

Black love. Black joy. Black drama. Humanity in its vast melanin array. [front cover of a paperback ARC for The Best Man: Unfinished Business; silhouette of three adults] The Best Man: Unfinished Business by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen adult contemporary fiction with romantic elements Storehouse Voices, July 2025 First, dedicated fans of The Best Man franchise and its beloved characters need not fear how they’re treated in this first of three novels. In fact. One thread of Harper’s storyline seems to reflect the real-life author/screenwriter/director’s battle to protect and maintain the integrity of The Best Man universe. Mission accomplished. Second, once readers - fans or not - start this novel they won’t want to stop. The compulsion to re/watch The Best Man movies and limited series and maybe even to reread this book while anticipating the release of book two in 2026 will prove difficult to resist. Who are you? Who are your people?...

A Million Lives Book Festival - An Unfortunate Exception, Not the Event Rule

[2 decorative stickers on lined writing paper from left to right: a round smiley face arranged upside down to look like a frown and a round smiley face arranged right sight up] By now most bookish folk and others have heard about the inaugural A Million Lives Book Festival held at the Baltimore Convention Center last Friday and Saturday. To recap: according to participating authors and attendees many promises were made and almost all of them were broken. As outreach director and co-organizer for The Write Women Book Fest scheduled to host its 6th event Saturday, July 19 & Sunday, July 20 of this year at the Bowie Comfort Inn & Conference Center in Bowie, Maryland, U.S.A., my reaction to the feedback being shared about A Million Lives is nightmarish. Even though we aren't connected to it in any way or familiar with the event organizer or her company, our completely unrelated event has felt some minor residual effects because people are worried. And that's an understanda...

Search This Blog