The Ex-Con, Voodoo Priest, Goddess, and the African King: A Social, Cultural, and Political Analysis of Four Black Comic Book Heroes

by William Jones

In this day and age, seeing black comic book characters isn’t at all uncommon. In fact, every year we see more and more black superheroes and heroines on television, on the big screen and in the comic books themselves. But this wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t so long ago that black superheroes were few and far between, and the ones that were around had some questionable origins and storylines. In this book, William Jones, founder of Afrofuturism Network, breaks down the origins of four black comic book characters – Luke Cage, Papa Midnite, Storm, and Black Panther – and analyzes their representation throughout comic book history. Whether you’re a long-time lover of comics, an established or aspiring creator or a new and casual fan you’ll find something new as you read about the untold stories of these heroes and get a feel for the future of diversity and representation in the comic book medium.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics

214 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2016

About the author

William Jones, the founder of Afrofuturism Network, is a historian, “comic book geek”, writer, and educator. He is a sought-after public speaker on the subjects of the history of black people in America, the image of black people in various forms of media, pop culture and hip-hop music, to name just a few. He has spoken on various college campuses and at conferences both nationally and abroad.

Reviews

[Lou]

There was some interesting stuff in here. William Jones is thorough in picking apart the various stereotypes that inform the creation of these black characters and how the race of the creator (regardless of intention) really affects how human and individual these characters are actualized. It reads a little like an expanded academic paper (deffo not a long book), which isn’t inherently bad, but just different from some of the other nonfiction I’ve been reading recently. The content is fascinating but the writing itself isn't especially thrilling; however, I think it's worth a read because of the overview of black representation in comics and the parsing apart of stereotypes and symbols in these specific characters.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read, although it's more like an academic thesis, than a book. Still, it was really clear to read and brought in many sources. It also included images, that were nice (even though they won't entirely easy to see.)

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the chapters on Storm and The Black Panther were not as well developed as Luke Cage and Papa Midnite. Overall a very fascinating read.

[Joe Raffell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting read, great to learn about some of the lesser known superheroes such as Papa Midnite in addition to the more famous Black Panther and Storm. There is some solid analysis and Jones introduces sources which I would never have managed to get access too.

Unfortunately, the Paperback version is badly edited, with a ton of formatting issues. To make matters worse the printing of the essential comic book panels are almost unreadable.

It would be great to see Part 2 as suggested at the end of the book, but please find an improved publisher.