Gah! No. I was thinking of brother voodoo.
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Blacks in Comic Books?
- Thread starter TheLe
- Start date
Gah! No. I was thinking of brother voodoo.
Some more for you:
Tyroc (DC, Legion of Superheroes)
Thunderball (Marvel, The Wrecking Crew)
Shadowhawk (Image)
Cyborg (DC, Teen Titans)
Misty Knight (Marvel, Power Man & Iron Fist)
There are a host of minor, one- or two-shot characters that pop up from time to time as well.
Tyroc (DC, Legion of Superheroes)
Thunderball (Marvel, The Wrecking Crew)
Shadowhawk (Image)
Cyborg (DC, Teen Titans)
Misty Knight (Marvel, Power Man & Iron Fist)
There are a host of minor, one- or two-shot characters that pop up from time to time as well.
Ah well then...
Especially noteworthy IMO is Nighthawk from the Supreme Power series, as he is specifically a racially-motivated superhero (insofar as he's solely concerned with crimes against African-Americans). The Blur is also in the Supreme Power series, which makes it one of the few comics that actually feature more than one black main character.
Especially noteworthy IMO is Nighthawk from the Supreme Power series, as he is specifically a racially-motivated superhero (insofar as he's solely concerned with crimes against African-Americans). The Blur is also in the Supreme Power series, which makes it one of the few comics that actually feature more than one black main character.
Jack7
First Post
To me personally the two greatest black characters in superhero comics are John Stewart and Luke Cage. Though not always in that order.
They both come off as being black, and they both come off as it not mattering that they are black.
And to me that is a good thing too.
And probably something worth mentioning in your article TL.
Pseudonym
Ivan Alias
From Astro City there are Black Rapier, Cleopatra II, MPH of the Honor Guard. Jack-in-the-Box; the original, second and third have all been black men. The Blue Knight too, though he's more a vigilante than hero.
Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community: Down the road: Crimson Seed
As I understand it, there is an incarnation of Firestorm (DC) who is black.
Isaiah Bradley was the lone survivor of an early test of the Super Soldier Serum that eventually produced Capt. America (Steve Rodgers). The "Black" Capt. America is known as a legend in the black heroes in Marvel's continuity, but his status is virtually unknown outside of his ethnicity.
There was a b&w comic book from an indie publisher that featured a black gadgeteer/martial artist in the Batman vein- I saw some of it online years ago, but I never saw it in physical print.
As I understand it, there is an incarnation of Firestorm (DC) who is black.
Isaiah Bradley was the lone survivor of an early test of the Super Soldier Serum that eventually produced Capt. America (Steve Rodgers). The "Black" Capt. America is known as a legend in the black heroes in Marvel's continuity, but his status is virtually unknown outside of his ethnicity.
There was a b&w comic book from an indie publisher that featured a black gadgeteer/martial artist in the Batman vein- I saw some of it online years ago, but I never saw it in physical print.
There's also Monica Rambeau, who at one time was a female Captain Marvel and part of the Avengers line-up. (I believe she got a new superhero name -- Photon, maybe? -- but I haven't seen her around for awhile, so I'm not sure.)
Triathlon was a black superhero back when Kurt Busiek was writing the Avengers.
Barracuda was a popular new enemy of the Punisher in the past couple years or so-- popular enough to get his own mini-series, at least.
In the current issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Harry Osborn's current girlfriend is black, and her father is running for mayor of New York City. (Sorry, I can't recall either of their names right now.)
Some other (admittedly not-so-prominent) Spider-Man enemies were black: off the top of my head, there was the Prowler and Rocket Racer.
All of the above are from Marvel; the only DC character that comes to mind that hasn't been mentioned yet is Vixen, who just had a miniseries of her own. Oh, and the Bronze Tiger from Suicide Squad, is he still around? Plus the leader of Suicide Squad, Amanda "The Wall" Waller -- can't forget her!
Johnathan
Triathlon was a black superhero back when Kurt Busiek was writing the Avengers.
Barracuda was a popular new enemy of the Punisher in the past couple years or so-- popular enough to get his own mini-series, at least.
In the current issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Harry Osborn's current girlfriend is black, and her father is running for mayor of New York City. (Sorry, I can't recall either of their names right now.)
Some other (admittedly not-so-prominent) Spider-Man enemies were black: off the top of my head, there was the Prowler and Rocket Racer.
All of the above are from Marvel; the only DC character that comes to mind that hasn't been mentioned yet is Vixen, who just had a miniseries of her own. Oh, and the Bronze Tiger from Suicide Squad, is he still around? Plus the leader of Suicide Squad, Amanda "The Wall" Waller -- can't forget her!
Johnathan
fodigg got Vixen- its just buried in the text of a biggish paragraph.
Good catch on "The Wall," though!
Good catch on "The Wall," though!
Arkhandus
First Post
Charcoal (Charlie Burlingame, aka Charlie Cole, of the Thunderbolts; Marvel)
M.A.C.H. 2 (Abner Jenkins, aka The Beetle, of the Thunderbolts, after he needed a new identity; Marvel)
spring to mind right now because I recently re-read my old Thunderbolts comics out of boredom. ^_^
M.A.C.H. 2 (Abner Jenkins, aka The Beetle, of the Thunderbolts, after he needed a new identity; Marvel)
spring to mind right now because I recently re-read my old Thunderbolts comics out of boredom. ^_^
Of course, those are both guys who came into existence specifically to be black superheroes.
Cage is a great character, but in some portrayals, it seems like the guy writing him is trying to depict him as some horrible gangsta/thug wannabe, with the do-rag or wool knit cap over a shaved head that's invulnerable to temperature extremes, wearing sunglasses indoors, and even sporting gold teeth. Mind you, I'm not saying there's anything inherently poseurish about a do-rag by itself, but the combination of affectations sometimes goes over the top--basically, effecting the appearance of a much younger (or at least youth-conscious) guy than an "old-schooler" like Cage is. It's pretty much the modern equivalent of the puffy yellow shirt and disco medallion. Just glad I've never seen him "sagging", but that's probably because I just haven't looked hard enough.
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