While mainstream comic book publishers may be lacking in diverse creators working on their titles, the independent and creator-owned comic book scene has seen a rise in Black creators over the past several years, giving the medium an all-too overlooked perspective and culture that elevates comics as an art form. And, with Black comic creators needing visibly and support, perhaps more than ever, creator-owned titles are often ones that benefit their creative teams more directly than their mainstream counterparts.
Over the past several days, CBR has featured Black writers and Black artists whose work you need to read. While the creators and titles highlighted on those lists and this one are just the tip of the iceberg, here is a selection of widely acclaimed and culturally significant creator-owned comic book titles from Black creators.
Bitter Root
After previously working together on a relaunch of Power Man and Iron Fist at Marvel, David F. Walker and Sanford Greene reunited, along with veteran comic book creator Chuck Brown, to launch the Image Comics series Bitter Root in 2018. The title showcases a steampunk, alternate history vision of the Harlem Renaissance as a family of monster hunters has been torn apart by old grudges and deep differences.
However, as a new seemingly unstoppable evil rises in 1920s New York City, the Sangerye Family must resolve the differences and make amends if they hope to not only save themselves but humanity from the encroaching darkness. The comic critical success upon its debut, the series's first volume was nominated for an Eisner Award while its second volume is still currently being published.
Bingo Love
Created by Tee Franklin and Jenn St.-Onge, Bingo Love is an original graphic novel that follows two women that fall in love as teenagers but are separated by the prejudices of the time and move apart. Decades later, the two women reunite -- having since built families of their own -- to rekindle their romance after meeting at a church bingo game.
As a feel-good tale about queer love overcoming adversity and enduring through time, the Image Comics title has both a standard and deluxe edition, which contain short stories and artwork from a host of superstar artists and writers that expand the world and characters of the core Bingo Love story in this all-ages friendly graphic novel.
Excellence
One of the biggest Skybound Entertainment/Image launches from last year was Excellence, created by Brandon Thomas and Khary Randolph. The creator-owned series follows Spencer Dale, a young man whose father is a member of the Aegis, a secret society of magic users who use their incredible abilities to selflessly work to improve the world around them.
Seeing a broken system with deep issues of inequality, Spencer decides to take matters into his own hands and lead a more proactive shift for improvement and excellence for all. Thomas and Randolph weave a spellbinding conflict between generations, blending their pop culture influences with fantasy and social commentary.
Day Men
Boom! Studios editor-in-chief Matt Gagnon and co-writer Michael Alan Nelson teamed with legendary artist Brian Stelfreeze to co-create the series Day Men. What makes it particularly notable is that the series marked Stelfreeze's first ongoing, interior comic book work since 2005, while the living artistic legend had mainly focused on cover art for much of the preceding decade.
The series reveals that covens of vampires around the world have secretly steered the course of humanity for centuries. To carry out their business during the day, the vampires rely on human operatives to protect their agendas, as they wait to emerge under the protection of nightfall.
The March Trilogy
Written by U.S. House Representative John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, the March trilogy of original graphic novels recounts Lewis' experiences as a major figure within the Civil Rights Movement, including working directly alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. Starting from the March from Selma to Montgomery, the trilogy follows Lewis as he strives against immense adversity to fight for racial equality in the United States. Subsequent installments cover the March to Washington and the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Hailed as a landmark achievement in the graphic novel medium, the trilogy has earned a whole host of awards, including the prestigious Eisner Award, and the first installment became the first graphic novel to earn the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. With March a New York Times bestseller and placed several required reading lists in schools across the country, Lewis and Aydin are currently working on the follow-up trilogy titled Run, illustrated by Afua Richardson.
Black/Black AF
After working extensively as an editor for Marvel and DC, Kwanza Osajyefo successfully crowdfunded his own creator-owned series Black, with artists Jamal Igle, Robin Riggs and Darwin Roberson. Published by Black Mask Studios, the title saw the secret that the Black community possessed superpowers come to light, as one young man became a superhero after he encountered police brutality.
An instant hit with critics and readers alike, Black led to the release of a follow-up, Black AF: Widows & Orphans by Osajyefo and Tim Smith III in 2018. Vita Ayala and Liana Kangas would helm a spinoff miniseries Black AF: Devil's Dye later that year. While work has begun on a third main installment, entitled White, Black Mask Studios announced profits from the three series purchased through the online store would be donated to protestor bail funds.
Tribe
Alongside comics like The Maxx and StormWatch, Larry Stroman and Todd Johnson's Tribe was part of the second wave of Image titles in 1993. As one of the best-selling comics by African American creators of all-time, Tribe featured an eponymous new team of superheroes operating out of New York City taking on all kinds of villains while overcoming their personal differences and inspiring an entire underground movement.
Due to issues behind-the-scenes, Tribe moved to Axis Comics before its final issue was published by Good Comics. Despite its relatively short run and out-of-print status, the series remains a noteworthy achievement in the history of mainstream comic books, and, for those curious, back issues can be found online and in back issue bins at your local comic shop.
The Wilds
Written by Vita Ayala and illustrated by Emily Pearson, the miniseries The Wilds begins approximately a decade after a cataclysmic event that left the majority of humanity as part of a mysterious horde. In this harsh landscape, Daisy Walker, a runner for one of the last bastions of civilization, sets out to find her missing lover Heather.
Debuting in 2018 from Black Mask Studios and edited by Ayala's frequent creative collaborator Danny Lore, The Wilds adds a refreshing take on the post-apocalyptic, sci-fi genre, with welcome social commentary and LGBTQ representation.
Is'nana the Were-Spider
Drawing from Sub-Saharan African folklore and mythology, Greg Anderson Elysée, Walter Ostlie and Lee Milewski's Is'nana the Were-Spider has the eponymous son of Anansi, the West African God of Spiders, sent to rein in monsters running free on Earth. As Is-nana faces different bestial deities and demigods, he finds his place among humanity.
Launched in 2017 by Webway Comics, drawing from his own Haitian heritage, Elysée blended Afro-Caribbean influences and West African mythology to create his first comic series in addition to his career as filmmaker and columnist. The series would go on to win multiple awards, praising its incorporation of African folklore and conflicted characters as Is'nana faces his father's legacy in the middle of his epic, global mission.
Hot Comb
Written and illustrated by Ebony Flowers, the original graphic novel Hot Comb follows the culture around Black hair across a collection of short stories. First published in 2019 by Drawn and Quarterly, the anthology spotlights everything from the culture around Black barbershops to the coming-of-age story of an African American girl receiving her first perm.
In turns sweet, heart-breaking, innocent and offering a darker reflection of the world around its characters, Hot Comb provides a beautiful, slice-of-life portrait of how something as taken-for-granted as hair can play a major role in racial identity.
Prince of Cats
An '80s music scene-driven modernization of Romeo & Juliet by Ronald Wimberly, the 2012 original graphic novel Prince of Cats focuses on Tybalt venturing through New York City's underground scene. Blending everything from hip-hop and the late stages of disco to the burgeoning rise of punk rock and New Wave, Wimberly crafts a pulsating, hip take on the classic Shakespeare story of warring families and star-crossed lovers.
Originally published by Vertigo, Wimberly remastered and reprinted the story as an Image title in 2016, bringing it to a whole new wave of readers. In 2018, Legendary Entertainment acquired the rights to adapt the story to the big screen, with Lakeith Stanfield currently attached to star as Tybalt in the adaptation.
American Carnage
One of the final titles published by Vertigo Comics before DC shuttered the storied imprint was American Carnage. Created by Bryan Edward Hill and Leandro Fernandez, the miniseries sees disgraced FBI agent Richard Wright tasked with infiltrating a white supremacist group under deep cover to investigate the murder of a colleague.
Debuting in 2018, the miniseries was hailed as a timely and important read that provided an unflinching look at its brutal subject matter. Much of Hill's work is a meditation on trauma and redemption while Fernandez had previously delivered gritty, action-packed visuals in the Image series The Old Guard, co-created with Greg Rucka. They prove to be a natural collaborative pairing in this haunting look at the ugly side of America.
Tartarus
After previously working with Margaret Atwood on the critically acclaimed original graphic novel series Angel Catbird for Dark Horse, writer-artist Johnnie Christmas has co-created a growing line of creator-owned titles at Image. The most recent of these is the sci-fi series Tartarus, which he co-created with artist Jack T. Cole and launched earlier this year. The comic follows one space cadet learns her mother was involved in grisly war crimes in an empire's interplanetary war.
Balancing nonstop action with epic, ambitious sci-fi world-building, the tale is another essential work from Christmas. Previously, Christmas co-created the Image graphic novel Firebug with colorist Tamra Bonvillain and illustrated William Gibson's Alien 3, which adapts an unused screenplay for the 1992 Alien sequel for Dark Horse.
Upgrade Soul
Ezra Claytan Daniels is a writer, illustrator and designer based out of Los Angeles, whose work explores themes of cross-racial relationships, identity and the impact of unchecked gentrification on local culture. In 2018's Upgrade Soul published by Lion Forge, Daniels had an elderly couple undergo a rejuvenation procedure that results in disfigured yet physically and mentally upgraded incarnations of themselves.
Daniels would team with Ben Passmore to craft BTTM FDRS -- pronounced "bottom feeders" -- the following year, with the original graphic novel published by Fantagraphics. The Eisner-nominated comic tale has two women discover an insidious evil when they move to a working-class neighborhood for the cheap rent.
Elements: Fire
Curated and edited by Taneka Stotts, Elements: Fire is an all-ages friendly comic book anthology featuring some of the most talented creators of color in the industry. Nominated for an Eisner Award, the anthology features 23 stories that span multiple genres and highlights the vital importance of characters of color by making them protagonists in each of these stories, and not sidekicks or as token minority representation,
Boasting a roster of 32 writers and artists in all from all over the world, Elements: Fire has everything from a child facing down an explosively active volcano to divine hackers and more. It stands as one of the finest comic anthologies in recent memory, and it's all gorgeously rendered in red, white and black.