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All-Negro Comics
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| All-Negro Comics | |
|---|---|
 All-Negro Comics #1 (June 1947). Cover artist unknown. Clockwise from top left: Lion Man, Snake Oil, Sugarfoot, Bubba, Ace Harlem. Center: The Little Dew Dillies | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | All-Negro Comics, Inc. |
| Format | Anthology |
| Publication date | 1947 |
| No. of issues | 1 |
| Main character(s) | Ace Harlem Lion Man |
| Creative team | |
| Artist(s) | John Terrell George J. Evans Jr. |
All-Negro Comics is a 1947 American comic book that represents the first known comics magazine written and drawn solely by African-American writers and artists. Edited by Orrin Cromwell Evans, the comic anthology published a single issue with small circulation and sales.
Publication history
[edit]African-American journalist Orrin Cromwell Evans was "the first black writer to cover general assignments for a mainstream white newspaper in the United States" when he joined the staff of the Philadelphia Record.[1] Evans was a member of the NAACP and a strong proponent of racial equality. After the Record closed in 1947, Evans thought he could use the comic-book medium to further highlight "the splendid history of Negro journalism".[2][3]
Evans partnered with former Record editor Harry T. Saylor, Record sports editor Bill Driscoll, and two others[4] to found the Philadelphia publishing company All-Negro Comics, Inc., with himself as president.[1]
In mid-1947, the company published one issue of All-Negro Comics, a 48-page,[4] standard-sized comic book with a typical glossy color cover and newsprint interior.[5] It was copyrighted July 15, 1947, with a June 1947 issue date,[6] and its press run and distribution are unknown.[1] Unlike other comic books of the time, it sold for 15 cents rather than 10.[5]
As writer Tom Christopher described, Evans
...co-created the features in the comic along with the artists, who included his brother, George J. Evans Jr.; two other Philadelphia cartoonists, one of whom was John Terrell,[7] the other named Cooper; and a Baltimore artist who signed his work Cravat. The cartoonists probably wrote their own scripts, and there was further editorial input by Bill Driscoll.[1]
As one cultural historian notes of the era, "[W]hile there were a few heroic images of blacks created by blacks, such as the Jive Gray comic strip and All-Negro Comics, these images did not circulate outside of pre-civil rights segregated black communities."[8]
Evans attempted to publish a second issue but was unable to purchase the newsprint required. One writer believes Evans was blocked from doing so by prejudiced distributors, as well as from competing, white-owned publishers (such as Parents Magazine Press and Fawcett Comics) which began producing their own black-themed titles.[3]
The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, a standard reference, considers the single issue "rare" and notes, "Seldom found in fine or mint condition; many copies have brown pages."[9]
In 2022, comics writer Chris Robinson successfully funded a Kickstarter to remaster and reprint the comic.[10] The reprinted edition won an Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project — Comic Books in 2024.[11]
Contents
[edit]Time magazine in 1947 called All-Negro Comics "the first to be drawn by Negro artists and peopled entirely by Negro characters". In describing lead feature "Ace Harlem", it said, "The villains were a couple of zoot-suited, jive-talking Negro muggers, whose presence in anyone else's comics might have brought up complaints of racial 'distortion.' Since it was all in the family, Evans thought no Negro readers would mind."[4] The protagonist "Ace Harlem" was an African-American police detective; the characters in the "Lion Man and Bubba" feature were meant to inspire black people's pride in their African heritage.[1]
Stories
[edit]
- One-page introductory editorial, "All-Negro Comics: Presenting Another First in Negro History"
- "Ace Harlem", a detective feature drawn by John Terrell
- "The Little Dew Dillies", a children's feature starring cherub-like creatures only babies can see and talk to, drawn by Cooper
- "Ezekiel's Manhunt", a two-page boy's-adventure text story
- "Lion Man and Bubba", starring a college-educated African American sent by the United Nations on a mission to a uranium deposit on Africa's Gold Coast, where he adopted the mischievous orphan Bubba. Drawn by George J. Evans, Jr. (no relation to Caucasian comic-book and comic-strip artist George Evans). One modern-day writer said Lion Man "wore the obligatory leotard costume of the comic hero",[12] though the comic's cover and interior pages depict him in loin cloth.
- "Hep Chicks on Parade", spot-illustration gags with highly stylized women wearing exaggerated fashions, signed "Len"
- "Lil' Eggie", by Terrell, about henpecked husband Egbert and his wife
- "Sugarfoot", a humor feature, drawn by Cravat, starring traveling musicians Sugarfoot and Snake Oil, who try to woo a farmer's daughter. Evans' editorial said the feature's creators hoped "to recapture the almost lost humor of the loveable wandering Negro minstrel of the past."
- "Remember — Crime Doesn't Pay, Kids!", a one-page public service announcement and next-issue promo, with Ace Harlem[1][13]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Christopher, Tom (2002). "Orrin C. Evans and the story of All-Negro Comics". TomChristopher.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2011. Reprinted from Comics Buyer's Guide February 28, 1997, pp. 32, 34, 37-38. Article includes reprinted editorial page "All-Negro Comics: Presenting Another First in Negro History" from All-Negro Comics #1
- ^ Evans, Orrin C. (June 1947). "Foreword". 'All-Negro Comics': Presenting Another FIRST in Negro History. No. 1. Reprinted at Christopher, Tom. "Orrin C. Evans and the Story of All-Negro Comics". TomChristopher.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ a b "Orrin C. Evans: The First Black Comic Book Publisher". FirstComicsNews.com. February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
- ^ a b c "The Press: Ace Harlem to the Rescue". Time. July 14, 1947. Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- ^ a b All-Negro Comics #1 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1947, Library of Congress, Copyright Office, p. 10
- ^ Christopher spells the artist's surname "Terrell" throughout, except for one instance in which he spells it "Terrill"
- ^ Carpenter, Stanford W. "Imagining Just Them, Just Us, or a Just Society: Creating Black Characters for the Justice Society of America Comic Book", Chapter 14 in Agorsah, E. Kofi, and G. Tucker Childs, Africa and the African Diaspora: Cultural Adaptation and Resistance (AuthorHouse, 2005), ISBN 978-1-4208-2760-6
- ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2007). "All-Negro Comics". The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Vol. 37. Gemstone Publishing / House of Collectibles. p. 411. ISBN 978-0-375-72108-3.
- ^ "All-Negro Comics #1 75th Anniversary Hardcover Goes to Kickstarter". The Companion. November 9, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- ^ "Eisner Awards". Comic-Con International. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- ^ Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie from World War II to the Civil Rights Era , (Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 154. ISBN 978-0-19-507669-1
- ^ "1st African-American Published Comic - All Negro #1- (1947) Comes to Auction". Metropolis Collectibles Inc. / ComicConnect Corp. press release via BlackRadioNetwork.com. February 2009. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
External links
[edit]- "First African-American Comic Book on Auction". Associated Press via MSNBC.com. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on October 3, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- Shaw, Scott (February 25, 2007). "All-Negro Comics, No. 1". Oddball Comics (column) #1148. Archived from the original on May 20, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- All-Negro Comics scans
All-Negro Comics
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Historical Context
Preceding Comics Industry Landscape
The American comics industry emerged in the early 20th century from newspaper comic strips, with the first true comic books appearing as reprints in the 1930s amid the Great Depression.[8] Original content gained traction with the debut of Action Comics #1 in June 1938, introducing Superman and inaugurating the Golden Age of Comics, which spanned roughly 1938 to the mid-1950s.[9] This era saw explosive growth, driven by escapism during economic hardship and World War II, with monthly sales of popular titles reaching figures far exceeding modern benchmarks by the mid-1940s.[10] Publishers proliferated, including majors like National Comics (later DC) and Timely Comics (precursor to Marvel), alongside numerous smaller outfits employing the "shop system" where studios packaged content for distribution.[11] Genres dominated by superheroes, adventure, humor, and war stories catered primarily to a white, male audience, reflecting the era's cultural norms under Jim Crow segregation.[9] Black characters appeared infrequently and almost exclusively in supporting roles that perpetuated racist stereotypes, such as wide-eyed "pickaninnies," lazy servants, or buffoonish figures echoing minstrel shows.[12] These depictions, common in titles from the 1930s through the 1940s, reinforced servile or comedic tropes—e.g., porters, domestics, or fools—without agency or heroism, often amplifying prevailing prejudices rather than challenging them.[12] During World War II, wartime propaganda occasionally featured Black soldiers in patriotic contexts, but such instances remained marginal and stereotyped, with no prominent Black protagonists in mainstream books.[13] The industry lacked any titles centered on Black creators or exclusively Black casts, as white-dominated publishing houses showed little interest in non-stereotypical representation amid systemic exclusion of Black talent from creative roles.[14] This landscape, buoyed by high circulation but constrained by cultural homogeneity, set the stage for independent efforts to counter prevailing narratives.[15] Scholars have contextualized All-Negro Comics within broader traditions of independent African-American cultural production during the era of racial segregation. Similarities have been noted with so-called race film—independently produced motion pictures created by Black filmmakers for segregated Black audiences between the 1910s and 1940s—which likewise emerged outside mainstream distribution systems and sought to counter prevailing stereotypes while providing professional opportunities for Black creators.[16] This comparison situates All-Negro Comics alongside other parallel Black-owned media initiatives of the period, rather than as an isolated publishing effort.Socioeconomic Factors for Black Creators
During the Jim Crow era of the 1940s, African American creators encountered profound socioeconomic barriers rooted in systemic racial segregation and discrimination, which curtailed access to education, professional networks, and financial resources essential for artistic and publishing endeavors. Median Black family income hovered around 45% of white median income from 1948 onward, reflecting persistent wage disparities exacerbated by exclusion from skilled trades and higher-paying jobs.[17] Black workers' mean wages in 1940 stood at approximately $106.55, compared to $221.63 for whites, with similar gaps persisting into the postwar period despite wartime industrial gains.[18] These economic constraints limited capital accumulation for self-publishing ventures, as Black entrepreneurs faced discriminatory lending practices and restricted market access, often confining operations to segregated communities.[19][20] In the publishing and arts sectors, these factors compounded exclusion from mainstream outlets, where racial prejudice relegated Black professionals to niche "special markets" or low-level roles, with few breakthroughs until the 1950s.[21] The comics industry, dominated by white publishers, perpetuated stereotypes or omitted positive Black representations, prompting independent efforts like All-Negro Comics as a direct countermeasure.[22] Orrin C. Evans, a Philadelphia-based journalist and NAACP member, leveraged his experience in the Black press—itself a product of segregation's forced parallelism—to launch the venture in 1947, aiming to provide employment for Black artists and affirmative imagery for Black audiences amid pre-civil rights marginalization.[23][3] This initiative emerged from broader patterns where segregation inadvertently fostered parallel Black media ecosystems, though financial precarity and distribution hurdles often doomed such projects to limited runs.[24] Post-World War II economic shifts offered marginal improvements for some urban Black migrants, yet entrenched barriers like restricted printing facilities and wholesaler networks hindered scalability for Black-led comics.[25] Evans's All-Negro Comics, Inc., formed with his brother George J. Evans Jr., exemplified entrepreneurial resilience against these odds, prioritizing creator autonomy over mainstream integration despite the venture's single-issue output due to insufficient capital and sales.[3] Such efforts underscored how socioeconomic exclusion incentivized self-reliance, though without broader institutional support, they struggled to achieve commercial viability.[26]Creation and Production
Founders and Key Contributors
Orrin Cromwell Evans (1902–1971), an African-American journalist who broke barriers as the first Black reporter to cover general assignments for a major daily newspaper in Philadelphia, founded All-Negro Comics, Inc. in 1947 to produce the first comic book created entirely by Black writers and artists.[27][3] As president and editor, Evans assembled a team of contributors in Philadelphia, emphasizing original content free from white industry influence, with the stated goal of showcasing Black talent in comics.[6] He secured backing from associates including Warren Saylor and Bill Driscoll to launch the venture, which published its sole issue, All-Negro Comics #1, in June 1947.[28] Evans collaborated closely with his brother, George J. Evans Jr., a cartoonist who co-founded the company and contributed key artwork, including the superhero feature Lion Man and the detective story Ace Harlem.[3][29] George Evans's illustrations depicted empowered Black protagonists combating threats like Nazi spies and evildoers, marking early instances of Black-led superhero narratives in American comics.[6] Other key contributors included artist John H. Terrell, who illustrated the crime adventure Ace Harlem, and William H. Smith and Leonard Cooper, who provided additional drawings for features like Ezekiel's Manhunt and humor strips.[30][29] This all-Black creative team, numbering around a dozen talents recruited by Evans, ensured every aspect—from scripting to inking—was handled independently, a rarity in the segregated comics industry of the era.[31]Development Process
Orrin C. Evans, a Philadelphia-based journalist formerly with the Philadelphia Record, began developing All-Negro Comics after the newspaper's closure in early 1947, motivated by the opportunity to reach a broader readership and counter the scarcity of positive African American portrayals in popular media.[32] He established All-Negro Comics, Inc. as an independent venture, self-financing the effort to produce an anthology featuring exclusively Black creators and characters.[33] Evans emphasized moral and educational themes, drawing from his journalistic background to prioritize uplifting narratives amid high illiteracy rates and limited heroic representations in Black communities.[6] Evans assembled a small, all-African American production team from professional contacts, including former Record editor Harry T. Saylor and sports editor Bill Driscoll for editorial support.[33] Artistic contributors encompassed his brother George J. Evans Jr., who illustrated the flagship adventure story "Lion Man," John Terrell for the detective feature "Ace Harlem," and others such as Cooper for "Dew Dillies" and Cravat for "Sugarfoot."[6] As editor and principal writer, Evans coordinated the creation of original scripts and artwork, ensuring all content adhered to standards of respectability and avoiding stereotypes prevalent in mainstream comics of the era.[33] The team focused on diverse genres, including superheroics, humor, and Westerns, to appeal to family audiences. Production centered in Philadelphia, yielding a 48-page issue with a color cover, completed through manual assembly of scripts, pencils, inks, and lettering by the recruited talent.[28] Printing occurred despite industry-wide racial skepticism, though exact facilities remain undocumented; the process succeeded for the debut but highlighted vulnerabilities, as subsequent efforts encountered refusals from paper vendors and printers unwilling to support further all-Black projects.[32][6] This independent workflow, reliant on personal networks rather than established publishers, marked a pioneering yet precarious model for Black-led comics production in the post-World War II period.[33]Publication Details
Release and Distribution Challenges
All-Negro Comics #1 was released in June 1947 by Philadelphia journalist Orrin C. Evans via his newly formed All-Negro Comics Publishing Company, marking the debut of the first comic book anthology created exclusively by African American writers and artists.[32] The 52-page issue faced immediate hurdles in achieving broad market penetration, as the comics distribution network—dominated by white-owned wholesalers and newsstand operators—was structured amid Jim Crow-era segregation, limiting access to mainstream retail channels for Black-led publications.[29] Circulation remained small, with sales confined largely to urban Black communities and direct mail efforts, reflecting the era's exclusionary practices that funneled most comic book dissemination through racially homogeneous supply chains.[32] Efforts to produce a second issue encountered direct obstruction when printing vendors refused to sell newsprint and other materials to Evans, a barrier widely attributed to racial animus in an industry where Black entrepreneurs were systematically denied equitable access to production resources.[32][28] Distributors, facing no contractual obligation but operating within prejudiced networks, similarly withdrew promised support, halting reprinting and expansion plans that Evans had envisioned as a sustained series with potential global reach.[7][29] These denials were not isolated but emblematic of broader 1940s publishing dynamics, where white-controlled firms like Fawcett Comics and Parents' Magazine Press responded to nascent demand for Black-themed content by launching competing titles, thereby preempting independent Black ventures and reinforcing market exclusion.[28][29] The cumulative effect of material shortages, distributor reticence, and competitive co-optation ensured that All-Negro Comics remained a one-issue publication, underscoring how entrenched racial hierarchies in supply chains and wholesale logistics impeded Black self-publishing initiatives despite initial editorial viability.[32][7] Evans' experience highlights the causal interplay between segregationist policies and economic gatekeeping, which prioritized established publishers over innovators challenging representational norms in popular media.[28]Commercial Performance
All-Negro Comics #1, released in June 1947 by the F.E. Moore Company, experienced limited commercial success, with distribution confined largely to Philadelphia and nearby regions due to barriers in securing broader wholesale networks.[6] The issue's cover price of 15 cents exceeded the industry standard of 10 cents, potentially deterring buyers amid postwar economic constraints and competition from established publishers.[32] No verified sales or circulation figures exist, though the scarcity of surviving copies in good condition suggests a small initial print run that failed to generate sustained demand.[6] Efforts to produce a second issue collapsed primarily from supply chain disruptions, including refusals by vendors to provide newsprint and abrupt withdrawals by distributors, factors later linked to racial discrimination within the predominantly white-controlled printing and distribution sectors.[32] These obstacles prevented the F.E. Moore Company from capitalizing on the debut's novelty as the first all-Black-created comic, underscoring the structural economic challenges faced by independent Black publishers in the 1940s comics market.[6] Despite this, the single issue's enduring rarity has driven high collector values in later decades, with copies fetching thousands at auction, though this reflects historical significance rather than original market viability.[34]Content Analysis
Featured Stories
All-Negro Comics #1, published in June 1947, featured an anthology of original stories created exclusively by African-American writers and artists, spanning genres such as detective fiction, superhero adventure, children's fantasy, and humor.[35][6] The issue included six primary comic strips alongside a prose text story, emphasizing positive portrayals of Black characters in everyday and heroic roles without reliance on stereotypes prevalent in mainstream comics of the era.[36] The lead story, "Ace Harlem," introduced the titular detective, a sharp investigator who solves a murder at Pop’s Bar-B-Que Shack committed by two zoot-suited criminals. Harlem tracks the killers using clues like a discarded herb wrapper, leading to a rooftop confrontation where he apprehends one suspect after the other falls to his death; the narrative employs realistic dialogue and cultural references, such as the popular tune "Open the Door, Richard," with artwork by John Terrell evoking Milton Caniff's style.[6][35] "Lion Man," a Tarzan-esque adventure scripted and illustrated by George J. Evans Jr., begins with this foreword: “American-born, college educated, Lion Man is a young scientist, sent by the United Nations to watch over the fearsome ‘Magic Mountain’ of the African Gold Coast. Within its crater lies the world’s largest deposit of Uranium enough to make an atom bomb that could destroy the world. Lion Man’s job is to report on the doings of any treacherous nation that might seek to carry away any of the lethal stuff for the purpose of war.”[36] The story introduced one of the earliest Black superheroes—a college-educated African-American scientist endowed with exceptional intellect, strength, agility, and stamina—safeguarding uranium deposits in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) under a United Nations mandate.[28] Assisted by his Zulu orphan sidekick Bubba, Lion Man, clad in a loin-cloth, operates from a hidden jungle laboratory equipped with radar and thwarts the villainous Doctor Blut Sangro in pulpy action sequences influenced by Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon aesthetics.[6][35] Other features included "The Dew Dillies" by Cooper, a saccharine children's tale of pixie-like creatures—Bubbles (a water-dweller) and Bibber (winged)—who evade the antagonist Goolygator while learning lessons on nature's interconnectedness through fruit foraging; "Sugarfoot" by Cravat, a comedic hobo adventure where musicians Sugarfoot and Snakeoil charm a farmer's daughter for a meal, rendered in energetic, cartoony art reminiscent of Harvey Kurtzman; and "Li’l Eggie" by John Terrell, a light humor strip about the henpecked Egbert navigating domestic and financial woes.[6][35] Gag panels in "Hep Chicks on Parade" by Len offered one-page jokes centered on stylish Black women, capturing 1940s "girlie" humor.[6] A prose text story, "Ezekiel’s Manhunt," portrayed a clever young Black protagonist outwitting a murderer in a rural shack setting, notable for its descriptive phrasing like "His white teeth shone against his smooth dark brown skin," marking an early instance of such imagery in comics.[6] These stories collectively aimed to provide wholesome, adventurous content tailored for Black audiences, though some elements, such as in "Sugarfoot," drew on familiar comedic tropes.[35]Themes and Representations
All-Negro Comics presented African American characters in roles emphasizing agency, intelligence, and heroism, countering the prevalent stereotypes of buffoonery, criminality, or subservience found in contemporary mainstream comics. The anthology featured stories that reframed familiar archetypes—such as detectives and superheroes—for Black protagonists, promoting cultural pride and self-reliance among readers. This approach aligned with publisher Orrin C. Evans' intent to provide uplifting narratives that highlighted Black capabilities without reliance on white saviors or exoticized tropes.[32][37] In "Ace Harlem," the title character operates as a professional detective in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, investigating murders with forensic expertise and keen observation, mirroring but elevating the Dick Tracy archetype through proper diction and collaborative problem-solving. This portrayal underscored Black competence in law enforcement, fostering a sense of communal empowerment by depicting Harlem as a vibrant setting of moral complexity, including victims, innocents, and perpetrators, reflective of 1940s urban Black life.[37][38] The "Lion Man" feature introduced one of the earliest Black superheroes, a scientist endowed with exceptional strength, intellect, agility, and stamina, who safeguards a uranium deposit in his African homeland against foreign threats. This narrative emphasized leadership and technological guardianship, challenging assumptions of African primitivism or Black technological inadequacy by positioning the hero as a protector of both continental resources and American interests, thereby instilling pride in Black heritage and capability.[37][39] "Sugarfoot" employed humor rooted in vaudeville and slapstick traditions, subverting minstrel stereotypes by directing wit and resilience toward Black audience enjoyment rather than derision, celebrating theatrical history and community solidarity. Across the issue's diverse tales—spanning adventure, fantasy, and everyday scenarios—the comics depicted varied modes of Black existence, from urban professionals to ancestral guardians, to affirm authentic identities and reject pathological or inferior representations.[37][4]Artistic and Narrative Techniques
The artwork in All-Negro Comics #1 employed standard 1940s comic book techniques, including clean line work, dynamic posing for action sequences, and realistic proportions adapted to portray African American physical traits such as textured hair and broad nostrils.[37] John Terrell's illustrations for the detective feature "Ace Harlem" featured bold, forceful compositions influenced by Milton Caniff's adventure strips, with character designs echoing Dick Tracy archetypes like trench coats and fedoras updated for urban black protagonists.[6] George J. Evans Jr.'s "Lion Man" utilized a simple, realistic style reminiscent of early Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, emphasizing well-defined figures and shading to depict jungle perils and heroic interventions.[6] Humor strips like "Sugarfoot" incorporated energetic, cartoony exaggeration akin to Harvey Kurtzman's early work, with slapstick elements such as musical notations and chorus line formations to heighten comedic timing.[6][37] Narratively, the comic followed formulaic episodic structures common to mid-1940s anthologies, with concise setups introducing conflicts resolved through deduction, combat, or wit, often scripted by the artists themselves under editorial guidance for moral and educational tone.[6] "Ace Harlem" blended hard-boiled investigation with cultural authenticity, contrasting professional dialogue against jive slang and folk elements like charm roots to ground resolutions in community dynamics.[37][40] "Lion Man" structured its adventure around an ongoing uranium guardianship plot in Africa, pairing scientific exposition with sidekick banter to propel action-forward pacing.[6] Comedy in "Sugarfoot" relied on double entendres, vaudeville theatrics, and situational gags to subvert stereotypes affirmatively, maintaining accessibility for broad readership.[37] These methods adapted mainstream genre conventions to feature exclusively black casts, prioritizing straightforward heroism over innovation.[40]