Image Comics will soon reintroduce a landmark piece of comics history with a newly remastered edition of All-Negro Comics: America’s First Black Comic Book. Originally published in 1947 by pioneering journalist Orrin C. Evans, the groundbreaking anthology was the first to feature original Black characters created by Black cartoonists. Its stories included heroes like Ace Harlem and Lion Man and were designed to entertain readers without relying on harmful stereotypes. Despite its significance, the book’s distribution was cut short, and it quickly slipped into obscurity.
This fall, that changes. Curated by writer and editor Chris Robinson, the upcoming paperback edition not only preserves the full, restored work of Evans and his collaborators George J. Evans Jr., John H. Terrell, William H. Smith, and Leonard Cooper, but also expands on its legacy. The collection will feature new essays, comics, and prose from a wide roster of today’s acclaimed Black creators, including Eisner winner Dr. Qiana Whitted (EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest), David Brothers, Shawn Pryor, Micah Peters, Zipporah Smith, Samantha Guzmán, Deron Bennett, Jasmine Hatcher, Sharean Morishita, Tony Washington, Ray-Anthony Height, Manny Edeko, Domo Stanton, Ryan Marlow, and Robinson himself. To further contextualize its importance, the edition also includes a discussion guide for educators and cultural commentary to highlight its impact.
Evans, who later received the ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2014, left behind a lasting legacy with this project—one that predates even Marvel’s Black Panther and deserves recognition alongside the Golden Age debuts of Superman, Batman, and Captain America.
“I’m so proud to finally bring this award-winning collection to the widest possible audience with the help of Image Comics,” Robinson said. “How often do we get to spotlight a bonafide piece of American history like this?”
All-Negro Comics: America’s First Black Comic Book (ISBN: 9781534331150, Lunar Code 0825IM0457) will arrive in comic shops on October 22, and in bookstores including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on November 4.
You must be logged in to post a comment.