Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: whalter58 on July 07, 2011, 03:02:08 PM
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I am very interested in any comics that depict minorties (especially African-American/Black and Latino),
and especially ones that are NOT well known like Eisner's Ebony, Japanese in WW2 era comics etc. I can't do searches in DCM for these specifically so anyone who can point me in their direction in the DCM files, I'd sure be grateful. By depiction I mean from a single panel to a full issue and positive or negative (i.e. racist) or even ads in old comics that depict minorities. Is anyone else out there interested in this as well?
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Hi and welcome whalter.
One hero I bet you've never heard of is 'Real American #1' (not the best name but...) he's likely comics first Native American hero. You can find him in Daredevil Comics #2-11 with art by another favourite artist of mine Dick Briefer who is best know for his Frankenstein book for Prize Comics.
Here is the link for DD Comics - http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=110 (http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=110)
An very unusual hero who never shows his face but is thought to be Asian is 'The Green Turtle' from Blazing Comics which you can find here - http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=365 (http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=365)
There are more but these two come to mind first for me.
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Fawcett published 6 issues of Jackie Robinson Comics from 1949-52, and Eastern (Famous Funnies) published The Amazing Willie Mays in 1954. There was a single issue of All-Negro Comics in 1947. Parents Magazine published Negro Heroes in 1947. Fawcett and Charlton after they stopped printing comics had five issues of Negro Romances.
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You can't forget Shoogafoots Jones
http://www.comics.org/series/14189/
I sure wish I would have scanned this before selling it way back when.
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Ouch, nothing PC about Shoogafoots Jones!
First I've heard of the book, thanks Narf.
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This is a book I would contribute to buying for scanning purposes if enough of us could get together
http://cgi.ebay.com/CLEAN-FUN-CGC-7-0-RACIST-COVER-2ND-HGST-GRADE-NR-/370524518004?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5644fb7674
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I don't know if you're interested in foreign titles, but here's a curiosity from the 1970s - written, drawn and printed in the UK to be distributed in Nigeria (with artwork by Dave Gibbons and Brian Bolland):
(http://i55.tinypic.com/2060g88.jpg)Of course, some British comics proper featured a number of outrageous racial caricatures over the years - notably the appalling 'Spadger's Isle' in Wizard!
- Phil Rushton
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Wow! Thanks for the great start in my search, guys! Shoogfoots Jones is a new one for me and that Jumbo 105 is fantastic thank you so much.
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I wanted to hold off posting until I could find the issue, but haven't had the time and I don't want to leave it out. But there's a Charlton science-fiction title with a story that basically copies Superman's origin but the entire civilization survives. They settle on a large continent on Earth, which (ahem) "explains" why the Chinese had better technology than the Europeans for centuries, and the evidence is, of course, in their slanted eyes that couldn't possibly have evolved on Earth.
Ohhhh...
(It's technically outside your scope, the Chinese in China not really being definable as a "minority," but I couldn't let that keep me from bringing it up.)
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I'd be interested in seeing that story too John.
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You will want to look at some of the Centuar titles...some incredibly un-pc stuff in the humor slanted titles.
B.
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Besides Ebony in The Spirit, there was Chop Chop in BLACKHAWK, who had his own comedy strip in the middle of the book. And Billy Batson (Captain Marvel) had a servant named Steamboat, which is the main reason why those stories weren't reprinted by DC. The Young Allies had Whitewash Jones, about as stereotyped-for-the-time as you could get. There were more, but I really don't feel like tracking them down right now.
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I would look at some of the Our Gang stories by Walt Kelly. I've heard nothing but praise for his portrayal of Bucky in that series, even if it did take him a little while to develop the character from his beginnings as Buckwheat. (I have yet to read all the stories myself yet.)
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And on the same lines as Powerman, here are 2 titles for distribution in South Africa (1975). A bit after your period but hopefully of interest.
(http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae289/masquerouge/TI001003.jpg)(http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae289/masquerouge/MM001004.jpg)
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As for the Centaur stuff, while they certainly had their moments, they also presented at least two Native American heroes, Mantoka & Red Blaze, who at the very least spoke better English than Tonto (Red, in fact, was a college man), and the evil Great Question was clearly Asian without being lemon yellow or speaking with a stereotypical accent. Not that there weren't plenty of characters (quite a procession of "Man -servants-of-color--even "Hammer" Donovan had one!) that met every stereotype in the book.
-Comicsnorth
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Yes, I share the same interest. I believe most of these will be in DCM.
Snowball. In one adventure, the Native American hero Red Hawk is assisted by a black native nicknamed Snowball, who resides on an island that doubles as a secret air base for the Americans. Blazing 2 (1944).
Mammy. Jun-gal’s fiercely loyal companion. Blazing Comics 1-5 (1944-45).
Rufus Worth, the family butler of Johnny Rebel’s alter ego. Johnny has a black butler named Rufus Worth who calls him “master” and is his only companion. Yankee Comics 2-4; (active 1941-43).
Whitey, associate of Hammerhead Hawley. Hawley has an African-American associate named Whitey, who operates the radio back at his secret undersea base. He often calls Hawley “boss,” then promptly corrects himself, saying, “sir.” Captain Aero 8-11, 13-14 HOLYOKE (active 1942-44).
Sidi Ahran. Not avaiable in DCM but great story if you can come across it. Black Nazi agent of the German Afrika Korps who pretends to be a bumbling African-American janitor named Mercury. A Spirit of ’76 story. Green Hornet 13 HARVEY (1943).
The Voodoo Man. The Voodoo Man’s given name is Boanga, a Haitian medicine man. Warren. Weird Comics 1-7; Samson 3; The Flame 4-8 FOX (1940-42).
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Bob Phantom had a reoccuring female "Yellow Peril" menace in Princess Ah-Ku, which was fairly unusual for characters who did not operate in the Pacific. She's introduced in the Bob Phantom stories in Top-Notch comics #4 and returns in issue #9; Top-Notch was published by MLJ/Archie Comics.
There were a great number of Oriental villains in the Fu Manchu mold, and Fu himself appeared in stories in early DC comics which you won't find here.
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You may also want to look through the war comics of the Korean War era as they have various depictions of the Asians (primarily Korean and Chinese) involved in that conflict.
While DCM can't host the most prolific of war comic publishers from those years (Atlas/Marvel) they do have war comics from a number of other publishers including Ace, Ajax-Farrell, Avon, Better/Standard, Fawcett, Fiction House, Harvey, Hillman, Key, Magazine Enterprises, Quality, St. John, Toby, and Ziff-Davis.
Best
Joe