Minorities in comics pre-1960's: Depiction and/or Participation in comics

[whalter58]

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?

[Yoc]

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

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

There are more but these two come to mind first for me.

[JonTheScanner]

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.

[narfstar]

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.

[Yoc]

Ouch, nothing PC about Shoogafoots Jones!
First I've heard of the book, thanks Narf.

[narfstar]

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

[philcom55]

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

[whalter58]

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.

[John C]

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.)

[Yoc]

I'd be interested in seeing that story too John.

[boox909]

You will want to look at some of the Centuar titles...some incredibly un-pc stuff in the humor slanted titles.

B.

[darkmark (RIP)]

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.

[OtherEric]

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.)

[paw broon]

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

[comicsnorth]

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