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MBP Presents: BLACK COMIX: AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEPENDENT COMICS, ART AND CULTURE
July 21, 2010
Contact: Adri Cowan
Telephone: 347-830-6270
New York, NY – July 21, 2010 – The comics boom of the past ten years has largely overlooked the artists and writers that comprise the vibrant African American independent comics community. Authored by comics creators and scholars Damian Duffy and John Jennings, Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture brings together an unprecedented collection of little-known, but undeniably masterful, comics art while also framing the work of these men and women in a broader historical and cultural context.
Packed with the action comics of creators like Shawn Alleyne, Grey, James Mason, and the more cerebral, abstract stylings of Phonzie Davis and Darryl Ayo Braithwaite, Black Comix is the first book of its kind. With over fifty contributors, including Dawud Anyabwile, Eric Battle, Kenjji Marshall, Afua Richardson, Larry Stroman, Rob Stull, Lance Tooks, and many more, the cross section of comics genres represented includes manga, superheroes, humor, history, science fiction and fantasy.
As Keith Knight, the creator of the K Chronicles, (Th)ink and The Knight Life, writes in his foreword, “Cartoonists are like jazz musicians. Everyone has their own style, their own influences, their own instruments and techniques they work with. There are many on display in this book. Appreciate and embrace the diversity.”
About Damian Duffy and John Jennings
Creators, scholars, and curators of comics, hip-hop, and new media art, Damian Duffy and John Jennings are the 4-handed creator of visual cultural warfare for the coming “artpocalypse.”
Damian, a writer and letterer, is a PhD candidate in the UIUC Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
John, an illustrator and designer, is an associate professor of graphic design in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Fine and Applied Arts.
Together, they have curated four major comics art exhibitions and participated in numerous others nationwide. They have spoken on a number of topics, like comics, hip-hop, horror, race, religion, and new media, and most recently sat as representatives of Black Comix on a panel (“Reading in the Digital Age”) at the 2010 Harlem Book Fair, which was filmed for C-SPAN.
# # #
Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture
By Damian Duffy & John Jennings
Page Count: 176 pages
Size: 11 x 9 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: July 2010
Price: $45
ISBN: 978-0-9841906-5-2
For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the authors, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com.
