- Thomas M.
- Monday, December 14, 2020
BIPOC, an acronym representing People Of Color with an emphasis on Black and Indigenous people, is a category of special significance in American culture. It is also an appropriate identifier for the #ownvoices comics described below, as they are by and about BIPOC. Most of these titles are nonfiction, with some science fiction and fantasy tales included. All of them are available for instant reading via Hoopla; click the links to access them online.
Tata Rambo, aka Ramon Juarigue, co-founded M.A.Y.O., which stands for Mexican, American, Yaqui, and Others. His story, written by his great-grandson Henry Barajas from oral history, is also the story of Tucson Arizona, World War II, immigration policy, community activism, reservation life, and the ties between Juarigue and Barajas. Artist J. Gonzo’s illustrations are always full of energy and life, whether depicting a protest, battlefield, horse race, or simply a conversation during a party. These are only some of the settings that set the stage for Tata Rambo’s life, and Barajas invokes journalistic standards in withholding details that are missing and sticking to the facts, even the messy ones. Regardless, the throughline from “¡Sí se puede!” to “Yes, we did!” remains clear.
Trickster: Native American Tales
For each story in this collection, a Native American storyteller was paired with a comics artist. The tricksters in these stories often take animal form, and the tone of each story could just as likely be humorous as serious, though often with a lesson attached for the audience. The range of visual styles helps each piece of folklore stand out, from realism drawn in monochrome to colorful, anthropomorphic animals drawn like a Saturday morning cartoon. The consistency of indigenous representation, combined with the sheer amount of collaboration for quality storytelling, make this a must-read.
Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band
This graphic memoir follows the history of the rock band Redbone's founding members Pat and Lolly Vegas. A foreword by Pat's daughter Frankie Vegas sets the stage for a narrative framed by a conversation between her and her father. From Pat and Lolly's early years playing clubs and appearing in movies to meeting several big acts of the time such as The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors, their star seemed to only get brighter through the 60s and 70s. They build their reputation as well as their band, recording several albums and playing progressively larger venues. Writers Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni combine the band's history with that of Native Americans, including descriptions of reservation life, protest movements, and an unflinching look at America's history of injustice toward Native Americans. Thibault Balaby's artwork is mostly done in primary colors, with splashes of red, blue, and yellow on each page highlighting personal and national history. The back matter includes an afterword by Staebler, his interview with Pat, as well as a bibligraphy and discography for further reading and listening.
South Carolina’s own talents Sanford Greene and Chuck Brown, along with David F. Walker, Rico Renzi, and Clayton Cowles, bring this historical sci-fi allegory about racism to life. In 1924 Harlem, the Sangerye family battles creatures called jinoo, which are people monstrously transformed by hatred and trauma. Using high-tech weaponry, martial arts, and medicinal treatments, the jinoo can be fought and even cured, but the contagious spirit of racism always finds new victims to infect. The wide Sangerye family tree will be there to fight it. This edition includes thoughtful essays about the comic, race, and American culture by current black artists and academics.
Jordan Banks enters seventh grade at an upscale private school that doesn’t have many students who look like him. While he enjoys soccer and making friends, he can’t help but notice that some classmates and teachers seem to treat him… differently. Even the books in the school library tell different stories about black kids than white ones, but Jordan’s sense of humor and love from his parents see him through anything. Whether you’ve ever been an outsider like Jordan or want to step into his shoes for a new experience, Jerry Craft’s breakout hit (and sequel Class Act) are full of empathy, sharp social observations, and laughter.
Black History In Its Own Words
The premise to Ronald Wimberly’s ode to black history is thin but rewarding: quotes from a wide range of black thinkers, celebrities, politicians, and athletes. The portraits, usually rendered in neutral tones against colorful background, are striking. The quote from each historical figure, while brief, also makes an impact.
Kyle Baker’s treatment of the life of Nat Turner actually goes back to his mother’s experience in the Middle Passage, in which she was taken from Africa to America. Several wordless sequences convey the tragic circumstances of Turner’s upbringing in chains, from being refused an education to being forced to perform chores and labor. Turner leads a rebellion in 1831 made up of enslaved people that finds short-lived freedom through bloodshed. Excerpts of Turner’s official confession appear, as recorded by Thomas R. Gray. Baker is a master cartoonist, using timing, facial expressions, page design, highlighting, shading, and other visual communication tools to put as much power behind Turner’s challenges and victories as possible.
Strange Fruit: Volume 1, Uncelebrated Narratives From Black History and Volume 2, More Uncelebrated Narratives From Black History
Joel Gill’s Strange Fruit series revives long-overlooked figures from black history, particularly African American history, and brings them to comic life. Profiles include all walks of life, including Henry “Box” Brown, who escaped slavery by shipping himself away in a box, later becoming an ardent abolitionist. Volume 1 features all men, with women appearing in Volume 2. Readers interested in deeper dives into some of these lives should check out Gill’s similar series, Tales of The Talented Tenth, with books about Bass Reeves the enslaved man turned lawman, as well as Bessie Stringfield, Motorcycle Queen of Miami.
Marcelo d’Salete’s graphic novel about Brazil’s history of slavery is rooted in tons of background research to ensure accurate portrayals. However, d’Salete employs a number of inventive visual techniques. Just as the stories are illustrated in black and white with detailed lines alongside smudged shading, the events on the page can swerve from the stark inequality of plantation life to abstract depictions of strangers finding solace together underwater. Panels during a dramatic scene turn the perspective upside down. While many of the stories in this collection are heartbreaking, there are still some triumphant moments.
The graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s time-traveling narrative will transport the reader with its visuals as much as Butler’s story. Dana, a thoughtful African-American woman in 1976 San Francisco, is suddenly and inexplicably teleported to plantation life in 1815 Maryland. While surviving day to day and trying to improve life for the slaves around her, she discovers her ancestors and a shocking branch of her family tree. She continues to bounce between time periods, never sure whether safety or danger awaits, eventually bringing her husband with her and complicating everything. While Dana the character is a thoughtful writer, Butler shines as the original author, basing details of plantation life directly from narratives of enslaved people. John Jennings described his creative process for illustrating the book in a video made with University of California Riverside.
To aliens visiting Earth, human beings are described as “full of energy, spirit, and confusion.” Returning earthling Future will encounter plenty of all three as she explains her pregnancy to family and friends who have missed her. While the story mostly takes place in New York, characters’ backgrounds indicate Nigerian influences, such as the lingering effects of their civil war. While romantically linked to a man named Citizen, Future was accidentally impregnated by the spore of a sentient plant named Letme Live, making her child’s imminent delivery a topic of discussion for everyone with an opinion about aliens. Okorafor and Ford’s Hugo Award-winning vision of the future looks a lot like our present, with all the distress and optimism that suggests.
In the future, criminals are sent to a prison planet to fight for survival. Gangs compete for power in the town of Scare City, where cleverness and manipulation are as essential as speed and strength. The cast is vast, though it centers on Luca and Isaac, two lost souls who at least find each other among the violence and subplots. There are so many characters and angles to this story that the two existing volumes barely scratch the surface of all the bold worldbuilding that’s teased from creators Erika Alexander and Tony Puryear.
Spencer Dales fought hard to meet his father's high standards for magical proficiency. His family has a sterling reputation in the Aegis, an all-black society of magicians who take on high-risk assignments to serve others. However, Dale is forbidden from using his magical talents to help himself or others, even family. Even more suspect, magicians' wands are tightly regulated and monitored. Writer Brandon Thomas sets Spencer on a journey of personal revelation and social revolution, while Khary Randolph's artwork sparks pages to life like the cast's magic battles.
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, is also beset by vampires. When beat cop James Sangster Jr. visits the city to bury his detective father, he uncovers a case journal that leads to supernatural mystery and danger. Beyond the pale bloodsuckers, he also uncovers a continuing influence from America's past that must be reckoned with if the living are ever to find relief. Jason Shawn Alexander's illustrations, combined with Luis NCT's colors, lead to a painterly style that is equal parts realistic and surreal.