Part 3 Fantasy
African, African American, and bi-racial woman took center stage in 2012
Sisters, princess, prince less mutants, vampires, goddesses and real Goddesses were on the shelves every month online and even promoted on Kickstarter their stories were as varied as their publishers
Some writers srtuggle to interpret the complex nature of the sister but not the writers below in the area of fantasy and horror the stories below are all top notch
Click here to see how wrong it can be when writers get it wrong Click here for 2012 the Year Black Females Ruled in Comics Part 1, part 2
Princess Adrienne Prince-less
Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin
My daughter is black and while I encourage her to look for role models of all colors, girls need to be able to see girls that are like themselves in media. They need it even more when it comes to seeing them portrayed with strength. And, unfortunately, I think that’s sort of a symptom of this exclusionary tendency in the self-professed nerd culture circles. I would love nothing more than to change that culture, but barring that, I’ll help create another one.
| — | Liz interviewed Jeremy Whitely, creator of the awesome kid’s comic Princeless. |
Still waiting for your prince to come? Tired of spending night after night locked in a secluded tower? Ready for your own adventure? So are we.
Princeless is the story of Princess Adrienne, one princess who’s tired of waiting to be rescued. Join Adrienne and her guardian dragon, Sparky, as they begin their own quest in an all-ages action adventure designed specifically for those who are tired of waiting to be rescued… and who are ready to save themselves.
Written by Jeremy “The Order of Dagonet” Whitley with stunning art by M. Goodwin, and featuring a back up story by Jeremy and D.E. Belton, Princeless is a swashbuckling tale that will appeal to children of all ages! click here for a review of all the Princeless stories
Juliet, Prince of Cats
Ron Wembly
Written and drawn by an African American male Prince of Cats is my vote for the best book of 2012 brilliant is the best way to describe it
Prince of Cats” is a hip-hop inspired retelling of William Shakespeare’s seminal tale, “Romeo and Juliet.” Instead of focusing on the star crossed lovers, Wimberly’s story focuses on Tybalt, referred to in the play as the Prince of Cats, and his Capulet brothers as their war with the Montagues rages on. Writing and drawing a story that mixes samurai warfare, an urban sensibility and a healthy dose of the Bard is no easy feat, but the Wimberly is more than up to the task. click her for full article
What do Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Ronald Reagan’s ’80s, city life, and black culture have in common? As it turns out, kind of a lot, and Ronald Wimberly’s graphic novel Prince of Cats is a particularly beautiful illustration of that fact. Wimberly focuses on Tybalt, the titular Prince of Cats, and takes a hard look at what could drive a man to throw away his life when he should be enjoying his youth.click here to read more and an interview with Ron Wembly
Gwendolyn, Saga
Brian K. Vaughan Fiona Staples
This fanstasy is considered the best comic of 2012 Gwendolyn: Marko’s former fiancée. She is first mentioned by a semi-conscious Marko at the end of issue #3, and first appears at the end of issue #8, when she appears before The Will’s agent at the Brio Talent Agency. During his engagement to her, Klara characterized her as a “worthless draft dodger”, though Klara later regretted their breakup.Marko and Alana’s wedding rings, which also function as translator devices, were originally those of Gwendolyn’s grandparents, who had the rings enchanted with a translator spell because they spoke two different dialects of Wreath’s native language. click to read more
Naavan, Oglaff
Trudy Cooper
Navaan is happy-go-lucky and possesses a child-like wonder at the world around her. She appears to be highly naive, which suggests she is quite young. She loves to have fun, particularly when sex is involved. Navaan smiles brightly when something takes her fancy, which is often. She frequently takes casual risks, just to see what might happen.
Oglaff is a weekly comedic webcomic centered on a medieval fantasy realm which is decidedly sexual in nature. (Read: Mature Audiences Only) If you are under the legal age in your region, or have a poor opinion of sex, humour, dragons, elves, sorcery, semen or any combination of the like, this comic is not recommended for you.
Horror
Michonne, Walking Dead
Robert Kirkman,
A mysterious African-American woman armed with a katana, Michonne first appears when she saves Otis from a group of zombies. She used to be a lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia. She had a father, a mother, two sisters, a brother, an ex-husband, two daughters, a boyfriend, a mortgage, and a whole lot of other things. When the dead returned to life and began attacking the living, the first place Michonne went was her neighbor’s house. His son, a high schooler, was a sword junkie that used to cut up the fence between their yards, and killed their cat. Michonne grabbed one of his katana swords. It was easier than finding a gun, and it wouldn’t draw any attention to her. She had taken fencing as a child, and then again in college, and had gotten pretty good at it. Not to mention that it helped work off some of the steam of her seventeen years of college.
To quote Grimm Tiddings The Walking Dead’s Michonne, played with a fantastic one-note scowl by Danai Gurira on the AMC show. She’s getting a bit of stick from some online quarters, moaning about the lack of a backstory, emotional range or even dialogue, but personally I think that’s the point of the character – whoever she was before is irrelevant and she’s truly found her calling in life now, as a completely relentless badass with a samurai sword. She’s a Man-With-No-Name-type, a mythic character almost. Seriously, what’s not to like?
Agent Kennedy of the Dead Presidents. iZombi
created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred,
Various entities, some human, some not, battle various escalating threats in and around Euegene, Oregon. Vampires, parental fights, zombies, romance triangles, cabin fever, delayed apocalytpic battles and technical support are just some of the situations under-prepared, heavily manipulated, not-quite-human twenty-somethings have to deal with. Kennedy is the leader of the Dead Presidents, an undead secret agent. Investigating weird business click to read more
Halloween Eve
Brandon Montclare Amy Reeder
A Kickstarter funded project
Our tale of holiday cheer begins with a girl named Eve, a sour bite of a lady who works day in and day out in her town’s local party/costume shop. While making costumes any other day of the year already puts her in a bad mood, that particular day just happens to be Halloween Eve and the store has decided to stay open late. After hours of dealing with inept customers and irritating co-workers, her bad luck keeps running strong as she’s forced to stay after close and clean up by herself. It is here, in her lowest of low moods, she decides to throw on a witch’s outfit to vent some steam. Suddenly, the store comes to life! Masks begin to talk, mannequins dress themselves, and the spirit of Satan himself shows up! Before she knows it, Eve is thrown from her own world to one beyond the mirror; a world of ghosts and costumes, knights and pumpkins, where Halloween never ends and where she must now learn the truth about the strange holiday read the full Fangoria review
Alyssa Miles Shadowman
Patrick Zircher and Justin Jordan
Her past is completely unknown but she is a second generation Abettor and protégé of Dox. She is the first of the Abettors to sense the uncloaking of Jack Boniface. She accompanies Dox to rescue him and later introduces him to Dox when they try to recruit him. Taken from worldofblacksuperheroes
Valiant has done some big relaunches within the past year with a lot of their classic 90′s characters, and the latest is Shadowman, re-imagined by the creative team of co-writers, Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher, with art by the latter. All I can say, is issue one is a great introduction to a character, I believe, treads the fine line between supernatural horror and voodoo mysticism.
DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD
Selwyn Hinds and Denys Cowan
DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD is the story listed created by a black writer and artist. It tells the tale of a half-breed, outcast and heir to the Voodoo Queenship of New Orleans, if she can live long enough to claim her birthright in the aftermath of Katrina, all that has changed, for someone or something has murdered the Voodoo Queen and most of her court. The number one suspect is Dominique Laveau, a grad student at Tulane who is about to discover that her entire life has been a lie. Now Dominique must forge alliances with those out to kill her while seeking to uncover the truth behind the royal murders, as she is ultimately forced to deal with a destiny she could never have imagined click here to read more Read the artist Deny’s Cowan interview here
In Part 4 the conclusion, I look at sister inAlternative comics and Television
Click here for 2012 the Year Black Females Ruled in Comics Part 1, part 2
A J Harper is the author of the Tales of Urban Horror series. His latest is Smoke & Demons,
He can be reached at urbanhorror@gmail.com
follow him on twitter at twitter.com/HarperWorx
A. J. Harper 