Posted in: Comics | Tagged: black comix, black comix return, damian duffy, John Jennings

John Jennings Talks Black Comix Returns, A New Collection Of Art And Essays Celebrating Black Indie Comics Creators

Published Sat, 25 Feb 2017 11:00:26 -0600

In 2010, John Jennings and Damian Duffy released a 176 page collection of art and essays celebrating the vibrant African American independent comics community called Black Comix. With all that's happened in the following years, it's time for a new volume, and Jennings and Duffy have taken to Kickstarter to produce it. The campaign has already been wildly successful, raising double its funding goal of $9500 and hitting enough stretch goals to turn the book into a 200 page hardcover with foil logo and ribbon bookmark. The campaign is going so well that Jennings and Duffy have pledged to donated 15% of all earnings above $18,000 to help out another Kickstarter project, The Black Ink documentary film, spotlighting people of color in comics, and if Black Comix Returns hits $21,000, a DVD of that film will be bundled with be bundled with some of the copies of Black Comix Returns. You can watch the Kickstarter video at the bottom of this article.

blackcomix — The original Black Comix book

John Jennings has a resume of accomplishments so impressive, it's exhausting just to copy them from his Kickstarter bio. He's a New York Times bestselling comic book creator, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside focusing on inter-sectional narratives regarding identity politics and popular media, Nasir Jones Hip Hop Studies Fellow with the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, co-editor of Eisner Award winning collection The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, and the founder or co-founder of multiple comics festivals around the country, including The Schomburg Center's Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem, MLK NorCal's Black Comix Arts Festival in San Francisco, and SOL-CON: The Brown and Black Comix Expo at Ohio State University, where we met him last year.

Phew!

Despite all of that, he still managed to find the time to talk to Bleeding Cool about Black Comix Return, which can be pre-ordered by backing its Kickstarter campaign over the next seven days.

The "ideal version" stretch goals have already been reached.

Why does everyone need a copy of Black Comix Return on their shelf?

Because it's going to be chock-full of some of the most innovative and creative work by a great deal of indie-press comics artists and writers that many people have never encountered. It's like peeking into a whole – new world.

What makes now the right time to launch this project, and what's changed since the first Black Comix was released in 2010?

I think that since the first book a lot of new artists and writers have thrown their hats into the ring, so to speak. They need to be recognized. Also, the black indie scene has been bursting at the seams with new events and all of that needs to be seen as well.

The campaign has already achieved nearly double its funding goal, and you're well on your way to hitting all your stretch goals too. Did you anticipate this much interest?

I had hoped that people would want to see another book but, no, I was totally shocked by the response. It's been amazing!

What are the advantages to using Kickstarter to fund a project like this rather than going through a publisher?

Well, we are going through a publisher Magnetic Press Collection/ Lion Forge. Mike Kennedy, the creative force behind MPC has used this model to help get great books out through his company. This method helps get the book put together quickly and it also acts as kind of a printing subvention to get some really great high-quality production going.

My old colleague from The Outhouse (and also a contributor to Black Comix Return), Greg Anderson Elysee, has declared the current era in comics the era of the Black Comics Renaissance. Is he right?

I definitely think so. Because of the democratization of the comics making tools today, coupled with the access of the web, we have seen a huge jump in really well done truly diverse black books being produced. The other thing is that with the rise in interest in Black Speculative culture, Afrofuturism etc. we've seen more connections being made across the board. Also, there's been a spike in premium coverage online regarding black geek culture from various mediums.

How did you choose who gets into the book this time around?

We wanted to give the creators in the first book "first dibs' so to speak. Then we started working with our collaborator David Dissanayake on putting together a spread-sheet of talent that the three of us really wanted to showcase. Then we, as a team, started reaching out to see who responded. Also, a number of artists saw the project on kickstarter and contacted us.

How does your partnership with Damian Duffy work on this and other projects that you work on together, and how did you guys start collaborating?

Damian and I have been working together for about 12 years. We share the load with ideation on the projects and split up tasks logistically. Then we back each other up on what needs to be done as the project progresses. He's a great writer, editor and has a visual flair that gels well with my own. We started working on stories together first after we met at UIUC. I brought Scott McCloud to the University of Illinois and he crashed a dinner essentially (short version of a much longer story). We started hanging out soon after and realized that our politics and interests in the medium of comics were very similar and we started collaborating. It was great! Now we are stuck with each other it seems.

In addition to your work as a professor and comic creator, you've also founded or co-founded quite a few comics festivals around the country. What can we expect on that front in 2017?

I want to co-found at least two or three more. SolCon: The Brown and Black Comix Expo will be in it's third year. Black Comix Arts Festival will be in it's fourth year. and the Schomburg's Black Comic Book Festival will be in its sixth. I can definitely see a need for these festivals and we plan to keep pushing.

As a NY Times bestselling graphic novelist, how do you feel about the Times getting rid of the graphic novel chart?

I think that it's a huge blow to a medium that already doesn't get the kind of recognition that it deserves in our country. People still (wrongfully) assume that comics are just for kids. Having the NYT seemingly "demote' an entire medium, for whatever reason, sends a bad signal I think. I really hope they reconsider.

Do you think you'll do another volume of Black Comix in another seven years or sooner?

It's hard to say. We have a host of new projects in the queue but, if there's interest and it works in our production schedule, then why not? Anything's possible.

Head over to Kickstarter and back Black Comix Return if you so desire. Even a $5 pledge nets a digital edition of the original Black Comix, $15 gets a digital copy of Black Comix Returns, and $35 gets you the fully stretch-goal updated book. There are other reward levels as well.

Here's the current list of creators featured in Black Comix Return, though more may be added: