Superhero comics are still dominated by white creators and white characters, but there have always have been voices of color contributing to the adventures we all love so much. Black History Month is the perfect time to review the influence that Black writers, artists, and characters have had on the world of superheroes.
Note: Some of the items featured here have not aged well. I included them because they still contributed to comics history and helped make the industry what it is today, for better or for worse.
1940 – E.C. Stoner creates, draws, and writes the character Phantasmo, Master of the World for Dell Comics. He is the first Black creator known to have worked on a superhero comic and created a superhero.
1940 – Ebony White, the Spirit’s sidekick, debuts in The Spirit newspaper strip. Although rooted in racial stereotypes, Ebony is intelligent and respected by the other characters. More recent iterations have sought to portray the character in a more appropriate way.
1947 – Matt Baker, the first prominent Black artist in comics, revives the character Phantom Lady for Fox Feature Syndicate. The next year, he draws a cover so scandalously sexual that it would be held up as an example of degeneracy in comics.
1966 – Black Panther debuts in Fantastic Four #52. He is Marvel’s first Black superhero.
1967 – Eartha Kitt assumes the role of Catwoman on Batman, making her the first Black actor to play a supervillain.
1970 – Mal Duncan debuts in Teen Titans #26. He is DC’s first Black superhero.
1972 – Nubia debuts in Wonder Woman #204. She is DC’s first Black superheroine.
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1975 – Misty Knight debuts in Marvel Premiere #21. She is Marvel’s first Black superheroine.
1983 – James Rhodes becomes Iron Man in Iron Man #170. He is the first Black character to assume a white hero’s identity on a regular basis.
1989 – Writer Dwayne McDuffie mocks Marvel’s one-note portrayal of Black characters by sarcastically pitching a new series called Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers.
1993 – Milestone Media, an imprint of DC Comics, debuts. Founded by multiple Black creators, including McDuffie, Milestone was devoted to publishing stories about Black superheroes, who, per the memo above, were pigeonholed by white-owned publishers.
1997 – Spawn (Image) and Steel (DC) hit theaters within weeks of each other, becoming the first films to star Black superheroes.
1998 – Blade hits theaters, becoming the first film to star one of Marvel’s Black heroes.
1999 – Alitha Martinez becomes the first Black female penciller at Marvel, first receiving credit for her work with Cable Annual #1. She would later draw for DC as well.
2000 – The cartoon series Static Shock debuts. The show, starring Milestone’s teen hero Static, becomes the first cartoon to star a Black hero.
2001 – The Ultimates version of Nick Fury debuts in Ultimate Marvel Team Up #5. Modeled on Samuel L. Jackson, his creation leads to Jackson being cast as Fury in Iron Man and, ultimately, to Marvel making their primary Nick Fury a Black man in the comics as well.
2009 – Felicia D. Henderson and Angela Robinson become the first Black women to write a DC superhero comic (Teen Titans and The Web, respectively).
2015 – Following Dwayne McDuffie’s untimely death, two awards are named in his honor: the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids’ Comics and the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics. He is the first Black creator to have an award named for him.
2016 – Nilah Magruder becomes the first Black woman to write a Marvel comic.
2018 – Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther hits theaters, becoming the first Marvel film to star a Black hero. It grosses over $1.3 billion worldwide and wins three Oscars (out of seven nominations), making it by far the most successful Black superhero film to date.
Looking for more Black history makers in comics? Dive into these four comics starring Black heroines in STEM and go back deeper into our archives to learn about 30 Black comic book writers.
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English (US) · 