An exhibition in New York celebrates the world of black comics

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) – A New York museum is launching a new exhibit to celebrate black comics and a decade of its black comics festivals.

“Boundless: 10 Years of Seeding Black Comedic Futures” characteristics memorabilia, photos and comics by black writers and illustrators that focus on black heroes. It is organized by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, a research library that is part of the New York public library system.

The Black Comic Book Festival provided a platform for more than 40 independent publishers each year to sell their works directly to readers of color from 2012 through 2020, the New York Public Library said on its website.

The festival has a sense of community even though the COVID pandemic has forced this year’s event to be held online, said comic book creator and panel moderator TJ Sterling.

“I think for me, you know, comic conventions as a whole, there’s not a lot of diversity,” he told Reuters. “I think even the comic field itself doesn’t really give us a diverse look at the types of stories, the types of characters…it seemed like that was where I could really talk to people who love my work.”

Sterling’s graphic novels focus on various stories about underrepresented characters.

David Crownson, the creator of “Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer” and the upcoming “Nightmare in Newark,” called the exhibit space a safe center where history can be preserved and celebrated.

“It’s important for the next generation to see where we are and also to empower and energize us to move forward.”

Reporting by Alicia Powell in New York Writing by Matthew Lewis Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.