Why aren't there more black comic creators?

[muirkerith]

Like seriously, just like how Asian and White people create there own manga or comics, why aren't there more black creators in the business? ....There are millions of Black people in America and there are a lot of creative Black people with the passion for making comics and even movies as well, so how come there aren't much black people drawing and creating black characters?

It would be nice to see a lot of black representation in comics which could then be adapted into a movie

[BoomerZ]

I'm really of the position that I don't care. I read comics for stories and art. Who makes them and what race they are is and shouldn't be an issue.

[kyupol]

Because most of them are concerned with the bottom half.

And besides, rap music is a better alternative that gets more attention. I'd be a rapper if I can.

[muirkerith]

This answer makes a lot of sense

[thepenmonster]

There are a tonne of great black creators out there. But if you're asking why American blacks don't dominate comics like they do music and sports... Comics aren't really a popular form of entertainment medium compared to all the rest of them. Simple as that.

Even today it's still the medium made by obsessed weirdos for other obsessed weirdos. And most of them are going to move on and drop the hobby at some point. Smaller number of participants in the industry all around and that means black creators are a minority of a minority.

[Lensing]

I know a lot of black american comic creators from facebook groups who are into superhero
marvel/dc kind of comics and I follow some black comic artists on youtube.

I think it´s always a question of your pov and what kind of comic genre you look at

[NickRowler]

For a lot of American comic creators, you usually don't know what the race of the artist is unless you take the time to look into them. There are black artist but it may not be obvious.

Unless you are talking about having more black lead stories by black creators. Which would be a good thing. Unfortunately a lot of bigger publisher tend to mishandle these types of stories and throw people under the bus when they don't preform well.

[Leyelle]

Right here lol. There are some black comic creators out there. Our comics just aren't super duper popular in the mainstream (yet) but you can find them if you go looking. There are also some mainstream black comic characters already like Static Shock which even have their own tv shows

[pjthetoonaddict]

Because most of them are concerned with the bottom half.

Speaking from experience, there, bud? Because your comic story sorta reads like the bottom of that pyramid, but that's none of my business.

Besides, Edgelord comics are a better alternative that gets more attention. I'd be an Edgelord cartoonist if I can.

[Shanny8]

Wow...the top portion of this post thread sounds really stereotypical

@thepenmonster it's not even an issue of "dominating"- the same issue with comics is the same issue with a lot of everything else- gatekeeping. Especially given the appearance that comics is a surprisingly small and nuanced field, a lot of Black comic creators, writers, so on and so forth get passed/skipped over for their counterparts- even if they've already proven that their work is well received.

Also when they do create their own material they often have to create their own means of publishing and distribution, because comic publishers & distributors often write their creations off; pretty much the same thing goes on in Hollywood with Black cinema- there was a huge explosion of it in the late 90s and early 2000s, but between 2005 and this current "every movie must make a billion dollar profit" era a lot of those projects have not gotten the green light.

Plus there's the other side of that- sales and the push. Because a lot of people(from my standpoint) seemingly DO NOT invest in Black comics- whether it be by Black creators, or established Black characters from companies like Marvel or DC...how many times has Black Lightning been "rebooted" and not had his own title go the number of years that you would see Batman, Superman, or Green Lantern(this same question applies to Black Panther and Luke Cage as well)? In the 90s Milestone was created and Black comics experienced a boom, only to fizzle when sales declined- while X-Men, Superman, Batman and other titles continued to sell...this whole narrative makes it even harder for Black creators trying to push their own material to get any traction.

A lot of Black creators feel like they dont get any love back from comics- be it via sales and/or opportunities, so they do other things because a person has to live, right?

[MelancholicOtaku]

I mean wouldn’t every race be more concern about the bottom half,since you know we all need the basics to survive and live.

[NickRowler]

Let's see...

I have zero self-esteem, I'm lonely as hell, my health is failing me, and I struggle to barely pass the physiological needs. Yet I still am creative.

I think it has less to do with needs and more to do with there just being less black creators in the field. Probably due to population percentage.

[Tubacabra]

I'd just like to take a moment to point out that African Americans only make up about 13.6% of the United States population, and the majority of Africa is made up of third world countries.

[kyupol]

Yeah I know. My hiatuses historically had to do with running into hard times when I had to work more or take courses to level up my income,.

Nowadays I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford to live comfortably. But like anything that might just be temporary and before you know it, I run into another hard patch irl and I'd have to hiatus again. God knows

[kyupol]

Lol edgelord comics tend to only get stuck in a very small corner of a very niche market on the internet unless you get really lucky like that lookism webtoon. Not really much attention.

Meanwhile, my buddy who plays music in random bars has a way bigger social circle than I can even dream of. And he's not that good looking either so... it's his musical talent that explains it.

Same thing goes with this street preacher I know personally. Even if his doctrine is unpopular even with most Christians, still manages to get a much bigger social circle.

Extroverted talents mog

[thepenmonster]

I didn't bring up systemic racism because I felt it was beyond the scope of the comment.

Also explaining it to white peers who believe racism is solely a person to person issue is exhausting. I lack the patience and grace for it and wanted to avoid the possibility.

[Leyelle]

@muirkerith

I'd also add that a big factor for why you probably don't see as many African American comics being put out is that comics are often more expensive to make than novels.

Case in point, i make comics and novels, but i couldn't afford to buy a tablet and tablet pen, so until someone gifted them to me, I could write novels, but i had no way to draw digitally.

Good drawing software and such often cost money as well. While many people live in poverty, regardless of ethnicity, and need all their money for necessities, that also includes a large percentage of African Americans. If you have no time to do anything but work to survive, or you can't afford the tools/resources to make your comics, then even if you have interesting or good ideas, you often can't put them out.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I think @Shanny8 pretty much hit the nail on the head, and @NickRowler has a point too-- you don't always know what race a comic artist is, especially when it comes to webcomics. ^^; We don't all write about 'black issues' or black leads...and when we do, and don't immediately break sales records, it's really easy for publishers and distributors to decide that our blackness is the problem, and something to be avoided in the future. Which only makes it harder to be seen as 'normal' and break into the mainstream...and so the vicious cycle continues...

But to counter the title question, I would ask: what black comic creators do you know and support? Because we do exist; lots of us do-- we just need eyes on our work and word-of-mouth from fans in order to grow.
So if you do know some, why not bring them into the thread and show 'em a little love? And if you don't know any...well, you kinda answered your own question. You have to seek out an underrepresented demographic in order to see them; that is the nature of being underrepresented...wondering why doesn't help them, but putting in that effort does.

[ThunderChicken]

Truth be told, I have no idea what races 99% of the creators that I follow are. And, to carry that truth a little further, I don't really care what race they are. Sometimes there will be signs that English is not the creators' first language (misspellings, grammar errors, etc) and sometimes it will be obvious in the story that the creator is not "white" (or, to narrow it down, Caucasian Canadian or American), but I don't fret that stuff. I follow series because I like the series. I don't seek out Black (or Hispanic, or Indian, or Korean, or Japanese, or whatever) artists, nor do I avoid them. I just see a series, and if I like it, I like it.

Something to keep in mind, though, is the demographics of the site you are reading your comics/novels on. Tapas, for example, is skewed heavily toward Manga/Manhwa, and a very large percentage of the artists (and readers) on this site is going to be Southeast Asian for that reason. This is probably one of the few forms of social media that isn't dominated by Americans.

[thepenmonster]

Chuck Collins is pretty good but he only seems to have a Bluesky account.

Chuck Collins 👊🏾🇭🇹 (@thebouncer.bsky.social)