Mapping the Black Comic Imaginary: Beyond the Black Panther at the MSU Museum

Julian C Chambliss

doi:10.16995/cg.8051

Abstract

The historical link between Afrofuturism and comics offers a vital avenue to explore black speculative practice. Identifying comics that reflect the structure of Afrofuturism provides a critical way to understand the intersection between liberation and speculation at the heart of Afrofuturism. This commentary explores the curator’s framing of the utility of organizing Beyond the Black Panther: Visions of Afrofuturism in American Comics, an exhibition presented virtually and physically at the MSU Museum in Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI, USA. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the MSU Museum was closed to the public and this exhibition was re-imagined as a virtual experience and published online in February 2021.

Highlights

While comics may seem an unlikely space to revisit the definition and meaning of Afrofuturism, questions about race and the meaning of modernity defined comics in the United States
Beyond the Black Panther offers the viewer a chance to engage with the transformative themes of Afrofuturism through the accessible pages of comic books
In thinking about Afrofuturism and comics books, Reynaldo Anderson argued one challenge linked to determining Afrofuturist practice in the medium was exploring “dimensions of de-hierarchization” to determine meaning or interpretation (Anderson, 2015: 175)

Summary

Introduction

While comics may seem an unlikely space to revisit the definition and meaning of Afrofuturism, questions about race and the meaning of modernity defined comics in the United States. The story of how black comic creators offered alternative views of black life and culture is less well known. In this light, examining comics through an Afrofuturist lens offers a vital way to explore how transformative narratives created by comic creators have a history beyond Black Panther’s debut in 1966 or the Milestone comics Dery referenced in 1994.

Results

Conclusion