Celebrate Black History Month With These Awesome Comics & More

2018 brought us Black Panther and Into The Spider-Verse. The new year is only beginning and we already have a wide variety of new comic properties featuring black characters. The following is by no means a complete list but an easy starting point for readers who want good comics about black people.

Naomi

When a fight between Superman and Mongul crashes into a small Northwestern town, Naomi sets off to unravel a mystery that could shake the DC Universe to its core. The series is still in its infancy but the lush art alone could easily sell the comic.

Naomi is available now from DC’s Wonder Comics line.

Marvel’s Wolverine: The Lost Trail

Wolverine: The Lost Trail continues the successful Wolverine podcast by sending Logan down to the bayou. The New Orleans setting and stellar voice cast have me hooked.

You can find out more information about the Wolverine Podcast on Marvel’s website.

American Carnage

In American Carnage, Richard Wright, a disgraced FBI agent is given a second chance. The mission is to infiltrate a white supremacist group believed to be responsible for the death of a fellow agent. The twist is that Wright is a light-skinned black man who can pass for white.

American Carnage is available now from DC Vertigo.

Vindication

Law and order isn’t exactly cut and dry. When a murder is committed, Detective Chip Christopher is tasked with investigating a young black man named Turn. Christopher maneuvers the blurred blue line between racial profiling and due diligence in order to solve the case.

Vindication is available now from Image Comics.

Outer Darkness

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined Star Trek with The Exorcist? Well, wonder no further because Outer Darkness combines cosmic horror with a planet-hopping space adventure. What mysteries lie within Outer Darkness? The crew of the Charon are going to find out or die trying.

Outer Darkness is available now from Image Comics.

Skyward

What if earth’s gravity was as low as it is on the moon? In Skyward, humanity has adapted to a new low-gravity world and our heroine, Willa Fowler couldn’t be happier. However, Willa’s high-flying days could come to an end when she discovers a dangerous plan to bring gravity back to earth.

Skyward just concluded its second arc published by Image Comics.

Isola

Original fantasy world, check. Limited color palettes, check. Atmospheric pacing and non-verbal storytelling, check. Isola has three elements rarely found in comics that deliver a truly unique story about a Queen in the body of a tiger, her guard and their quest to the land of the dead.

Isola will be entering its second arc published by Image Comics.

Farmhand

Farmhand brings new meaning to the term organ harvest as readers follow a family’s struggles over a farm that grows human parts for commercial use. The ethics of using farm-grown body parts and the sinister power rooted deep within the farm create a story that’s funny, creepy, yet ultimately about family.

Farmhand will be entering its second arc published by Image Comics.

Abbott

If you’re watching the new season of True Detective and say to yourself “this is cool but I wish it was actually supernatural.” Well, then look no further than Abbott! The series follows a hard-boiled reporter and her quest against the occult forces that took her husband.

Abbott is available now published by Boom! Studios.

By Night

Jane and Heather have stumbled upon a portal to another world (as you do). The duo decide to do what no one has ever thought of when discovering a wonderland–actually documenting their experience. From the art and premise, By Night appears to be a fun series that has the potential to get darker.

By Night is available now from Boom! Studios.

Destroyer

In 1823, eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley pioneered science fiction as we know it with her seminal novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. Now writer Victor LaValle and artist Dietrich Smith bring this classic story into the volatile racial climate of present day. When the last descendant of the Frankenstein family loses her only son to a police shooting, she uses her family’s legacy to exact her revenge.

Destroyer is available now from Boom! Studios.

The Wilds

Comics and the apocalypse go together like peanut butter and a cataclysmic plague that turns America into a hellscape of feral animals, crumbling structures and mutant abominations. Readers follow our heroine, Daisy as she searches for her missing girlfriend among the ruins of the civilization.

The Wilds is available now from Black Mask.

Black [AF]: Widows and Orphans

“In a world where only black people have superpowers, what price do they fetch on the black market?” That is the question posed by the new story set in the BLACK universe. This new story arc will pit Anansi and Hoodrat against a human trafficking ring and an army of child soldiers.

Black [AF]: Widows and Orphans is available now from Black Mask.

Kugali

Kugali is a comic anthology created by African comic creators to tell their stories in an array of different art styles. By running a successful Kickstarter Campaign, Kugali displays how crowd-funding platforms have allowed creators’ voices to be heard from across the globe.

The comic anthology can be ordered on the Kugali website.

Dream Daddy

Visual Novels and Dating Simulators have gone from underground hentai games to hilarious self-parodies and in some cases shocking horror thrillers. Dream Daddy is just what it sounds like –it’s about dating DILFs. The comic is based on the Visual Novel created by the Game Grumps, and while it doesn’t exclusively focus on African Americans, I thought it was too funny not to mention.

Dream Daddy the comic series is published by Oni Press.

Lavender Jack

When a mystery man in a purple devil costume blackmails members of high society, a legendary detective is called in to unmask him. Lavender Jack is a mystery with a dash of steampunk superheroes thrown in. There’s a wide cast of characters and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing.

Lavender Jack is free to read right now on LINE Webtoon.

Bitter Root

1920’s New York: stylized art influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and a supernatural twist–if you’re not sold already, I don’t know what else to tell you about Bitter Root. In this universe, being racist can actually morph people into monsters. Then it’s up to the Sangerye family to either cure the monsters or kill them. There’s an interesting moral dilemma as to who can be saved and who deserves to be saved.

Bitter Root is available now from Image Comics.

Prodigy

Remember how there were rumors about Idris Elba playing James Bond? Well Prodigy seems as close as we’re going to get. Edison Crane is the world’s most brilliant man on a mission with a rogue CIA officer to stop an invasion from a parallel earth. The comic is a fun ride if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief over the Grand Canyon and jump over it on a motorcycle while on fire (that happens in the first issue).

Prodigy is available now from Image Comics.