Black Heroes/Sidekicks

In the process of assembling collections of childrens books related to the African Diaspora, I found comic books featuring black heroes, superheroes and sideckicks as consistent main characters.

These comics all come from countries which were colonial powers in Africa, namely Italy, France, Belgium and Spain.

Analyzing the collection I came to realize that this genre did not exist in the USA.  The reason it was prevalent in Europe was because Europe had a longer and richer history with Africa that went far beyond the issue of slavery.  As colonial powers, there was a vibrant African community in Europe and a far greater awareness of African culture and Africans were integrated within European society much earlier than in America.

In America, historically the black experience mainly focussed on slavery and civil rights.  The result is that a colourful pop culture emerged in Europe concerning Africa that never emerged in America.  It is noteworthy that the theme of black heroes during the American Civil War appears as a major focus of the pop culture across Europe. The collection I have put together will be added to as I find new materials.

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Bound issues #5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 of Italian comic book Tom Bill, published in 1949. It is a Wild West story featuring the white protagonist and his sidekick Sandy, a negro. Together they fight outlaws and help the weak. Sandy is featured as a black face caricature with the big eyes and huge white lips. This is a rare comic book that ran for one year I believe. B

Price: $400.00

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Roberto Alcazar El Intrepido Aventurro Espanol. Jolu, El Gangster Negro. C1950. It is about a New York black gangster. Some damage. B

Price: $70.00

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Complete run of all 12 episodes of El Blanco y El Negro. Published in 1929 on the back cover of the Spanish humor journal ALGO. It is the story of two men, one white and the other black, named Carlos and Tomas respectively. They are on a ship and fight against each other. The ship sinks and the pair make their way to shore in North Africa, where they are brought before a local noble. They experience a number of encounters and at different times take care of each other, often escaping death. They leave and end up in Genoa, where Tomas is beaten. They manage to secure an airplane and leave, but end up parachuting out of it. Tomas is injured and is nearly lynched while Carlos is beaten by an angry crowd. They secure another plane and end up in Africa. B

Price: $580.00

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EL COLOSO, is a Spanish comic book that ran for 83 issues between 1960 and 1962. The collection started with the title of EL COLOSO, under which the first 35 issues were published. From number 36 the collection changed its title to EL PRÍNCIPE DE RODAS. We do not know if it was due to the issue of title rights (there are sources that claim that a wine company had registered it), an attempt to take advantage of the launching of the film "The Colossus of Rhodes", a simple whim of its authors or some other reason. El Coloso’s parents were gods. Sent to earth his joined by his friends Sandro and Filon. The later is a negro from Africa. M

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Created in 1951 in the context of the post-war period, the character of Bamboula is a little black boy who arrives in a French family, after leaving his native Africa. Georges Fernandes, editor of Varly, presents him as " the little boy that all parents dream of having ". " He will show relevance, intelligence, honesty, courage and a great desire to learn, " , The poor French of Bamboula and his lack of knowledge of Western society give rise to gags judged today to be inappropriate. He is seen, among other things, setting fire to the kitchen after building a bonfire on which a chicken roasts. " I is going to see Midame if there is a famous roast chicken in the fashion at home! " He exclaims in front of a woman who has been devastated. The comic ran from 1952-1960. M

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Spanish comic book El Corsario de Hierro. !En La Boca del Lobo! The story centers around a slave named Tamak who serves the palace of the Sultan in Constantinople. He attacks his masters and eventually frees other slaves aboard slave ships. 1971. B

Price: $60.00

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Complete run of Spanish comic book Chispita en el Oeste, with 24 issues. Chispita was an adventure comic created by the screenwriter Federico Amorós and the cartoonist Ambrós for the Grafidea publishing house in 1951. Chispita is the main character but he is assisted by a black boy named Cincinato, an Indian named Sentiro, Robert and Alicia Parker and Jackeerson. B

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A complete run of 64 issues of Merlin el Mago Moderno, as found in the Spanish comic Aventurero. The comic lasted from 1935-1953 and the run of Merlin ran from issues 54 to 118. Merlin is a magician and has a black assistant named Lewis. While Merlin is always dressed in a tuxedo and cape, Lewis is half naked wearing a leopard top, shorts and a fez. This series is based off of the Mandrake series by Lee Falk and Phil Davis, however the strip was modified for Spain and the names of the main characters changed. This was one of the first international syndications of the strip in the US, which first appeared June 11, 1934. Another noticeable change in the Spanish version is that Lewis does not appear illiterate, which he does in the US version of the strip. From Wikipedia: “Mandrake (Merlin in the Spanish version) is a magician whose work is based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique. As noted in captions, when Mandrake "gestures hypnotically", his subjects see illusions, and Mandrake has used this technique against a variety of villains including gangsters, mad scientists, extraterrestrials, and characters from other dimensions. At various times in the comic strip, Mandrake has also demonstrated other powers, including turning invisible, shapeshifting, levitation, and teleportation. His hat, cloak and wand, passed down from his father Theron, possess great magical properties which in time Mandrake learns how to use. Although Mandrake publicly works as a stage magician, he spends much of his time fighting criminals and combatting supernatural entities. Lothar (Lewis in the Spanish version) is Mandrake's best friend and crime fighting companion. Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was "Prince of the Seven Nations", a mighty federation of jungle tribes; but forbore to become king and instead followed Mandrake on his world travels. Lothar is often referred to as "the strongest man in the world", with the exception of Hojo — Mandrake's chef and secret chief of Inter Intel. Lothar is invulnerable to any weapon forged by man, impervious to heat, cold and possesses the stamina of a thousand men. He also cannot be harmed by magic directly (fire bolts, force bolts, spell incantations). He can lift an elephant by one hand easily.

One of the first African crimefighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in 1934 in the inaugural daily strip. In the beginning, Lothar spoke poor English and wore a fez, short pants, and a leopard skin. In a 1935 work by King Features Syndicate, Lothar is referred to as Mandrake's "giant black slave." When artist Fred Fredericks took over in 1965, Lothar spoke correct English and his clothing changed, although he often wore shirts with leopard-skin patterns.” B

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Spanish comic book CHISPITA. Issued weekly in 1952, it ran for 24 issues. Chispita and his son Relampago arrive on ship to a tropical island. The governor of the island has a young black servant named Boliche, who is introduced in issue #3. He runs away and joins Chispita and Relampago as they experience adventures in the tropics and in the far east. I have a complete bound run of this comic.

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