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.
