This is a drawing of Stanford Carpenter as he appeared on the Heroes/Creators panel at the Comic Arts Conference, SDCC 2013. Dr. Carpenter is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Comics Studies, a cultural anthropologist, and a comic creator.
Ajuan Mance
A face from the audience, Comic-Con 2013, San Diego Convention Center, Room 9.
Ajuan Mance
Here’s another entry from my Comic-Con sketchbook. This is Rickey. He was sitting directly in front of me during the Ellen Forney session. She was reading from Marbles, her new graphic novel. The combination of the subject’s knit cap, his headphones, and his locks made for an satisfying combination of textures, and the headphones broke up the space around the subject ‘s head in some interesting ways.
After the session was over, I caught Rickey’s attention and showed him my drawing. In retrospect, it must have felt odd to have some stranger show him a drawing, not of his face, but of the back of his head. He was very nice about it, though, and gave me his email address so I can send him a link to this post.
Thanks Rickey!
Ajuan Mance
This is a drawing of the videographer for the Brandon Easton panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. Part of the reason I chose this figure was because I had a clear view of him from my seat. Mostly, though, I was interested in the idea of capturing a Black male cameraman in the act of viewing Black male panelists.
Ajuan Mance
Insights for Independent Creators was a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. It was hosted by the man in this drawing, comics and screenwriter Brandon Easton. The panel included Black indie comics creators Dale Wilson, Todd Harris, Dani Dixon, Larry Welch, Andre Owens, and Robert Roach. DeWayne Copeland was the moderator. As host, Easton was witty, candid, and a little sarcastic; but he was also inspiring. Easton and his panelists emphasized the potential of new digital production technologies to diversify the range of stories being told in all forms of media. The creator of the popular independent comic Shadowlaw, Easton is the embodiment of this trend.
Ajuan Mance
It’s that time of year again. The Brothers of Comic-Con Sketchbook returns! It is hard for me to believe that I have attended Comic-Con four times since beginning the 1001 Black Men project. I began this project in July of 2010, the summer I first made my way the largest annual geek pilgrimage in the world. This year, as in previous years, I was thrilled by the diversity of this event and, in particular, by the number of people of African descent–men, women, children, and entire Black families–getting their nerd on in bold and brilliant ways.
Comic-Con San Diego throws this phenomenon into high relief, with Black folks dressed in full costume–as Doctor Who (the Ninth Doctor), Darth Maul (who looked amazing), Spider Man, zombies, pirates, Captain America, Sho’ Nuff’ the Shogun of Harlem–or else decked out in the latest fan gear from their favorite movies, games, films books, and television series. At this, the first Comic-Con since the George Zimmerman verdict, seeing the Black men around me (of whom there were literally thousands) felt meaningful in very different ways than in the past. It was a powerful experience to be around so many Black men who, simply by celebrating the media forms and characters they enjoy, were resisting the narrow definitions so often applied to them.
And then there were people like the man in this drawing who, dressed as no character I could discern, paid homage to the spirit of the Con by donning a mask and wearing it throughout the day.
Ajuan Mance
PS: If you’d care to see a clip of Sho’ Nuff” the Shogun of Harlem, check out YouTube member William Hinson’s compilation of some of Sho’ Nuff’s best moments from The Last Dragon.
San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch.
Ajuan Mance
Starbucks, MacArthur Blvd, San Leandro, CA.
***
[Ralph] Ellison’s great conceit was that the black man was someone you couldn’t see; what [Anatole] Broyard understood was that sometimes the problem was that people could see him all too well …
–From “The Passing of Anatole Broyard” in Thirteen Ways of Looking at at Black Man by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Zocaló Cafe, San Leandro, CA.
***
My father could only sign
His name, but he’d look at blueprints
& say how many bricks
Formed each wall. This man,
Who stole roses & hyacinth
For his yard, would stand there
With eyes closed & fists balled,
Laboring over a simple word, almost
Redeemed by what he tried to say.
Outside Egbert Souse, Piedmont, Ave., Oakland, CA.
***
My People
The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people.
The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.
Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.