The issue of “lightening” of the color is one that is very tricky, because we are talking about a social issue, a visual appeal issue, and a social appeal issue. When the Curtis and Jump Start examples were posted earlier, I thought about it, and imagined the strips as if they were colored DARKER instead of lighter, and to me, it screamed of the “Negro/Mammy” Caricatures of old, which would could hurt the situation, depending on if you view your readers as being able to discern the ethnic origins of the artist. With that said, I don’t think shade of color matters as much as being able to discern them from the ethnic backgrounds of the other characters. I absolutely look forward to Candorville every day because it is rarely about “Racial” issues and more about “Social” issues and the difference between the newer generations and the established mindset. Which there are many people who would call me insane for not calling Candorville a racial comic, but I see the difference between mindset issues, many of which are racially overtoned, and inherently racial struggle issues. Keep up the good work Darrin. Most people who “Group” comics, would group Candorville in with some of the other strips above. I look at it as just another strip that shows the changing times in society and the generational gaps, just as Foxtrot and Zits, even though they are viewed as in a different category.

Which goes to show that labels and categories rarely work. Marmaduke is in the family section on comics.com even though if you don’t read it on a regular basis you wouldn’t know that Marmaduke ever had a “family” that owned him. (again with the Marmaduke bashing, not intentional, I swear)

This is a common phenomenon in entertainment circles where stories, ANY sort of stories, that feature non-whites are immediately lumped together into one catchall category. Never mind that one is a western, one is a comedy set in the roman territories and the third is a spy thriller set in an alternate dimension.

White is the norm and non-white is considered to be divergent.

It’s a pile of crap viewpoint, of course. Not only are most of the human beings on the planet “non-white” but, as Americans, non-whites have been following the adventures of James Bond and Hamlet and Dagwood (among thousands of others) with little ill effect for decades. Centuries in Hamlet’s case.

There is nothing “other” about these strips and there’s nothing “niche” about their approaches.

If you don’t educate your public, your audience, you will never grow that audience. Ignorance is bliss, certainly, but it’s also superglue.

And, by the way, all the strips were funny. Even those reusing the same lines.

Good work on all levels. Keep it up. You rule.

Geoffrey Thorne
scifi writer

The token Canadian/cartoonist innocently drew a cartoon using symbolism that was completely misinterpreted by his target audience. He was pilloried by the activists in the student body, further alienated his roommate and may have lost his girlfriend, although we’re still waiting on that one to be resolved. Since then, he’s only ventured out of seclusion long enough to sit on a bus bench and participate in the cartoon sit-in.

I can’t imagine the switch would go well. Icons is icons, and Wiley Miller was right.

About seven years ago, our local newspaper took out Curtis and replaced it with The Boondocks. About a year later after a few complaints in the letter to the editor section, The Boondocks was taken back out and Curtis was restored. At the time I remember thinking to myself, “What is our newspaper trying to say? That only one ‘black strip’ can be in the funnies at one time?” About a year after that, Jumpstart was added and has become one of my favorite strips.

Curtis is one of the most hilarious strips out there and it is not because the cast is black. Unrequited love (Curtis for Michelle and Chutney for Curtis, Gunther’s Barber Shop, Derrick and Onion as school bullies, the yearly tribute to Kwaanza, Supercaptaincoolman, all these combine to make a unique strip.

It is the same with Herb and Jamaal. The coffee shop, the best-friend friendship of Herb and Jamaal (even though they seem like complete opposites sometimes), Herb’s tiffs with his mother-in-law, Jamaal’s past NBA career, these are all things unique to this comic strip having nothing to do with race.

And a strip I have just recently started reading, so I don’t know all the cast, but Candorville is hilarious having an acute awareness of politics, Lamont’s friend the rapper (the “don’t rub it in” comment slayed me), his overly sensitive fiancee, all these things have nothing to do with race either.

But, BUT, each of these comic strips brings in the subject of race more frequently than strips with predominantly white characters. And note that I have to read Candorville and Herb and Jamaal online as my local newspaper does not carry them. But neither does it carry Cathy, Hi and Lois, Luann, Rhymes with Orange, B.C., Agnes, Mother Goose and Grimm, Mutts, Pooch Cafe (my latest fav) and many other “white strips” which I love to read.

When I visit another city, I give the comics section a glance. I’ve noticed a pattern. Usually only one or two of the strips that are considered “black” are included in their lineup. It is an issue. But what is the solution? I think it lies in exactly what Darrin Bell and Stephen Bentley showed me today. Each strip must be unique and not try to be a ripoff. But by bringing in the issue of race in each of these strips, you face the prospect of being considered “one of those black strips trying to make a statement”. But no one considered it odd that everyone did a tribute to Charles Shulz on the same day. It was warranted.

Keep brainstorming. I like some of the ideas listed above. The issue goes beyond black strips trying to get a break. The issue is racism. People have a predetermined view of what a black strip is going to be like. They’ve already judged the strip based on the color. You can’t fight that in a one day statement. In King’s “I have a dream” speech, he made special mention of those white brothers whose destiny was bound up with the Negro’s destiny. Broaden your efforts. Next time, Dagwood shouldn’t just be mentioned, but Young and Lebrun should be right along side you making your statement.

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

Nice way to work in a plug for Licensable…

…hope your having some success with him…

(I’ve gotta admit that I actually lightened up a dark-skinned character of my own… although in this case, it wasn’t an African-American or, for that matter, a human. After Licensable BearTM issue 1 came out, I realized that if I dropped the K component of the CMYK color mixture used to define his color, he would “pop” better. So I changed his coloring as of issue 2, then had a story in issue 3 where he’s accused of “fur lightening” and perhaps trying to pass for polar.)

Actually, this argument does not hold water. For example, the comic strip characters of the 8 cartoonists that brought up the possible editor bias issue are ALL some shade of distinguishable brown, from light to dark. And, you can still “see” them just fine in both greyscale and color and they’re NOT suffering from the
“California Raisin Syndrome.”

This is just a new thing with Jumpstart and Curtis. On a Sunday page (print or online), at first glance, you can no longer readily tell that both Curtis and Jumpstart feature African-American characters. With the other 8 strips, it is still VERY obvious that they do. Again, this is just my opinion.

What was the popularity of Peanuts in England? Where this was a British collection, was it also colored by a British company? My guess is this color gaffe was made by someone unfamiliar with Peanuts. For the colorist, it probably was just another day on the job…

It would seem to be common sense to alter work for that reason. Otherwise colored characters would be indistinct from the California Raisins.

http://lambiek.net/artists/b/billingsley_ray.htm