casually comic book obsessed

The longest reoccurring modern day super without an ongoing.

Over 500 appearances but less than 10 center focused stories.

Nat has existed since 1994, why is it that I can finish her entire chronology in a week or less? Nat has an established origin, family, strong principals and reasons for being a hero, friendships and relationships; All waiting to be told to new and old audiences. It’s more of a world than even some popular characters get. So much to work with but none of it is ever largely expanded on. Natasha deserves a new story; one that highlights her as a black woman, an inventor, and an amazing form of queer representation. Not just now but for years to come.

She'll hallucinate/imagine Cass putting her arm around her! This is her ideal supportive Cass, and it implies she'd like Cass to be more physically affectionate.

Batgirl (2000) #26

And later puts her arm around her very casually. Notable she's actually cheek to cheek with her too. (lmao God this panel is so suggestive every time I reference it I'm like wow)

Batgirl #38

You see a lot of how physically affectionate she is with Tim in particular. She'll throw herself at Tim the moment she sees him sometines.

Robin 80 page Giant

Tim is usually contrasted as more reserved in that area and sometimes oblivious when she's asking him to make out or whatever.

Robin #100

Though there are times he'll approach her, she's usually the one who requests hugs and things like that.

Robin #56

The Brave and Bold time traveling Robin story got this exactly right, with Steph being the one who hugged Bruce out of all the Robins (though I think with Bruce specifically, if you were raised by him and know how distant he can be about that stuff that might affect not wanting to give physical affection that will likely be rejected or made awkward.)

The All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13

And though she's not super physically affectionate with her Mom in the early days, showing how strained their relationship was, once it improves she's very affectionate.

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead #1

Batgirl (2009) #15

Batgirl (2009) #24

So yeah, I get that the exaggeration of Dick's touchy feeliness is because men aren't often show to be super physically affectionate in media, but it would be nice to talk about/depict this aspect of Steph more too. I can see her struggling surrounded by people who are more awkward about physical affection, and we can see a number of times when she reaches out and doesn't get a hug back.

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📅 June 1 - 22 📅

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As you may know, there was recently a DC Comics boycott as a part of the DCSoWhite movement since DC has not had a mainline ongoing solo with a Black lead for over 1200 days. You can read more about this here, here, here, and here. The boycott has been cancelled (link), but that doesn't mean we can't still show support for Black comic creators!

One of the things the movement called for fans to do was to "[Support] Black creators through independent and creator-owned projects." So this post is meant to provide tips on how to do this.

Check out other works of Black creators you're already familiar with

The Black comic creators you're already a fan of who have made comics for DC or Marvel have likely also made comics for other publishers too. You can usually find out about other comics they've worked on through their Wikipedia page, social media pages, and their own website if they have one. And it's a good idea to follow their social media to learn about any of their projects in the future!

Look through indie publisher websites

A great way to find out about indie comics is to check out indie publishers' websites. There will almost always be a page on their websites with all their comics so you can easily look through them and the creators will be listed so you can look into the creators too. This is one way to find out about Black comic creators who you might not already be familiar with.

The publishers that are listed as examples in the webpages linked above are Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, Ignition Press, and Stranger Comics.

Check out existing lists

There are already lists online that specifically recommend Black creators to check out and comics by Black creators. You can also find recommendations and lists on social media. This is another great way to find out about Black comic creators you're not yet familiar with.

Speaking of lists, I would like to point you to this post by @bimboopo which includes a list of many Black webtoon creators which you can go check out!

Cancel your pull lists, don’t buy DC comics, and sign the petition here to help fight for Black representation in comics: https://www.change.org/p/dcsowhite-end-the-black-superhero-drought

When a company goes over three years disrespecting its Black characters like this (in a way its’ competitors don’t btw, even Marvel has multiple mainline Black ongoings rn) it becomes really obvious that they’re committing an intentional act of anti-Blackness. Black comic book characters matter and DC already has so many cool ones that they’re squandering and they deserve better. But even more than that, Black comic book *fans* matter. And we deserve better than this.

You can find more information about the boycott on the website I’ve linked below, and on JPenumbras YouTube, Instagram, and/or TikTok: https://www.dcblackout.com/

“Where is the light coming from?” “The same place as the music.” Andrew Lesnie, Cinematographer of LOTR

How & Why It's A Problem

If I had to summarize the frustration I have with this topic in one image, I'd use JeCorey Holder's (queer Black creative!) meme:

Now here's the thing. I'm not saying you have to be a master at lighting. I'm surely not. Hell, I still play around with lighting in my art in ways that aren’t the ‘most realistic’. You can’t ask me the technical explanations behind ‘color theory’ or 'contrast' without me doing some more reading. However… I don’t think anyone needs an art degree to understand this point:

We should be able to SEE your brown skinned Black characters!

I brought this up in my lessons about skin tones and blushing, and it applies with lighting as well. If all of your other characters have focused light and shadows, so should your Black characters.

However, this does NOT mean making them lighter-skinned!!!!

It's not funny nor logical at all to suggest that they somehow can't be seen like your other characters when you’re the one creating the piece. It's like a classic fifth-grade racist joke, “You blend in at night”. Har-de-har.

I was once rudely told to my face (well in the DMs) that a Black character that was completely Europeanized looked like that “because of the [sepia] lighting”. So I'm going to give you all, gracious readers, an example to show that that's not true.

This is Ana Flávia, Afro-Brazilian model! Gaze upon her beauty! Notice how in both of these filters, Ana did not, in fact, turn into a white woman! Because, my friends, that is not how that works! At all!

Here are some other examples of Black people in non-color lighting:

None of these people vanished from the frame just because there was no color. They didn't have to paint on lighter makeup to be captured by the camera. What do they all have in common (in this example)?

Lighting!

Now let’s discuss different ways to think about and potentially try instead!

What I want you all to keep in mind, is that the art you’re painting:

And I know that's silly right, like yeah no shit Ice, we knew that. BUT my point here is don’t be afraid to study photography, theatre, and staging for ideas. They actively work with light! It’s why I share so many images of models; it’s purposeful, focused staging of light with many of these compositions!

Brown-skinned Black people- brown-skinned people in general- GLOW in the light! Our skin reflects environmental light! There’s so much opportunity to play with that, and you can see different examples in those mediums.

Here are a couple articles of lighting in film focused on Black actors.

When lighting a person with dark complexion, the answer is not LIGHTENING THE SKIN, it’s understanding how light reflects off of dark skin.” -Nilah Magruder

Nilah Magruder (Black creator!) has an ENTIRE, thorough and wonderful essay on the topic, far better than I could give! She incorporates the use of cameras, lighting, painting, and more- so rather than be redundant here, I'm going to spotlight (ha see what I did there. It's okay, I know I'm funny) her and her explanation.

Incorporating Blackness in Color/Colorful Lighting

@dsm7 has an excellent and short visual explanation of how picking certain colors will lead to washing out or whitewashing Black characters, and how certain lighting and backgrounds (think the black and white photos on brighter backgrounds) will change the way their skin tone looks.

@nicosbighead has one of my favorite images on here, that shows how many different colors can still be used to convey the image of Blackness. Notice how all those pinks still worked?

@gaksdesigns has a beautiful picture here that I feel utilizes the light in a very minimal yet effective way to show highlights even on a palette that's fully brown.

This article approaches from a lighting perspective via filmmaking, but essentially Sade Ndya suggests instead of increasing the amount of light, change the color/lens of the light based on your character’s skin, as well as for the circumstances of the scene. They'll remain vibrant that way, and you’ll still capture what you need.

I know one way I do this on CSP (I think I’ve mentioned this but I can’t remember) is to use the Add Glow tool with the same or a similar shade of the character’s brown skin tone as a highlight under natural light, or maybe use different colors or filters depending on the sort of light on their skin at the time.

Here’s a reddit about it too, just because I know y’all value Reddit on here, and someone else discussed the topic that both Nilah and Sade discussed.

Is It Intentional?

There are going to be times where you intend for the light to be minimal. Maybe it’s a style choice. That should still show purposeful composition. Here’s an interview with famed Black director Ava Duvernay discussing the intentional darkness on Black actors in the prison scene in the movie Selma. To show that they're both trapped in prison AND that Martin is temporarily low on resolve- it's a part of the story that's being told.

I'm always talking about this: there is a difference between intention (and following through), and neglecting to think about it at all. And neglect isn't what we want, because often we can tell visually when it is- when an artist simply did not think to do it for one versus the rest.

Sidenote, on Youtube in the suggestions after Ava's interview, are also plenty of videos discussing lighting for dark-skin as well- why not take the chance to look?

Conclusion

We do not lack for light! We aren’t flat and lightless when you see us in life. It's actually a pretty awesome part of being brown-skinned. If you’re giving proper, flattering lighting to everyone else, give it to us as well. Study and experiment with ways to highlight brown skin.