Black Panther: 'Why black people like me are refusing to be sub-plots'

The much-anticipated film version of Black Panther, one of the only black Marvel superheroes, is about to be released. It's a moment of special significance for black comic fans, who have only rarely seen a hero on the page who looks like them, and almost never on screen. Here, British graphic illustrator Jacob V Joyce explains the importance of the groundbreaking character.

Like many children, my imagination came alive through the adventures of cartoon heroes and villains. I learned to read by closely examining the illustrated escapades of Spider-Man, Batman and any other comic book stories I could get my hands on.

So I took matters into my own hands. At the age of eight I began drawing black and brown versions of these heroes. By creating my own characters and my own mini-comics, I fashioned a world that I could imagine myself existing in.

For my 11th birthday I begged my mum for a laminator. You might think this was a curious gift for a child, but I was overjoyed. I started to coat the army of small cut-out paper characters I had drawn in protective plastic, and turned them into two-dimensional action figures. 


Source : bbc