Civil Rights Superheroes

January 18, 2010 12:31 PM

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story: "People were told to read it, memorize it, and destroy it because if they were caught with it, they could be killed." The story of this influential comic book, which helped inspire the 1960 Woolworth's sit-in, is the subject of a new exhibition at Pittsburgh's Toonseum.
posted by Horace Rumpole (8 comments total)

I've never seen this before, it's fantastic. Thanks for posting it.
posted by cyphill at 12:48 PM on January 18, 2010

What a great book, I'm going to have to show this to my kids.
posted by TooFewShoes at 12:59 PM on January 18, 2010

Social justice through cartoons and storytelling! There is an expanded FPP here somewhere.
posted by jeanmari at 1:14 PM on January 18, 2010

The art, layout and lettering are really quite good-- this is no well-meaning, slapdash amateur work. I know it was published anonymously, but surely some comics history geeks out there must have theories as to who drew this.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:34 PM on January 18, 2010

surely some comics history geeks out there must have theories as to who drew this.

From the third link:
It is well written and the art, by golden age great Dan Berry, is at the top of professional standards.

Although I believe they mean Dan Barry.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 1:50 PM on January 18, 2010

Wow - I never heard of this before. Great post.
posted by serazin at 2:30 PM on January 18, 2010

From the third link:
It is well written and the art, by golden age great Dan Berry, is at the top of professional standards.

Although I believe they mean Dan Barry.

Looks like I didn't read the third link. Thanks, Fuzzy Monster. Somebody ought to tell the folks at the first link, which just says "Published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the comic book bears the name of neither author nor illustrator." Barry deserves his credit.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2010

Thanks so much for this! This is not the only comic to fight the good fight: in my dissertation files, I have both a comic book and an animated film version of Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish's "The Races of Mankind." Someday I'll get around to uploading them.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 3:15 PM on January 18, 2010