This panel looks at the origins and development of Black superheroes and Black power fantasies in contrast to their White counterparts while asking: who is telling these tales, to what ends, and for whom? WEB DuBoise describes double consciousness as “seeing oneself through the eyes of another.” A concept that is particularly interesting when one considers that Superman (arguably the first superhero) was created for White audiences by two Jewish kids from Cleveland. Or that during the 1940s and 50s Black artists worked on White superheroes by day while simultaneously creating Black heroes and superheroes for the Black Press. You may have heard of Black Panther, Luke Cage, or Misty Knight but what about Sgt. Joe, Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos, or Butterfly?
