In honor of Black History Month, Creator Talks is joined by Ken Quattro, long-time comic book reader, collector and writer of history.
Ken discusses his recent published work Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books.
Researched over two decades using original source materials, including official documents, contemporaneous newspaper articles and comics, Ken examines the lives of black men who worked in comic art shops during the Golden Age of Comics.
Ken writes in his book:
"One thing they shared was for too long they lingered, out of mine and out of sight of their light-skinned peers, evading the scrutiny of historians and the eyes that looked past them, to everyone who saw only their skin color and then saw nothing more. Without body or substance. As if they were invisible."
We learn how some of these artists denied their heritage, while others embraced it. Most led two professional lives, one working in comics and the other outside of the medium.
After discussing his book, we turn to the subject of his life long passion, comic books. We cover:
The dawn of the Marvel Age of Comics in 1961, and Ken was there.
What is the difference between writing and story telling?
What issue explains the greatness of comics in just five pages?
Why are we both vehemently opposed to "slabbing" comics?
Why has there never been a highly successful Fantastic Four movie? Ken has the answer, and it lies in embracing the FF's Silver Age roots.
All this and more packed into this 45-minute interview, commercial free!
Creator Talks Theme Song: "Jazz Relax" from LoopsLab
Creator Talks logo by The Design Punk
Please rate and review Creator Talks on Apple Podcasts
Now available Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artist of Comic Books
Ken Quattro's companion Invisible Men Blog
Meredith Finch on Rose
Jason Latour and Ivan Brandon on Black Cloud
Kyle Starks on Rock Candy Mountain
Ed Brisson on Iron Fist and Old Man Logan
Weldon Burge on Zippered Flesh 3
Andy Mangels on Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman
Fred Van Lente on Immortal Brothers: Tales of The Green Knight
Brian Buccellato and Matias Bergara
Jim Zub on Glitter Bomb and Wayward
Daniel Brodie on Morgan's Organs
Chynna Clugston Flores on Blue Monday
Zack Kaplan on Eclipse Volume 1
Ron Randall on Trekker: Rites of Passage
Erica Schultz on Dynamite's Charmed
Gabriel Hardman on Invisible Republic
Kaare Andrews on Renato Jones The One Percent
James Haick on Solar Flare
Hines and Kalban on End Game
Paul Cornel on Doctor Who and Vampirella
Peter Milligan on Britannia and The Mummy
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Spider-Man Crawlspace Podcast
Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time
Previously Unknown
Anne of Avonlea
A Tale of Two Cities
The Week in Art
The Art Angle