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DISCUSSION GUIDE
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Dwayne McDuffie

(February 20, 1962 – February 21, 2011)

Thanks for dreaming for me, for us.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter from the filmmaker 4
About the film 5
About the filmmaker 5
How to use this discussion guide 6
Featured 7
Discussion Questions
Introduction 8
Lobo 8
The Black Panther 9
The Falcon 9
John Stewart 10
Luke Cage 10
Tyroc 11
Black Lightning 11
Enter the Black Age 11
General Questions 12
Acknowledgements 13
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publishes and distributes their work for other
children in the community to use as learning
and motivational tools.” Maryland’s state
department of education created the Comic
Book Initiative, reflecting their belief that “that
comic books can serve as a conduit to book
reading and help motivate reluctant readers as
well as engage and stimulate outstanding
students.” According to the National
Association of Comics Educators, hundreds of
teachers and college professors are using
comic books in the classroom
(teachingcomics.org) from grade schools to
I love comic books. There, I said it. But I graduate schools across the United States and
am not alone. While I parted ways with comic internationally.
books during my adolescence, I have recently
Ultimately, comic books have moved far beyond
rediscovered comic books as an important lens
the newsstand and are now considered by
through which our understandings of humanity
many scholars as an overlooked component of
are articulated. Still, the documentary is not
American popular culture that requires critique
just about comic books; it is about its
in the same manner that television, film, and
representation of Black men. In this sense,
print media are critiqued.
comic books are simply the medium while
critical and scholarly engagement of the Finally, Blackness has always been a White
representation of black masculinity is the fetish. This is certainly true for Black men as
focus. The comic book genre is older than the well. The documentary asks the question “What
television and has, for decades, provided happens when, in the midst of African-American
adolescents with a lens through which they can demands for civil and human rights, White men
interpret their nascent understandings of race, create ‘Black Supermen?’” Ultimately, the first
nationality, gender, sexuality, and religion among Black superheroes reveal longstanding (and
other domains of the human experience. One current?) societal understandings of race,
need only consider the motion picture industry Blackness, and Black masculinity. While we
and its investment in superhero films. In recent should recognize the “aspirational” (Julian
years, more than thirty major motion pictures Chambliss) aspects of these characters, we
have been produced that feature comic book need not consume them passively. The Black
heroes including Superman, Blade (three films), Age Movement is a response to the
The Green Lantern, the X-Men (five films), The representation of Blackness in the genre. This
Watchmen, Spiderman (three films), Thor, Iron movement provides independent artists with a
Man (two films), Hulk (two films), and Batman platform to share their work, ultimately
(seven films). Of course, the Avengers smashed expanding the range of representation of
opening day records and will gross billions of Blackness in the genre in ways that are more
dollars. This is not an exhaustive list so suffice humane.
it to say that these films represent
international sales (in theaters and after I appreciate your support of this project.
market) in the billions (not hyperbole).
Peace,

Finally, an increasing number of educators are Jonathan Gayles

using comic books in their teaching. Consider
Columbia University’s Comic Book Project.
This project “engages children in a creative
process leading to literacy reinforcement, social
awareness, and character development, then
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ABOUT THE FILMMAKER ABOUT THE FILM

Jonathan Gayles, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of As a young boy, the filmmaker loved comic
African-American Studies and Associate Dean books and the escape that they provided.
for Undergraduate Learning of the College of However, as a young BLACK boy, his ability to
Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University truly escape was limited by the fact that many
(Atlanta, Georgia). He is a graduate of of the heroes were White. This documentary
Morehouse College (B.A., Psychology), Winthrop critically examines the earliest representations
University (M.S., School Psychology) and the (1965-1977) of Black masculinity in comic books
University of South Florida (Ph.D., applied and the troubling influence of race on these
anthropology). His primary areas of interest representations. Within the last several years,
include the anthropology of education, many scholars have critically engaged comic
educational policy, Black masculinity, race and books as a legitimate source of scholarly
ethnicity, as well as critical media studies. interest and critique. Indeed, comic books
represent a genre within popular culture that is
An avid comic book reader as an adolescent, he older than the television. Thinking critically
was often frustrated by the general absence of about the manner in which Black men were first
African-American superheroes. He identified portrayed in hero serials provides insight into
with the few African-American superheroes that broader societal conceptions of the Black man
he did discover primarily because they too were as character, archetype, and symbol. Through
African-American men. As an adult and with a interviews with prominent artists, scholars, and
growing interest in the critical engagement of cultural critics along with images from the
Black masculinity, his retrospective comic books themselves, it becomes clear that
consideration of these characters has greatly the Black superheroes that did eventually
diminished his fondness for them. With adult emerge are generally constrained by
eyes, he was shocked by much of what he read stereotypical understandings of Black people
in the comic books that he so loved as a child. and Black men in particular. From the humorous,
In preparing a paper on the subject for an to the offensive, to the tragic, early Black
academic conference, he encountered a growing superheroes never strayed too far from common
body of scholarship on race and representation stereotypes about Black men.
in comic books. Furthermore, he was introduced
to communities of scholars and artists that The documentary addresses more than forty
critique representations of African-Americans in years of representation of Black men in comic
comic books and create their own books. The characters included in the
representations of African-Americans in the documentary are as follows: Lothar (first
genre. After deciding to produce a documentary, appearance in 1934), Whitewash Jones (first
he bought a Canon XHA1S, attended an intensive appearance in 1941), Waku, Prince of the Bantu
summer documentary film institute offered by (first appearance in 1954), Gabriel Jones (first
Duke University’s Center for Documentary appearance in 1963), The Black Panther (first
Studies, and began shooting during the fall of appearance in 1966), The Falcon (first
2009. appearance in 1969), John Stewart (first
appearance in 1971), Luke Cage (first appearance
in 1972), Tyroc (first appearance in 1976) and
Black Lightning (first appearance in 1977).

Cover art by the illustrious John Jennings, Ph.D.

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How to use this Discussion Guide The documentary addresses the following
(last updated 18 May, 2012) topics within the broader theme (among others
that you are welcome to identify):
We are socialized to watch films passively –
• A general history of early Black male
not critically. The purpose of this guide is to
encourage more active engagement of the superheroes;
• The manner in which these characters
documentary. I have never been a fan of
providing students with guides prior to any represent “controlling images” (Patricia Hill-
activity for fear that they will focus only on the Collins);
pertinent portions identified in the guide and • The ways in which these characters are
ignore everything else. The questions included influenced by (White) consumers;
below are intended only as points of reference • Evidence of the “Black Buck” stereotype;
for class discussions of the documentary. • The manner in which their powers are
limited and qualified in comparison to White
The documentary pursues a critical engagement heroes;
of the manner in which Black masculinity is • The influence of Blaxploitation films on
represented in comic books featuring the first these representations;
Black superheroes. Consequently, many of the • The impact of racism and racial thinking on
questions focus on issues of representation, the publishing and distribution of titles
race, masculinity, and the influence of racial/ featuring Black heroes; and
historical contexts on the first Black • The distinction between representation of
superheroes. This is not THE study guide. As African and African-American superheroes.
the filmmaker, I am probably far too close to the
material to develop a comprehensive guide. This More information at
is simply a beginning point for your class
discussions. If you want to share some good www.blacksupermen.com.
questions, submit them to the facebook page
(facebook.com/blacksupermen) or use the
contact page on blacksupermen.com) I will give
you credit for your submission and create a list
of “community questions” and update them
every few weeks or so.

Additionally, the documentary should not be the

only source for this study. The documentary
shares scholarly space with a number of
academic domains including African-American
Studies, hip hop studies, gender studies,
popular culture studies, communication,
American studies, media anthropology, as well
as ethnic and racial studies. Drawn for your
own area(s) of interest to use the documentary
in your work.

This guide reflects only the documentary. I have

not developed questions for the more than forty
video clips available on the site. Many of these
clips should be useful to your class
discussions.
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FEATURED
DAWUD OSAZE KAMAU ANYABWILE TONY ISABELLA
BROTHERMAN COMICS COMIC BOOK WRITER

ERIC BATTLE JOHN JENNINGS

ILLUSTRATOR SUNY BUFFALO

OMAR BILAL ELISE McCUTCHEN

BLACKSUPERHERO.COM EDUCATOR

JEFREY BROWN ADILIFU NAMA

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY LOYALA MARAMOUNT UNIVERSITY

SUNDIATA KEITA CHA-JUA MARK ANTHONY NEAL

U. OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN DUKE UNIVERSITY

JULIAN CHAMBLISS YUMY ODOM

ROLLINS COLLEGE FOUNDER AND CEO, ECBACC

STANFORD CARPENTER TERTEL ONLI

SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF FATHER OF THE BLACK AGE MOVEMENT
CHICAGO

JELANI COBB MICHAEL SALES

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY COMIC BOOK CREATOR

CHRISTIAN DAVENPORT GUY SIMS

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME BROTHERMAN COMICS

BILL FOSTER MARK SINGER

COMIC BOOK HISTORIAN HOWARD UNIVERSITY

REGINALD HUDLIN ANTHONY TALLARICO

FILM PRODUCER AND WRITER CREATOR, LOBO
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INTRODUCTION:
BLACK MASCULINITY IN
COMIC BOOKS
1. In what ways is cool pose misread
(Jennings)?
2. In what ways are Shaft and Sidney Dwayne McDuffie
Poitier different (McDuffie)?
3. In what ways does the “DNA” of comic
book masculinity potentially harm Black “In comic books, there are two
communities (Cobb)? kinds of people; there’s Shaft and
4. In thinking about the representation of
Black men in popular culture, describe/
there’s Sidney Poitier.”
identify specific “signifiers” that
constitute a “cluster of threatening
signifiers” (Brown).
5. How is the comic book genre a White
male power fantasy and how might this
influence the representation of Black
Superheroes (McDuffie)?

LOBO
Anthony Tallarico
1. What might the response to LOBO #1 tell
us about American conceptions of Black
masculinity in the mid 1960’s? “The minute they saw a Black
2. How and why did the LOBO challenge comic book in there, they sent the
conventions about the cowboy hero in bundles back.”
the United States?
3. Was Dell Comics naïve to support Lobo?
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THE BLACK PANTHER
1. How might American sensibilities about
race relations influence the storyline
addressing apartheid (Cha-Jua)?
2. How might the Black Panther’s status as
an African superhero enhance/undermine
his iconic status as compared to African-
American superheroes? Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua
3. Why is the notion of “Negro Dignity”
problematic for the Black Panther (Cha-
Jua)? “The Panther, despite his
THE FALCON superpowers represents… Negro
1. In what ways does the Falcon’s “retcon” dignity, dignity in service to the
reflect larger understandings of race and existing White supremacist state.”
White supremacy (Chambliss)?
2. How does the “retcon” undermine his
superheroic potential (Chambliss)?
3. How does the Falcon’s sidekick status
undermine his superheroic potential
(Chambliss)?
4. How did blaxploitation contribute to the
Falcon’s “identity crisis? (Chambliss)”
Julian Chambliss

“Do you think it might be

problematic to make the origins of
the first African-American
superhero a crazed, Nazi White
supremacist?”
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JOHN STEWART
1. In what ways does the “tension” in the
representation of John Stewart reflect
broader societal tensions about Black
men and masculinity (Brown)?
2. What opportunity did DC comics sacrifice
in deciding to produce a “White” Green
Lantern film?
3. What is the potential significance of the
Reginald Hudlin
fact that John Stewart refused to wear a
mask? “When they make a live action
4. What is the significance of John movie, they go ‘let’s literally dig
Stewart’s place in the cartoon series? the White man up from the
grave… ’”
LUKE CAGE
1. In what ways does Luke Cage’s costume
“control” his representation?
2. In what ways does Cage’s “hero for hire”
status qualify his heroic status?
3. In what ways does Cage’s “hero for hire”
status represent historical narratives
about race in the United States? Stanford Carpenter
4. What do Luke Cage’s enemies tell us
about his status as a superhero?
“I had a love/hate relationship
5. How do Luke Cage’s enemies reinforce with Luke Cage.”
negative representations of the black
experience?
6. How is Cage aspirational (Chambliss)?
7. Describe Stanford Carpenter’s love/hate
relationship with Luke Cage.
8. Are there representations of Black life
with whom you have a similar
relationship?
9. When we resist stereotypes about the
group to which we belong (or are
assigned), what do we lose?
10. In what ways did the creators of Luke
Cage fail to present an accurate
portrayal of Black men?
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TYROC
1. In what ways can Tyroc’s superpower be
interpreted (Carpenter, Brown, Nama)?
2. What connections exist between Tyroc’s
creation story and African-American
history (Carpenter)?
3. Why is Superboy’s failure to identify his Mark Singer
own Whiteness problematic (Singer)?
“Tyroc is a pretty minor character,
but a great diagnostic for looking
BLACK LIGHTNING
at how diversity was handled and
1. How does the representation of Black
Lightning compensate for his “late
handled badly in comics.”
arrival” to racial tensions in the United
States (Chambliss)?
2. What were Tony Isabella’s aspirations
for Black Lightning?
3. What are the potential differences
between a Black superhero and a
superhero that is Black (Carpenter)?
4. Why must a Black superhero be Adlifu Nama
concerned with his race (Nama)?
“You cannot have a Black
ENTER THE BLACK AGE superhero and have him not be
(SPECIAL FEATURE) concerned with his race.”
1. What are the origins of the Black age?
2. The Black Age is a response to what
reality?
3. Why is “the Black corner” problematic?

Yumy Odom
“We are the mainstream.”
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GENERAL QUESTIONS
1. How are Anthony Tallarico’s and Tony Isabella’s aspirations
similar?
2. In what ways is the “Black Buck” stereotype confirmed/
challenged by the characters featured in the documentary?
3. Considering the time period (1965-1977), what relationship is
apparent between American tensions about Black men and the
representation of Black male superheroes?
4. How might we interpretively “recover” these heroes in ways
that are more empowering, whole, and humane (Nama)?
5. What is the most common representational aspect of the
characters featured in the documentary?
6. In what ways are the representations of these heroes
consistent with common and current representations of Black
men in popular culture?
7. How have the representational expectations of Black men in
popular culture changed/remained the same?
8. What influence have comic books had on your understanding of
your identity or that of others (including race, gender, sexuality,
nationality, religion, etc)?
9. What are some common themes in the manner in which these
comic book superheroes are represented?
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dedra!)...Byron Hurt for his incredible work and

inspiration as well…Georgia State University
I will not be able to thank everyone in the
Department African American Studies for
severely abbreviated acknowledgements. Far
supporting this new journey and for the
too many people supported this project in
beautiful framed print...University of South
innumerable ways. I am indebted to all of you.
Florida Department of Anthropology for
Thank you all so very much. I want to
inviting me to present (sorry that it did not go
thank...
as well as I would have liked)...Mark Anthony
my wife for her patience with my sudden (as Neal (the M.A.N) for the Left of Black
it must have appeared to her) interest in interview (talk about validation!)...E.J. Ford for
documentary film and for not asking the many words of encouragement (Sherman
questions as the equipment crept into our Chow as well)...Omar Bilal for the heads up
home….my oldest daughter Grace for sleeping about Wordpress and your
quietly in Daddy’s lap during late-night cheerleading...Rocky Seker and Grace Gipson
feeding/editing sessions...my mother for for the interviews and
teaching me to read/watch critically...my late encouragement...EVERYONE that shared their
father for rooting for Apollo in Rocky I even time with me for interviews-THANK
though he KNEW Apollo would NOT win (I get YOU!...”King” Williams for the feedback and
it now)...my family and friends for attending inspiration...All of the facebook messages, e-
my first screening...the Auburn Avenue mails, youtube messages asking about the
Research Library on African-American Culture film - they kept me going when I was
and History for sponsoring my first screening- discouraged...Prof. Ricky Jones for the
it was more validating than you will ever brotherly encouragement (you were
know (thanks Morris Gardner)...John Jennings right!)...Terry Jones for putting me up during
for the incredible artwork, the title and the my East Coast interview trip...Daryl Wilson for
cheerleading...Julian Chambliss for the invite checking in on me and keeping me focused
and enthusiastic support...Charles McKinney (you know I love you man)...Scot Brown for the
and Rhodes College for the invite...Imani ASALH panel and everything else...The Duke
Asukile and Pasco-Hernando Community University Center for Documentary Studies
College for the invites (yes, plural), for an INCREDIBLE summer
EVERYBODY IN THE BLACK AGE (Turtel Onli, institute...California Newsreel for distributing
Yumy Odom, Omar Bilal, Bill Foster, Andre the film (it was always my dream) and for
Batts…), your work is so inspiring...to the being patient with a novice filmmaker (I am
Brotherman Crew (Guy and Dawud) for your talking about you Cornelius Moore!)...and
inspiration-CAN’T WAIT FOR THE GRAPHIC everyone that is not named here - this
NOVEL!..all of the film festivals that selected project would not be complete without you…
the film - and those that did not (you inspired and you...and you...and you...
me as well)...Dejuii Craig for pushing me to
Thank you.
think big...The International Black Film Festival
of Nashville for being the first festival to Thank you.
screen the doc (thanks for traveling with us
Thank you!