On -isms: You DO Recall It's Black History Month, Right?

By | Thursday, February 20, 2014 1 comment
I caught a tweet from David Brothers yesterday...
Michael Dunn shot and killed Jordan Davis for playing his music too loud; he argued it was self-defense. George Zimmerman, free despite murdering Trayvon Martin, is claiming to be a victim these days, and, oh, hey, you know, he's offering to get into the boxing ring with anybody. I'm not even paying attention and I would also say that there's been a spate of race-based injustices being reported on this month.
Even the syndicated cartoonists are seeing it, and they're working on longer time-frames. Yesterday, my comics reader displayed La Cucaracha and The Knight Life right after one another...
From Wikipedia: "Black History Month... is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora." It is not a month to highlight melanin-deficient jackasses who bring attention to race-based issues by showcasing how flawed our justice system is. Can we collectively try to do something a little more positive here? Like this...

You know who doesn't get enough love in the comics biz? Keith Pollard. He turned in some really solid superhero comics in the '70s and '80s. I was partial to his work on Fantastic Four and his cover for The Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four #4 is a favorite image of mine. He didn't have quite the power of a John Buscema or the detail of a George Perez, but he held his own, I always felt.

He's been largely out of comics since the mid-1990s, but I met him briefly a convention back in 2009 where I picked up the page of original art you see at the right. He seemed like a cordial guy, happy to answer questions from fans while he was working on some commissions. He still accepts commissions via this website.

Do yourself a favor and dig out some of his books. Here's a handy list of what he's worked on. And there's a great interview with him in Comic Creators on the Fantastic Four. He's not in the public eye much these days, but he did comics really well and worth checking out.

Also, don't forget to enter my Valentine's/Blogiversary Contest! The deadline is tomorrow!
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1 comments:

Matt K said...

I've probably made this comment before, at least in part, but yeah: Keith is great. I think his work has held up exceptionally well, too. It was a highlight to meet him at a convention a few years ago.