“Lion Man”, the world’s first Black super hero, debuted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1947 to great success and acclaim as part of the All-Negro Comics anthology. But when the publisher learned that the comic was produced by Orrin C. Evans and an all-African American creative team, the paper manufacturer refused to sell to them.
The comic went out of print, very few copies of the comic remain today and Lion Man is not well known. St. Cloud State University English professor Dr. Mike Dando is working with Eisner Award winning artists and writers and St. Cloud area school children to revive “Lion Man” by working with the original seven-page comic and creating new stories.
Dando, Eisner-winning writer John Jennings and artist David Brame created a special 36-page comic that they give to workshop participants. They are working with Rosarium Publishing this year to publish the original Lion Man comic “Lion Man 1” and the completely new comic that continues Lion Man’s story. They will donate a share of the proceeds to comic initiatives that support creators of color.
“I have been working with area school districts, organizations and artists to use comics to teach literacy, writing and critical thinking,” Dando said. “Bringing ‘Lion Man’ back into print is a way to think about and analyze texts and to work with kids to create their own stories and build imagination.”
Dando is working with the Boys and Girls Club and 2Much Talent after school program to help the children explore why stories matter and how they can help people make sense of the world around them.
“We read a comic together and facilitate discussions with participants about their lives, background and experiences and then use those responses as a springboard to imagine, create and dream about ways to make their world a better place,” Dando said. “We read our ‘Lion Man’ anchor text together and talk about the larger themes, social issues and characters.”
Dando is doing the work as a continuation of his Miller Scholar project at St. Cloud State University. The Millar Scholar award is a grant for a St. Cloud State faculty member to implement a student-success project within the scholarship of teaching and learning framework. St. Cloud State is dedicated to supporting teacher-scholars who break new ground in their research, scholarship or creative work. The institution supports faculty who integrate research, scholarship and creative work in instruction through the It’s Time initiative.
Dando and his colleagues presented on the project at the National Council of English Teachers in November. Hear the presentation on Dando’s Podcast “Comics School”. Dando, Jennings and Brame’s work will also be featured at the annual American Educational Research Association, the largest education scholarship conference in North America April 22-25. They presented their work as a featured workshop at the South by Southwest Education SXSWEdu Festival March 7-10 in Austin, Texas.
“Lion Man” is also part of the Afrofuturism Period Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of the “Before Yesterday We Could Fly” exhibit.
A bit about comics
As an English professor Dr. Mike Dando sees a wealth of value in comics as part of the literary tradition.
“Comics are incredibly complex texts bringing art, literature, reading and a variety of other ways of learning together,” Dando said. “Comics can give your brain a real workout because they are a cross-sensory experience.”
Comics take advantage of a psychological phenomenon called closure that views the individual frames and interprets movement and sound.
“Comics are silent, but the ‘Bam!” “Pop!” “THWIP” are almost audible,” Dando said. “You’re hearing with your eyes essentially.”
As a medium, comics are also valuable for teaching about society.
“We have always learned about society’s understanding of truth, justice, heroism and so forth from stories,” Dando said. “Greek mythology, fairy tales, Anansi stories and so forth have passed on cultural tradition since forever. Comics are the contemporary form of this age-old practice.”