Black Superheroes Matter

Shomari Simmons (@illyworld) Shomari joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Shomari is the creator, writer and self publisher of his web comic strip “Lil Shu n’ Them'' as well as a senior graphic designer. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he has always had a passion for creativity whether he’s creating experiences or being inspired by the creativity of others. Shomari Simmons talks about his coloring book titled “Lil’ Shu n’ Them” and how meaningful it is to have kids see themselves represented in the artwork they love.  “I visited a school during Black History month and did a reading and that was a wonderful experience because the kids were just so happy to see kids that looked like them in a coloring book.”

Brian Lambert (@brian_wycoff_lambert) Brian joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Brian Joseph Lambert is the award-winning, lead contributing writer at Wingless Entertainment. He specializes in bringing diversity to action/adventure, fantasy and sci-fi worlds. Brian's current projects include “WAR FOR THE SWORD- THE CHRUSION SAGA BOOK 2”, a CG animated feature film entitled, “RUBICON “and “JUSTICE- THE FALL”, an ongoing series for WINGLESS COMICS, a division of Wingless Entertainment.  Brian Lambert and I discuss some of the ways COVID-19 has impacted what “normal” means and how creating art can be a form of therapy during times like these.  “One of my favorite experiences is at conventions when I see kids and they’re a little shy but they want to come and talk to you or see the poster or ask you stuff or ask “how do I get into it” or “hey should I keep writing?” It’s great to be able to talk to them and say “yes you should, I want to see you behind this table” because you can see a light in their eyes, you know, the same one that somebody saw in yours when they were talking to you about it.

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Kelvin Blackman (@Legacycomics360) Kelvin joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Kelvin is the owner and founder of Royal Gamez, making comic books, prints, as well as games suited for royalty.  Kelvin aims to entertain and maybe even enlighten with royal products. Oftentimes, the global pandemic feels like something out of a comic book. Kelvin Blackman, the self funded Royal Entertainment business owner and founder talks about writing stories, illustrating comic books, and coding for video games.   He understands Black artists need more funding while creating in capitalism and are often limited to the resources they have available to them which limits their ability to produce work that illustrates all of their ideas. “I started looking at games a little differently. Whenever I played a game I started to analyze it and wonder “how did they do that?, how did they make that happen? what’s going on?”

Carl Waldron(@superblackorg|) Carl joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Carl is a lifelong creative, comic book lover, and superhero enthusiast. Super. Black. is his way to promote representation in pop culture and the superhero genre. Carl Waldron takes an “I can do it” approach to creative design problems and uses the skills he learns to keep evolving as a content creator and fellow pocastor. “There’s something relaxing about designing and solving problems with color and shape and type and I love it very much and I get to do a lot of different things from day to day really.”

Jessica Micheline (@mapoucomics) Jessica joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Jessica is a Haitian comic book creator and writer who gets her motivation from reading Marvel and DC comic books. In her comic book “Mapou” she creates Haitian superheroes to teach the youth real facts about their rich history and culture. Jessica Micheline is using comic books to depict Haitian history in a way that the youth can engage with and learn new things about who they are and who their ancestors are. “I know it’s a crisis and there’s so much happening but it’s also a great time for reflection like you said, a great time for creating. It’s a great time to be reflecting on ourselves.”

Samuel M. Walker (@samuel_walker_art) Samuel joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Samuel Walker is a Brooklyn born and raised artist who has been dedicated to the creation of art that reflects both science and social justice perspectives. If you asked him what the subject matter of his work was, he would say “ black women !“ if you asked the genre he would say “ Afrofuturism!” He says, “because of the quarantine, things that used to take big studios to do are all gonna be done in their house anyway. People are gonna figure out ways to do it.”

Sterling Cartoons (@Sterlingcartoons) Sterling joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Getting his start as a webcomic artist and children’s manga author, Sterling Cartoons is a self taught animator from Philadelphia. Two years after creating his first series  “The Fantastic Tale of Folklore'', Sterling was able to get his current series “Happy Hare” into public schools as a part of their curriculum. Sterling Cartoons takes nothing for granted as he talks about the importance of sharpening your skills as an artist. “Let me incorporate some spiritual messages that are just positive, that's about love because I think that's missing from the media in general, you know? Across the board.”

Keef Cross (@keefcross) writer and illustrator of DayBlack joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Keef is a tattoo artist and graphic novelist from Atlanta Georgia that is currently working on the third Volume of his series DayBlack. Keef uses first hand knowledge to give a unique  insight on being a creator in today’s world.  “The only thing that separates you is consistency, the quality of work and if you got that? Everything else seems easy.”

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Gabriel Johnson aka King Gabe of Miracle Comics (@miracle_comics76 )joins the podcast.  His main character Star Striker is in a series he's started called Brown Chronicles.  He has also illustrated for another comic series called Bubblelina written by his wife Christina, and Dorah written by his friend Laneesa Howard.

Ronnie Dukes is the artist for DUKEScomics (@DUKESCOMICS ). He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. As a kid, Ronnie began drawing on the floor of the YMCA where he kept his granny company while she worked overnights doing security. His first art apprenticeship was in fashion design through Gallery 37 in Chicago where he learned apparel construction and hat design. Ronnie earned his degree in Computer Animation in Minneapolis which inspired him to paint with a fresh perspective on dimension and techniques learned from animation. It was then that he began exhibiting his painted work in Harlem, NYC.

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Lawrence King from Constant Hustle Comics (@c.h.comics ) joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. has written in multiple mediums including spec scripts, short films and comics. A longtime comic reader and fan himself he has originated all the ideas as well as written all the C.H.Comics first editions except for "Avery The Astonishing" which he co-wrote. His love for comics led him to be the Founder/CEO of C.H.Comics and bring the stories that readers will be reading for generations to come.

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Naseed Gifted, creator and writer of P.B.Soldier, (@pbsoldier | @pbsmediastudios ) is a two-time Glyph Comic Awards and Urban Action Showcase nominee, an educator, engineer and writer. He went to school at New Jersey Institute of Technology, St. Peter’s University and NYU.

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David Rucker  (@decimationearthix ) joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Davis is a writer, Marine Corps veteran, and a creator of Decimation Earth for Decimation Studios. A Post-Graduate of the American Military University in National Security Studies he holds both a certification as an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and Fraud Examiner.

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Derek Lipscomb from Owl Eye Comics (@owleyecomics) joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter Podcast. Derek is a New England native and has been drawing since the age of four. Following in his brother's footsteps, he began drawing his own comic books and creating characters ever since. Unlike them however, he refused to grow up, and is still doing it today. Now venturing out on his own, he writes and illustrates "The Maroon" under his Owl Eye Comics production.

Anthony Piper (@ant_piper) is a professional illustrator & designer. He is known for his series Trill League. He has experience in both the animation and comic industries, as well as having provided work for many hip-hop artists. Being a lover of video games, comics, cartoons, manga and music, he has focused his career on providing illustration and design work for companies and creators/artists in these particular industries.

Micah Blair (@blerdover) joins us on the Black Superheroes Matter podcast. He is an organizer Blerd from Birmingham, Al that fights crime by day and cosplays by night. He is a member for PHI BETA SIGMA FRATERNITY, Member Of Prince Hall Masons, member IG Prince Hall Shriners, Very humble and silly person love to give back to my community. Founder of BLERDOVER. He is currently working on a meet and geek (meet and greet), a video featuring black cosplayers.