Orrin C. Evans, Trailblazer in Comics -- ep. by Stephyn Phillips

A brief take on Orrin C. Evans, a pioneering journalist and creator of All-Negro Comics, the first comic book with an all-Black creative team and characters.

Script by Stephyn Phillips 
Read by Kassandra Timm

Transcript

Like other media in the early 1900s, newsprint was segregated, and newsstands were full of content for white readers, published by white staffs. Few African American writers were able to break through the barriers where white publications denied access to Black employees and contributors. 

One trailblazer, however, was Orrin C. Evans.

You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels and more. 

In the 1930s, Evans gained notice by becoming the first African American staff writer at The Philadelphia Record, before going on to publish the first comic book with an all-Black creative staff and characters, All-Negro Comics. 

Evans excelled at journalism as a youth, landing a job with The Philadelphia Tribune, a top African American newspaper. From there, he moved on to The Philadelphia Record, using the rare opportunity to shed light on segregation in the U.S. Army. Wanting to branch out and showcase Black creators, Evans collaborated with peers to produce All-Negro Comics.

The comic book introduced African American characters that were in the mold of the popular comic strips at the time. The superhero Lion Man, detective Ace Harlem, and the humor of Lil’ Eggie gave readers new material that was not in the same old Caucasian model. 

 While a variety of challenges prevented the publication of a second issue of All-Negro Comics, Evans continued to write for newspapers in Philadelphia and Chicago. He also wrote for The Crisis, the journal of the NAACP. His work in print crossed many barriers and reached many readers, giving Orrin C. Evans a remarkable reception. 

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This episode was written by Stephyn Phillips. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali and Howard Rambsy. 

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This podcast, Remarkable Receptions, is part of the Black Literature Network, a joint project from African American literary studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the History of Black Writing at the University of Kansas. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.  For more information, visit blacklitnetwork.org.