Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Infobox comic strip Luther is an American syndicated newspaper comic strip published from 1968 to 1986, created and produced by cartoonist Brumsic Brandon Jr. The series, about an African-American elementary-school child, was the second mainstream comic strip to star an African-American in the lead role, following Dateline: Danger! (1968-1974), the first to do so. Another predecessor, Wee Pals (1965-2014), featured an African-American among an ensemble cast of different races and ethnicities.
Publication history
Brumsic Brandon Jr., who published his first cartoon in 1945, did editorial cartoons before conceiving of a comic strip about inner-city African-American children and a gently satirical theme about the struggle for racial equality.[1][2] He named his title character, a third-grader, after Civil Rights activist the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[3]
In 1968, the Long Island newspaper Newsday[4] began syndicating Luther through its own small syndicate, Newsday Specials,[5] in conjunction with Reporters' News Syndicate, an initiative designed to increase minority participation in journalism,[2][6] In 1970, following the purchase of Newsday by the Times Mirror, the strip became syndicated widely through the corporation's the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.[2][5]
Brumsic's daughter, Barbara Brandon, who would grow up to become the first nationally syndicated female African-American cartoonist,[2] sometimes assisted her father with such tasks as applying Letratone, a transparent sheet with dots that read in print as African-American skin tone.[7]
Cast
Source:[2]
- Luther, a third grader
- Hardcore, his classmate, who wears a baseball cap
- Pee Wee, their friend, a kindergartener
- Mary Frances and Oreo, two African-American girls
- Lily, a blond Caucasian girl
- Miss Backlash, the third-grade teacher
The children attended the Alabaster Avenue Elementary School.[8]
Critical analysis
Cartoon historian Maurice Horn wrote that, "Although his gags were often about racism, Brandon was also successful in using his nicely designed urban inner-city kids to get his message of racial equality across."[2]
The African-American artist and essayist Oliver W. Harrington wrote in 1976[8] that with Luther,
Luther collections
- Luther from Inner City (Independent Publishers Group, 1969; ; )
- Luther Tells It as It Is! (Paul S. Eriksson, 1970; ; )
- Right on, Luther! (Paul S, Eriksson, 1971; ; )
- Luther Raps (Paul S, Eriksson, 1971; ; )
- Outta Sight Luther (Paul S. Eriksson, 1972; ; )
- Luther's Got Class (Paul S. Eriksson, 1976; ; )
See also
References
External links
- ↑ Brumsic Brandon Jr. at the Lambiek Comiclopedia. Archived from the original on May 1, 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Template:Cite book
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- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Template:Cite book