Ta Nehisi Coates Black Superman

It’s hard to imagine the world without these characters. The black superheroines who have filled prominent comic book universes since the mid-1980s and emerged as a fixture of the DC universe. In this article, I speak with series host Max Bemis, writer Terry Dodson, and artist Tony Harris about their work on a stunning new book, the untold history of a black superheroine.

What led you to write this series? What brings you to the table at DCU to work on the character of Lois Lane? Terry Dodson: I’m one of the last few black DC writers still at DCU. More people write comics with women than men, so it pays to keep an eye out. We’re lucky it’s Terry and I that have the opportunity to write with each other, and it’s nice to be in a position where I can actually ask for more time to get a book out in front of the readers, I think to our credit. I always say I haven’t written two of my comics in a million years – I just haven’t been doing comics as long as I am – and usually when people say that, they mean “continuity”, but I haven’t written two of my comics in a hundred years. But I’m always a bit torn about this kind of thing. I like the idea of comics having certain kinds of women, as long as you’re a woman who will rise to the top and be a part of something that matters. It doesn’t have to be a full-frontal lesbian, although I would prefer to live in a world that was in fact really gay, you know? But Lois has shown herself to be a really strong woman, and she’s created a team of this black female superheroine, and this thing is also my first comic. I think that’s a pretty awesome ending.

I do have a feeling that you yourself have been thinking about these things for a long time. Everything you go back and look at has a lot to do with the black superheroines that have played in the first wave of the superhero boom or the really feminizing impact they had on the DC pantheon of heroes.