IDW Releases Comics History Book INVISIBLE MEN: THE TRAILBLAZING BLACK ARTISTS OF COMIC BOOKS

If you want to learn some comic book history, IDW has released a new book to check out. Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books is a hardcover book from comics historian Ken Quattro that seeks to help shine some light on the history of black artists (the ups and the downs) in the comic book world.

Using primary source material from World War II-era Black newspapers and magazines, this compelling book profiles pioneers like E.C. Stoner, a renowned fine artist of the Harlem Renaissance and the first Black artist to draw comic books; Owen Middleton, whose life sentence in Sing Sing became a cause célèbre championed by historian Will Durant, leading both to freedom and a career in comics; Matt Baker, who drew Vooda, the first groundbreaking Black comic book hero; and many more. Each man's personal struggles and triumphs are represented as they broke through into an industry formerly occupied only by whites.

Inside, readers will also find examples from each artist with some context provided by Quattro. In a statement, Quattro said:

The Black artists profiled in this book lived and worked among the white population but remained unseen and unknown to those same people. My research, taken mostly from sources within the contemporaneous Black media, was for me both revealing and humbling. I hope that by sharing these revelations, others will be inspired.

Craig Yoe, the editor for IDW’s imprint Yoe Books, said:

Ken Ouattro's engrossing writing, based on over two decades of impeccable research, finally gives foundational black comic artists their due. This unknown but vital part of comics history which Ken has so stunningly revealed will make the timely Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books one of the most talked about and important books of the comics field

You can find Invisible Men at your local bookstores and comic shops with an MSRP of $34.99.