[Lorendiac]

When was the first time DC allowed a black character to be the star of a story? (As opposed to just "participating in the ongoing adventures of a group of characters who were mostly white," for instance.)

As near as I can tell at the moment, the answer is this:

In "Teen Titans #35 (volume 1)," cover-dated September/October 1971 (and written by Bob Haney), the back-up story was a 7-pager in which Mal Duncan single-handedly fought and defeated the villain known as The Gargoyle. At that time, Mal had been considered a regular member of the group ever since his debut in #26, but he had no superhero costume, no superhero alias, and no fancy gadgets or superpowers. (His first costumed superhero identity was invented several issues later, in #44, but that's not the point right now.)

I think this was the first time that DC published anything at all which let a black person be the hero of his own little story, from start to finish -- solving the current problem all by himself, instead of being part of a team effort.

But I could be wrong! Does anyone remember any earlier examples of a black character who was definitely "the star" of a DC story, instead of "one of the co-stars"?

[jimmm kelly]

I'm curious to see the book that will come of all this research.

[Lorendiac]

I'll be glad to post a link on this forum when the final product goes up on "Comics Should Be Good" (a blog portion of the comicbookresources.com website). That's where previous large labors of love on my part (re: superhero comic book oddities) have been posted.

For instance, the last time I tried to list all the "Supergirl" and "Superwoman" characters who have ever been "canonical," in one way or another, at any time in DC's long history.

Or the times I've tried to list all the DC and Marvel characters who have used names which were pronounced identically to that of someone at the other company (even if the spellings might differ). The last time I updated that list, I had over 1100 "shared aliases" on it. (Who knew that in the Golden Age, Captain Marvel had a fought a "Spider Man" who had invented a way to fire strands of incredibly strong and sticky artificial webbing, or that Captain America had fought a female thief calling herself "Cat Woman"? How many people remember that the Seven Soldiers of Victory fought "Doctor Doome," or that Aquaman fought "Magneto" in the Silver Age and that Plastic Man fought "Professor X"?)

Anyway, my current project, which I've been working on in fits and starts for quite some time, and am now trying to conclude for once and for all, involves listing and describing the comic book stories in which various milestones were reached in terms of "minority representation" in both Marvel's and DC's publishing histories. For instance:

First black character to be "featured" as the star of his own story in a DC title that wasn't named after that character.

First black character to be "featured" as the star of his own stories in a DC title that wasn't named after that character -- and to have that feature go for at least 12 consecutive installments.

First black character to become the headliner of his very own DC title.

First black character to become the headliner of his very own DC title -- and to have this solo title last at least 12 issues before someone pulled the plug. (Black Lightning didn't quite make it; his original series was cancelled at #11. ).

First black character to become a member of the JSA. (Also the JLA, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the Teen Titans.)

And again, in each of the above categories, first black character to become a member of one of those high-profile superhero teams, and to then be treated with respect as a "regular presence in the active-duty roster" for at least a 12-issue run. (As opposed to disappearing offstage after a couple of issues and then only being mentioned once in a blue moon, for instance.)

Then answering the same questions all over again for each of 4 other "minority groups" which I selected (such as "Native American" and "East Asian").

Then answering essentially the same questions in terms of Marvel's publishing history (using the same minority groups, but naturally substituting the names of four of their long-running superhero teams in place of the DC teams.)

As far as I can tell, nobody has ever before tried to collect all this data in one place. I've been doing it (with lots of help from fellow fans when I posted queries about one aspect or another, on various forums), and I've got it all arranged in a chronological timeline so that readers can see when DC or Marvel achieved certain "milestones" in comparison to one another. It was just the other night, as I was doing some editing, that I decided I was not absolutely certain that Mal Duncan, in 1971, was the first case of DC ever allowing a black character to carry his own story, as opposed to being a "co-star" or "guest-star" in someone else's feature. I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, and might save me some embarrassment, to double-check that with a fresh round of questions before publicly committing myself to such a statement. (In contrast, the first time Marvel let a black character be "the star of his own feature" was way, way back in 1954! Granted: after eight stories, the guy vanished into comic book limbo and has never been heard from again. But at least they gave him a chance.)

[narfstar]

love good research

[jimmm kelly]

A lot more black women started to show up in the early '70s in DC comics--especially in the female dominated books, like romance comics (but also in LOIS LANE, WONDER WOMAN, etc.)--and they are cover-featured, too.

There was one African-American woman who hosted her own feature (and appeared on the cover) in YOUNG ROMANCE. This was Page Peterson and her Do's and Don't's of Dating. This was an advice feature--but it wasn't text, it was an actual one page comics feature (illustrated by the likes of Tony DeZuniga and Steve Englehart). I think the first advice page for Ms. Peterson was in issue 171 (cover dated April-May '71).

Since Page Peterson wasn't real--the column would have been written by a DC staffer--that makes her an own ongoing fictional character with her own feature.

Check out this blog--SEQUENTIAL CRUSH--for an example of Page in action.