Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 17, 1993 TAG: 9310140079
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KEITH LORIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Long
Like most of his characters, Schulz gave Franklin a unique characteristic. Linus had his blanket, Schroeder had his toy piano and Charlie Brown - well, the only thing Charlie Brown was good at was losing.
And Franklin was black.
"It just seemed to me that it was time to do that kind of thing," Schulz said. "I wasn't sure if I should be the one to try it, but I remember getting letters from fathers of two black children, and they told me I should."
When he did, United Features Syndicate didn't want to run the strip. Schulz threatened to quit, and United had no choice but to publish.
Today, there are still fewer than 10 syndicated black comic strips.
One of the most popular is "Curtis," drawn by Ray Billingsley and syndicated in more than 200 newspapers across the United States, including the Roanoke Times & World-News. "Curtis" was born in 1986 when a tossing and turning Billingsley sketched out a figure in the dark on a night he couldn't sleep. When he woke up, there on his pad was Curtis.
Curtis lives in the inner city with his brother, Barry, and his parents. Billingsley tries to show the everyday life of such a family.
The artist offered an explanation for the scarcity of black comic strip characters.
"Since 99 percent of comics are drawn and written by white people, they have no real insight on what it's like to be black," he said. "So even if they do a black character, it's often a one-dimensional character or a stereotypical character. They don't know what it's like to be black."
Billingsley isn't afraid to offer commentary in his strip. He likes to deal with topical issues that pertain to inner-city youths such as Curtis.
Last year, he raised the issue of a crack baby. It was a bold move, and he describes the response as fantastic.
"We are cartoonists with a different voice than 30 years ago," he said. "There is humor in the good, but since we are lifelike, we have to give the bad with the good."
One problem black cartoonists face is a lack of communication between editors and artists, which Billingsley blames on the fact that so many editors are white.
"We need more diversity," Billingsley said. "There are times when I've had to explain what I've done to an editor, but once I do they see where I'm coming from."
To bring young black artists into the field, Billingsley said more of them need to start believing in themselves.
"I've spoken to several aspiring cartoonists. They worry about rejection and are afraid and feel depressed if they don't get a job right away," he said.
Robb Armstrong is the creator of "Jump Start," a syndicated comic about Joe and Marcy Cobb, a working-class black couple. Joe's a cop and Marcy's a nurse; each day they face the same experiences as any other couple trying to survive.
"They're real people," said Armstrong. "It is real life because I am observing what I see and I try to draw that in my characters."
Armstrong said it is very difficult for any cartoonist to get syndicated and sustain his or her work for a long period of time.
"And if you are a black cartoonist, this problem is more magnified," he said, blaming the fact that editors are wary of adding a black comic strip if they already have one.
"It's ludicrous," Armstrong said. "I hear from papers, `We already have a black strip,' and of course the strip is nothing like mine."
He offers a comparison between Doonesbury and Peanuts. "Any reader knows these are as different as night and day, and that's what mine and Ray Billingsley's strip are - as different as night and day."
Asked what he would have to do to change this, Armstrong laughed and said he would have to make all his characters white.
"Seriously though, I have to hang in there. I hope that in the future there will be lots of black cartoonists all over the country, and I will get great pleasure in telling my grandchildren that I helped open the doors," he said.
One of Armstrong's earliest influences was Charles Schulz.
"If the black race wants Charles Schulz to address the problems of black people, he's done that, because he got me to get up off my butt and draw that," he said.
It wasn't until three years ago that Barbara Brandon became the first black woman syndicated comic strip artist with her strip, "Where I'm Coming From," which runs Mondays in the Roanoke Times & World-News.
In the weekly strip, nine black women comment on everything from politics to love to religion. "Where I'm Coming From" is now in more than 50 papers nationwide.
The strip is based on Brandon's friends, "although no one friend is one particular character," she said. Brandon draws only head shots since "women are always thought about for their bodies."
She said it is absurd that there are only a handful of black syndicated cartoonists.
"How come in 1990, I was the first black woman? That's a shame," she said.
Brandon said she experiences the same sort of prejudice that Armstrong does.
"I get it double duty," she said. "I'm told, `We already have a black comic strip and we have `Cathy' [a woman's strip]. It's ignorant, but it happens."
Only black women are featured in Brandon's strip. She explains that since she's not a man, she doesn't know how they feel.
"I'm a black woman, and it's where I'm coming from, and so it's my point of view," she said.
Billingsley believes it's a view anybody can appreciate.
"People are people no matter what color," he said. "Basically, what I try to get over through `Curtis' is that even though he is a different color, we are all God's people. We're just wearing different masks."
by CNB