Broken Frontier

Other Heroes will be joining Spider-Man on the walls this spring.

Other Heroes: African American comics creators, characters & archetypes is an exhibition of comics and comics-inspired artwork. It will be on display April 5-25, 2007 in the Jackson State University Art Gallery, Dollye M.E. Robinson School of Liberal Arts Building, Jackson, MS .

The show features an unprecedented group of African American comics creators. From industry veterans Denys Cowan and Trevor von Eeden, to critically acclaimed graphic novelists Kyle Baker and Lance Tooks, to renowned editorial cartoonist Keith Knight, to pioneering cartoonist Jackie Ormes, the list of over 40 participating artists contains a who's-who of famed African American sequential artists past and present.

In addition to showcasing the work of outstanding African American comics professionals, Other Heroes brings to the JSU Gallery a vast and diverse array of talented artists working in a variety of media, (comics, photography, painting, and installation) to make art that portrays and investigates African American issues. "The show is centered around the empowerment of Black creators, characters, and stories, the depictions of the Black image in popular culture, and the reclamation of our images," Other Heroes co-curator Professor John Jennings said in a recent interview with UVC Magazine.

"We hope the exhibit and catalog will provide a positive space to discuss the social, economic, psychological, and philosophical impact of positive and negative racial representations," added co-curator and Eye Trauma Comix editor-in-chief Damian Duffy.

Other Heroes also represents an effort to raise funds for the local community. All profits from the sale of the Other Heroes catalog, soon to be published through print-on-demand website Lulu.com, will be donated to Scholarship America for the charity's Disaster Relief Fund, which provides tuition support to low income Gulf Coast students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Other Heroes is made possible by The Jackson State University Art Department, The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign Research Board, The UIUC African-American Studies and Research Program, and Eye Trauma Studios.

For more information on Other Heroes and a full list of artists go to http://www.eyetrauma.net/brain/curation.htm