SOME PITTSBURGH COURIER READERS WILL REMEMBER THE COMIC SECTION THAT RAN IN THE COURIER DECADES AGO.
Phillip Thompson lends his collection for all to see
Phillip Thompson, known to most Pittsburghers as DJ Big Phill, wrapped up his “Collections in Black: A Celebration of Black Comic Book Culture,” with a closing ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 16. The snow didn’t stop hundreds from coming out to the August Wilson African American Cultural Center to celebrate the Black heroes that comprised Black comic books from the past, which are now classic materials, along with celebrating Black comic creators of the here and now.
PHILLIP THOMPSON WITH HIS MOTHER, ARNITA STAGGER. (PHOTOS BY JULIAN HILL)
In an interview with AWAACC staff, Thompson said his father and stepfather were both influential in stimulating his lifelong love of comics beginning at age 8. “My dad got me into ‘Black Panther’ because he had a stack of ‘Black Panther’ books, Western comics and ‘Spider-Man’ books. When we were kids, we would sneak around looking at his comic books and risk getting a whooping, but it was that important for us to go look at them while he was at work. My stepfather from New Jersey had three comics: a ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Thor’ and a ‘Captain America’ book. He said, ‘I have some more for you,’ and then he came up with a box of Silver Age comic books… both he and my father were collectors in their own right.”
Thompson told the Courier’s Julian Hill at the Jan. 16 closing event that the collection for all of Pittsburgh to see was a “labor of love. All the original Black comic book art” was on display, he said. “All the original pages that make up the comics, whether it’s the cover, or the inside.”
Thompson mentioned Gene Colan, who co-created the first African American superhero in mainstream comics, the “Falcon.” “Falcon” was created in 1969.
JACKIE ORMES
Thompson mentioned Jackie Ormes, credited as the first Black woman cartoonist, and she’s from Pittsburgh, too. Her creations were regular features in the Pittsburgh Courier, like “Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem,” which first appeared in the Courier in 1937.” Then there was “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger,” a single-panel cartoon which ran for years in the Courier.
Thompson, who attended Penn Hills High School and Rust College, also talked about the valued contributions of Brian Stelfreeze and Larry Stroman. They are living Black comic book artists who are highly-regarded, as Stelfreeze was the artist for Marvel Comics’ revival of “Black Panther” in 2016 (“Black Panther” was the first mainstream comics’ Black superhero, from Marvel, in 1966). Earlier, Stelfreeze painted more than 50 cover illustrations for DC Comics’ “Shadow of the Bat.”
As for Stroman, his credits include illustrating Marvel comic books like “The Uncanny X-Men,” “X-Factor” and “Punisher.”
MATT BAKER
You can’t mention Black comic book artistry without Matt Baker. He was born in 1921 in North Carolina, but soon moved to Pittsburgh, where he was raised. After he graduated from Westinghouse High School, Baker left Pittsburgh in 1940 for Washington, D.C., and created “Phantom Lady” in 1941. Baker is recognized as one of the first African American comics book artists to achieve national acclaim. Baker died in 1959 at age 37.
Thompson’s collection was shown at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center from July 26, 2024, to Jan. 12, 2025.
“I needed people to understand our cultural history in this art form,” Thompson told WESA-FM (90.5), “and I think it’s been overlooked for too long.”
SOME OF THE ITEMS ON DISPLAY DURING PHILLIP THOMPSON’S “COLLECTIONS IN BLACK” EXHIBIT AT THE AWAACC.
PARADISE GRAY, PHILLIP THOMPSON
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