The character of Black Panther was a watershed moment in comics, but there were many comic books for and by Black artists and cartoonists. One of them was Jackie Ormes.
Born in 1911, she worked as journalist and gravitated towards comic book art that would serve as a foundation for her work as a politically-minded cartoon artist with a distinct humor. Her first major comic strip was Torchy Brown in Dixie to Harlem in 1937. The comic followed a young Black woman who moves North to search for opportunities. The narrative was a reflection of the Black experience during the Great Migration.
Her work challenged stereotypes with narratives that put fashionable, glamorous, and multi-dimensional Black women front and center.
Her comic Patty-Jo n’ Ginger ran from 1945-1956 and featured the titular sisters that provided representation that the Black community was deprived of. It was Patty-Jo who was the stand-out of the siblings, delivering one-liners that addressed segregation, racism, misogyny, poverty, and other issues of the day. The comic eventually led to the creation of the Patty-Jo doll, which made history as one of the first Black dolls modeled after a comic character — and that was a big deal!
Ormes worked for many Black newspapers including the Pittsburgh Courier, which was considered one of the most influential Black newspapers of the time.
Because she was so progressive and was an unapologetic activist with her art during the McCarthyism era, she drew attention from FBI. This was a reflection of the scrutiny faced by outspoken Black creatives in mid-century America.
Ormes’s legacy lives on. She will always be recognized as a trailblazer in comics history, journalism, and Black cultural representation. She was an innovator, an early voice of racial and gender equality, and one of the pillars of historical representation for Black artists.
