The Ormes Society Supports Black Women in Comics

It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a comic book but I do remember that I got into the Archie series for a brief time as a kid, and the Boondocks is about the only mainstream African American comic strip I’ve come across in my limited exposure. Recognizing the lack of diversity in this industry, comic and graphic novel fan Cheryl Lynn Eaton, created an organization to support African American women who create comics and their fans.

The Ormes Society is named after Jackie Ormes (1911-1985), America’s first black female professional cartoonist, known for creating sophisticated black, female characters like Torchy Brown. In an interview for CNN, Eaton says she was pleased to find out that so many black women like Carol Burrell and Afua Richardson, who are members of the Ormes Society, are still creating comics, but she wishes more black women were into the genre.

“I find it so frustrating that I come from a family of readers and yet I am the only woman who reads comics,” she said. “I think the best way to attract black women as consumers is to eradicate the myth that comics are for men and solely involve superheroes.”

Check out the rest of Eaton’s interview here. Are you into comics? If so, which ones do you read? Are you frustrated by the lack of black women in the comic book industry?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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