In this episode of the Graphic Possibilities Podcast, we return to our audio commentary on comics. We turned to Dr. Christina Knopf for this commentary to learn about comics and politics. Dr. Knopf specializes in political communication. She is a rhetorician and sociologist studying the rhetoric of the popular arts - comics, cartoons, letters, films, animations, and shows - for what and how it communicates about our social-political reality. Her work particularly focuses on depictions of war and the military and of politics and campaigns, with an interest in concerns of gender, race, health, community, and civic engagement. Her book, Politics in the Gutters: American Politicians and Elections in Comic Book Media, was published in 2021 by the University Press of Mississippi. Politics in the Gutter make clear the assertion that politic intersecting with comics is a recent occurrence is wrong. Instead, she demonstrates how politics and comics have been and continue to be in dialogue. The audio commentary provides an important overview for those looking to learn more about this important subfield of comic studies. You can find more bibliographies by visiting the Graphic Possibilities Comic Research Guide available through the MSU Library.

Dr. Lonny J. Avi Brooks is an associate professor in communication at California State University, East Bay. As the Co-Principal Investigator for the Long Term and Futures Thinking in Education Project, he has piloted the integration of futures thinking into the communication curriculum. As a leading voice in Afrofuturism, Brooks contributes prolifically to the field through diverse mediums, including numerous journals, book chapters, conferences, exhibitions, and festivals in the United States and worldwide. He is a co-creator alongside Ahmed Best and Jade Fabello of Afrorithm Futures Group, an afrofuturist story collective and consultancy that creates tools to empower corporations, educational institutions, and individuals to imagine new, more equitable, and inclusive visions of the future.

In this conversation, we talk about his views on Afrofuturism as a community practice, especially in light of his research on foresight and developing tools to create new future visions.  Dr. Brooks is one of the featured interviews in Afrofantastic: The Transformative World of Afrofuturism, a new documentary available at pbs.org. 

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Tobias c. van Veen. 

Dr. van Veen is Visiting Scholar at the ReImagining Value Action Lab at Lakehead University and Visiting Professor in Humanities at Quest University. He holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Communication Studies from McGill University. His transdisciplinary research and teaching address the philosophy of race, sound, and technology in critical media studies. 

He has published widely on Afrofuturism, posthumanism, and electronic dance music cultures (EDMC). tobias is lead editor of the “Black Lives, Black Politics, Black Futures” special issue of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (2018), editor of the Afrofuturism special issue of Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture (2013), and co-editor of the Journal’s special issue “Echoes from the Dub Diaspora” (2015). 

In 2020 he launched the Afrofuturist Studies & Speculative Cultures series on Lexington Books. A sound/media artist, filmmaker, and tactical turntablist since 1993, tobias has exhibited and curated interventions, events, and broadcasts worldwide. An award-winning broadcaster and photojournalist, tobias hosts the Other Planes: Afro/Futurism podcast on CreativeDisturbance.org and curates the sound-art label IOSOUND.ca.

In our conversation, we delve into the history of Afrofuturist sound and the vital impact of Detriot Techno in that history.

In this episode I talk with Dr. Qiana Whitted. Qiana Whitted is professor of English and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. A graduate of Hampton University with a PhD from Yale University, her research and teaching focus on Black literary and cultural studies, and American comics and graphic novels. She is the author of the 2020 Eisner Award-winning book, EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest, the 2009 book, “A God of Justice?”: The Problem of Evil in Twentieth-Century Black Literature, and co-editor of the 2012 essay collection on Comics and the U.S. South. Rutgers University Press will publish her newest collection, Desegregating Comics: Debating Blackness in the Golden Age of American Comics, on May 12, 2023. Dr. Whitted is also the editor of Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. 

In this conversation, we talk about her views on Afrofuturism in comics, especially in light of her research on EC Comics and how speculative stories involving the black experience shape our collective understanding of this notable comic publisher.

We speak with Dr. Michael Dando in this episode about comics, hip-hop, and education. Dando is a multicultural education scholar focusing on hip-hop culture and the representation of self. In collaboration with Professor John Jennings (writer) and artist David Brame, Dando has revived Lion Man, one of the characters in All Negro Comic #1, created in 1947 by Orrin Cromwell Evans.  The new Lion Man comic offers a new generation of readers a chance to follow the adventures of the seminal black comic character.  In this conversation, we explored his vision of the transformative potential for Afrofuturism and how those ideas can inspire youth and transformation education.

In this episode, we spoke with the award-winning screenwriter, producer, and graphic novelist Rodney Barnes. Barnes has established himself as a creative force in Hollywood, working on projects such as The Boondocks on Adult Swim and Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu. Barnes's writing credits include Marvel/Hulu series Runaways and Starz's American Gods.  In addition, Barnes currently serves as the executive producer for HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.  

Beyond television, Barnes has written extensively for comics. Killadelphia debuted from Image Comics in 2019. Written by Barnes with art by Jason Shawn Alexander, this story of a homicide detective turned vampire hunting former President John Adams features insightful political commentary and dynamic drama. Barnes founded Zombie Love Studios, a graphic novel production studio dedicated to telling horror and suspense stories. His latest project Blacula: The Return of the King, is a modern retelling of the classic Blaxploitation film.  

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Chesya Burke. Burke is an Asst. Professor of English and U.S. Literature. Having written and published over a hundred fiction pieces and articles within science fiction, fantasy, comics, and horror, her academic research focuses primarily on the intersections of race, gender, and genre. Her primary areas of study are African American literature, race and gender studies, comics, and speculative fiction.