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With diversity under attack, Boston’s Comics in Color fest is back to ‘amplify diverse stories’
The fifth edition of the comics arts festival comes to Roxbury this weekend, April 25-26.
When Cagen Luse and Barrington Edwards saw Marvel’s “Black Panther” in 2018, they walked out more sure than ever that it was time Boston had an event celebrating comics by and about people of color.
But they probably didn’t think that, seven years later, the city would be looking at the fifth edition of just such an enterprise — and a pretty massive one at that.
“We had traveled to New York to a comic festival there, and were just so inspired. We felt like we needed to do it in Boston,” Luse recalled. “So we planned and plotted and schemed for a couple of years, and then in 2018, we said, this is the time.”
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The first few years it was just a meet-up at a local library, but by 2021 — after a pandemic-related detour the year before — the pair and their committee were ready to launch the first “Comics in Color,” a hybrid, half-online, half-outdoors comics event in Roxbury. And this weekend will see the festival reach its fifth year, fully in person and, for the first time, stretching over two days.
“For the fifth year we’re kind of trying to take it to the next level,” Luse said.
Luse — a longtime local cartoonist himself at Dig Boston, the Bay State Banner and others — sat down with Boston.com to talk about what people can expect this year, and why the festival is more relevant, and necessary, than ever.
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Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Boston.com: I can’t believe we are coming up on the fifth Comics in Color festival.
Cagen Luse: Yeah, it’s hard to believe, from such humble beginnings. It’s pretty amazing.
It’s also the first time that it’s being held over two days. Can you tell us a little bit about what people can expect this year?
Absolutely. We’re so excited — this being our fifth year, it’s kind of a big deal. So we decided we are going to try to make it two days. People have been kind of requesting it, so we are going to give it a try. But I decided to do what I’m calling a soft two days, meaning that on the Friday night we’re going to have an opening panel. It’s called Frontiers of Imagination, and it features the majority of our special guests, and it’s going to be hosted by Joel Gill on the main stage at the Media Arts Center at Roxbury Community College.
Comics in Boston:
We have some amazing special guests this year that will be featured on this panel. The one I’m really excited about is Khary Randolph. He is a Boston-based comics illustrator who’s been doing huge things all over the world. So to get him back to Boston for this is kind of a big deal – we’ve been trying for the last five years to pull him in here.
We’ve got Barbara Brandon Croft, the first Black woman nationally syndicated comic strip artist. So that’s pretty amazing. Greg Burnham, who’s kind of an indie darling with his comics “Tuskegee Heirs” and “The Search for Sadiqah.” But he’s also started writing for DC, and he’s done a Superman and an Icon story. Butter Cup is an indie artist who just published their first book, and it’s really a great book called “UM.” So I’m excited about them and their perspective.
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Let’s see, who else? Nyla Mcgruder, who is a children’s author. I’m really excited to have her. Jarrett Melendez, who’s a local guy who does cookbooks, among other things, comic-inspired cookbooks. And Stephanie Williams, who is a writer for DC who writes things like “Nubia” and “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.”
So we’ll have them on that panel on Friday night, and then Saturday is, of course, the full day of the festival. We have workshops, panels, a cosplay contest. We have about 65 artists coming in this year. There’s going to be performances. We have comedy and dance and hip-hop, some little performances, and it’s just going to be amazing.
When Comics in Color launched in 2021, we were still in the midst of the movement inspired by the murder of George Floyd. And now we’re at a moment where we’re seeing an unprecedented attack on diversity and inclusion by the Trump administration. Why is it important that something like Comics in Color exists right now, in light of that?
Well, I think that you know Comics in Color has always been important, and our mission is always to bring people of color’s stories out and support artists telling their stories. But now it’s become even more important, and it’s put even more of a battery in my pack, and I think the pack of my committee, that we just want to continue this. Because I think that we need spaces.
Diversity and inclusion is just built into it — it’s not like an extra thing where they’re like, “Oh, well, we’ll just decide not to do that this year.” It’s baked into what we’re doing. So I think that these kinds of events are even more important now, and I would like to believe that we’ll continue to get the kind of support that we’ve been getting, which has been wonderful.
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But you know, it just becomes that much more important when you’re getting all these messages from the media and from our government, that your story is not important, or that diverse stories are not what they want to hear. I think it makes it even more important that we amplify diverse stories.
What’s been the reaction of young would-be cartoonists, and just kids who love comics, in response to seeing their stories being told and celebrated like this?
It’s just the most beautiful thing to see the joy on children’s faces when they walk in the room and just see all the different stories they can see, and when they pick up a story that reflects them and they can see that, I think that’s just one of the most beautiful things … But also, I’m trying to develop young people to tell their stories as well, right? Not just see their stories out there, but also create their stories. So I’ve been loving seeing some of the young people develop over the years. My son is a comic artist, and of course I get to see him develop.
But Nile Hennick is another one — he must be about 13 now. His first comic convention was our first, the outdoor hybrid one, and he’s since grown into this amazing comic artist. We’re also sponsoring a comics camp at the Nubian Square Library, where we have Dave Ortega come in and teach a bunch of kids for a week, working on their comics during school vacation, and then they get to come and table and sell their comics at Comics in Color. So they get kind of the full range of experience, which I think is amazing.
You get the sense that people of all ages get their creativity sparked at this event.
I kind of give my guarantee that if you come to Comics in Color, you’re going to come out inspired. But I do especially love to see the families, or the grandparents bringing their grandchildren … We see people who are into comics as kids, and then they get to be, you know, teenagers or young adults, and they’re like, “Oh, those are childish things. I’ve got to put that away.” And we kind of give them permission to go back to your comics, because so many older folks come and say, “Oh, I loved comics when I was a kid. But I just haven’t really been keeping up with them. But now that I’m seeing this, I can, you know, kind of embrace this. I can see myself in these stories.” And it’s wonderful.
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So yeah, the inspiration is definitely part of what we’re trying to accomplish here. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it.
The Boston Comics in Color Festival is a free, family-friendly event for all ages focusing on creators of color and stories by and about people of color. The opening panel takes place Friday, April 25, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Roxbury Community College Media Arts Building, 1184 Columbus Ave. The festival takes place Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St. More information and free ticket reservations available at comicsincolor.org.
For the full conversation with Cagen Luse, check out the latest episode of Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast below:
