All-Negro Comics
America’s First Black Comic Book
Lost to the ravages of time (and also institutional racism), All-Negro Comics #1 was finally reprinted and brought to the modern audience 75 years later. Bundled with all new essays and original works, this reprint is not just an important preservation effort but also a window into the history of Black pop culture—this being the first comic book by and for Black Americans—and a side of classic comics and characters that we rarely (well, never) see in the modern era. As a bonus, the new original comics pay homage to the original characters from All-Negro Comics #1 and brings them to the modern era. This anthology is packed with history and Content.
All-Negro Comics, being originally published in 1947, features language, stories, and themes that we recognize are racist and/or sexist in 2026.
Ghost Roast
by Shawneé Gibbs, Shawnelle Gibbs, and Emily Cannon
Steeped in occultism and history, New Orleans is the stage for this hilarious, NAACP award nominated, all ages, modern Southern Gothic graphic novel that confronts both the worst and best of the South’s people and history. As if trying to keep up with the cool girls whose parents actually have money wasn’t enough, Chelsea is now super grounded and forced to help out at her dad’s extremely embarrassing ghost hunting business for the summer. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, because she’s the only one who can help sort out the mysteries of a former plantation and lay to rest the ghosts of both its people and history.
Black Arms to Hold You Up
by Ben Passmore
People in power have always been terrible, but Black arms holding pens and signs and rifles have also always fought back. From Ben Passmore, anarchist cartoonist and Ignatz and Eisner award winner, this graphic novel lays out Black resistance in the US from Robert Charles to George Floyd. It’s raw and filled with death and blood—highlighted by the spot reds in this otherwise black and white book—because that’s what history was; this journey down the timeline is not there to coddle you or present a sanitized approved by boards of education textbook version of events. Ben Passmore does not pull punches.
This comic includes depiction of institutional violence and violent scenes because, you know, it’s about real Black history.
New Masters
by Shobo and Shof Coker
Set in a future where Earth’s only bridge to Jupiter is in West Africa, inequality and oppression still run rampant and an entrenched capitalist, a politician who believes in working within the system, parents who just want their family to survive, and an idealistic teen who is tired of all this crap vie for their own version of the future in a high stakes heist. Among our favorite Afrofuturist comics, this all ages tale from Nigerian brothers Shobo and Shof Coker stands out in bringing historic and modern internal conflicts that arise from figuring out what the best way to deal with an oppressor would be to the forefront in an engaging and accessible tale.
Monkey Meat
by Juni Ba
Probably the least optimistic but funniest book on this list, Juni Ba’s Monkey Meat is a dark comedy, a satire, and, unfortunately, a prophecy. Set on a mysterious island where a mega-corporation has turned all the natural and supernatural resources into delicious profit, the two standalone volumes of Monkey Meat tell stories of resistance, hope, dreams, and how they get crushed, put into a can, and sold for FDA-unapproved profit. Ba’s art and storytelling in these anthologies are, as usual, unique and top notch, and Monkey Meat is him at his finest.
March: The Complete Trilogy
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Finally, John Lewis’ complete graphic memoir is available in one volume. Collecting March and Run, this all ages omnibus chronicles the life of late Congressman John Robert Lewis from his march for civil rights to his time in office. It’s both an accessible way for young readers to learn first hand about the Civil Rights Movement and what came after and an important historical record from a man who not only stood but marched for freedom.
Far Sector
by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell
It’s impossible to talk about Black sci-fi comics without mentioning Far Sector, which I often describe as “DC Comics hired N.K. Jemisin to write a Green Lantern series and she delivered a golden age science fiction novel but without any of the problematic golden age science fiction problems because she is the opposite of a dead white man”. I can go into it a lot more but given that we’re at the end of a Black History Month graphic novel list you’ve either already read this or is like “wait the best modern Black science fiction writer wrote a Green Lantern graphic novel??? and it’s 10 dollars??? (there’s also fancy editions that cost more) why do I not have this???”
Anyway, Far Sector is amazing.
Thanks for reading another of our recommendations! If you’d like to support us, a local minority-owned comic book store, you can buy the comics above and many more at our online store or on Bookshop.org. Or drop by our brick and mortar shop in Seattle if you’d like some personalized recommendations!