This year I added a unique and really interesting book to my library. The title is It's Life as I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940-1980. It was compiled and edited by Dan Nadel and includes essays by Charles Johnson and Ronald Wimberly. It's Life as I See It was published in conjunction with an exhibit called "Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now," held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, June 19 to October 3, 2021. Cartoonists represented in the book are:
- Richard "Grass" Green (1939-2002)
- Seitu Hayden (b. 1953)
- Jay Jackson (1908-1954)
- Charles Johnson (b. 1948)
- Yaoundé Olu (b. 1945)
- Turtel Onli (b. 1952)
- Jackie Ormes (1911-1985)
Of these nine cartoonists, three are or were from Indiana, Tom Floyd, Grass Green, and Seitu Hayden. I have written about Tom Floyd before, on February 12, 2021. You can read about him by clicking here.
Richard Lee (later Edward) "Grass" Green was born on May 7, 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Noah and Retta (Knight) Green, both of whom were from Alabama. Grass Green was active in comic book fandom and in what fans call small press and independent press. One of his most well-known creations is a superhero called Xal-Kor the Human Cat. Green aspired to work for Marvel Comics but made it only as far as Charlton Comics (in the 1960s) and underground comics (in the 1970s). He continued working in the comics field throughout his too-brief life. It's Life as I See It reprints a previously unpublished comic book story called "Smoke Power," from the 1990s. Grass Green died on August 5, 2002, in his native city.
Seitu Hayden was born William Eric Hayden on September 11, 1953, in Fort Wayne. Mr. Hayden worked with Grass Green as early as 1969, inking Green's comic strip "Lost Family." He later took the name "Seitu," which means "artist" in Swahili.
"Smoke Power" by Richard "Grass" Green, an unpublished comic book story from the 1990s. Ironically, Grass Green died of lung cancer at age sixty-three.
Text copyright 2022 Terence E. Hanley
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