I don’t remember when I picked up my first comic book. From 7th through 12th grade, I went to school across town, taking the city bus and transferring once in downtown Minneapolis each way. On my return trip, I stood in front of Shinder’s newsstand on 7th St. and Hennepin Ave., waiting for the 9B bus to complete my journey. The corner store had newspapers from around the world, magazines, several racks of comic books, and bins of back issues.
I started reading Superman, Batman, and the Justice League but soon gravitated to Marvel Comics, including The Fantastic Four, Avengers, and Thor. Because there were few options, I didn’t notice the lack of Black characters in the books, other than an occasional person in a crowd.