Afua Richardson

Afua Richardson is an African-Native American artist. She did covers for five issues of Marvel's World of Wakanda and art for a short story backup in the first issue.[1][2] Her comic, Genius, with writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman[3] won Top Cow's 2008 Pilot Season.[4][5][6][7] She illustrated a Langston Hughes poem in 2014 for NPR's Black History Month,[8] and did variant covers for several comic book titles including All Star Batman for DC comics,[9] Attack on Titan for Kodansha,[10][11] Mad Max for Vertigo, as well as covers/variant covers for X-Men '92, Totally Awesome Hulk, Shuri, and Captain America and the Mighty Avengers at Marvel Comics. She was one of a small group of African American women artists who were employed by the "big two" comic publishers at the time she entered the industry.[12]

Afua Richardson
Richardson at BookExpo America in 2018
BornApril 25, 1980
New York City, NY
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Penciller, Inker, Colourist
Pseudonym(s)Docta Foo
Notable works
Genius, World of Wakanda
www.afuarichardson.com

Biography

Richardson was raised in New York City.[13] From a family of scientists,[14] she studied classical flute from age nine.[13] As a flautist, she performed with ensembles at Carnegie Hall and on Soul Train.[13] She also performed with Sheila E. and Parliament-Funkadelic.[14]

She was a backup singer, a beatboxer, a background dancer on MTV Jams and appeared in an off-Broadway show with Melvin Van Peebles.[13][15] She is part of the musical collective Future Soul Society, and recorded with Alexa Edmonds Lima under the name 'Afua & Alexa'.[16][17][18]

Richardson is a self-trained artist.[13] She was a member of the now defunct Ormes Society, which promoted African-American women in the comics industry.[19][20]

For the comic book series, Genius (2007), she worked with writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman to tell the story through the voice of a black woman, Destiny Ajaye.[21] Richardson's experience of being a minority in the United States influenced her work.[4] In Genius, she draws violent acts in a way that is both "matter-of-fact and highly stylized," according to ComicsAlliance.[22] She portrays Ajaye's thought processes and David Brothers called it "instantly understandable and worthy of poring over."[22]

Awards

In 2011, Richardson received the Nina Simone Award for Artistic Achievement as one of the few African-American women comic book artists to work for the leading publishers in the field.[23][24][17]

Bibliography

Interior art

Top Cow
  • Genius (2007)

DC

Marvel

Image
  • Black Magick #3 – Variant (2016)

Other art
  • Attack on Titan Anthology – Pinup (2016)
  • Mad Max Fury Road Artist Book – Two-Page Spread (2016)
  • The Negro Speaks of Rivers – Illustrations of the Langston Hughes Poem set to Narration for NPR (2014)

References
  1. "Black Panther: World of Wakanda (2016) #1". Marvel Press. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. Helvie, Forrest C. (July 23, 2016). "SDCC 2016: Black Panther: World of Wakanda". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  3. "Genius #1". Image Comics. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  4. Sava, Oliver (August 15, 2014). "Top Cow's Genius is a chilling reflection of this week's Ferguson turmoil". AV Club. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  5. Arrant, Chris (August 5, 2014). "Military Genius: 17 Year-Old Female Gang Member Takes on Top Cow". Newsarama. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  6. "Afua Richardson: Journey to Genius". Vimeo (Archive link doesn't have video, but has information about video). Lincoln Motor Company. November 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  7. "Lincoln Motors - Afua Richardson - Journey to Genius". Vimeo. Afru Richarcdson. August 22, 2016. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  8. "Blood And Water: Illustrating Langston Hughes' 'Rivers'". Code Switch. NPR. February 24, 2014. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  9. "All Star Batman #9". DC Comics. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  10. Whitbrook, James (November 22, 2016). "Read This Gorgeous, Heartbreaking Story From the Attack on Titan Anthology Comic". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  11. Alverson, Brigid (October 8, 2015). "Kodansha Announces 'Attack on Titan' Anthology". CBR. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  12. Jackson, Cheryl V. (April 16, 2016). "Black female characters, artists fight for place in comic book world". The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  13. Howe, Brian (November 12, 2014). "At NC Comicon, rising star Afua Richardson represents the changing face of comics". INDY Week. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  14. Womack, Ytasha L. (2013). Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. pp. 83, 105. ISBN 978-1613747964. OCLC 854285645 – via Google Books.
  15. "Waking Astronomer Is ATL's New Space-Aged R&B Trio". Okay Player. February 1, 2016. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  16. "Afua & Alexa - Starchild". The Steady Rock. January 23, 2012. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  17. Staggs, Matt (August 12, 2012). "Better Know an Artist: Afua Richardson AKA 'Docta Foo'". Unbound Worlds. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  18. Onkenhout, Eric (March 10, 2022). "Black Comic Book Creators At Marvel You Should Know". Culture Slate. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  19. Peterman, Erika (November 28, 2011). "African-American Women Take On The Comic Book Industry". St. Joseph News-Press. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  20. "Profile: Ormes Society". Black Art Story. December 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  21. Bernardin, Marc (July 12, 2016). "A comic book I wrote imagined snipers shooting at police. Now that frightening reality haunts me". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  22. Brothers, David (August 9, 2010). "Welcome to the Terrordome: 'Genius' Fights the Power [Review]". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  23. "Afua Richardson". Graphic Classics. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  24. Barnett, David (February 3, 2016). "African Avengers: the comic book creators shaking up superhero genre". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
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