What if only black people had superpowers? That’s the premise of the comic book series BLACK, written by Kwanza Osajyefo with designs by Tim Smith 3 and artwork by Jamal Igle. It’s the perfect read if you’re both waiting for the Black Panther movie and grappling with the current state of race relations in America.
The 2016 Kickstarter-funded comic starts off with an all-too familiar scenario — a young black man is gunned down by police — but he survives unscathed thanks to a previously undiscovered set of abilities. We won’t spoil the series for you, but let’s just say it feels very relevant given today’s political climate.
To that end, we contacted BLACK designer Tim Smith 3 and invited him to an artistic challenge with our very own design intern, Dominik Vaughan. They both had to draw themselves as superheroes and tell us why they chose their particular ability.
Tim Smith 3 (BLACK #1):
“My power is the ability to see and understand the actual intentions of a person’s character.” – Tim Smith 3
Dominik Vaughan (Youth Radio):
“In real life I’m very hard-headed and like to tackle things headfirst, so why not be a big running block of metal. I would turn myself into metal, be indestructible and have super strength. Nothing can affect me or penetrate me. Only a being equally matched or way out of my league can take me on.” – Dominik Vaughan