AFROFUTURES Production Blog: Four Color Girls

When I started building out AFROFUTURES I did not anticipate how difficult the coloring process would be. Specifically, the decision-making behind it. It’s actually been one of the hardest parts of bringing this magazine to life. It’s also been amazing to see the end results…

Long before the days of digital, comic books relied on four colors: magenta, yellow, cyan, and black. Combining these colors could diversify the page. Ironically, it also created issues when it came to depicting non-white people. In the 1980s, publishers like Comico celebrated their 200+ color method. It wouldn’t take long, however, before digital coloring was introduced to the format. I personally remember at 11-years-old being completely blown away by the slick digital colors of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn #1. That was in 1992. Change was in the air.

In my opinion, comics should always look bold. Whether it’s the moody cityscapes of Gotham City or the jubilant Americana of Riverdale, USA. With AFROFUTURES, a book inspired by hip hop and DJ culture, I wanted to maintain as much of street culture’s vivid and flashy aesthetic as possible. Even with a period piece like “The Secret Files of Josephine Baker.”

You may be asking yourself what Josephine Baker has to do with hip hop? On the surface, not much. But once you factor in the DJ — one of the pillars of hip hop — you understand that music sampling doesn’t discriminate when it comes to music genres. Especially jazz and jazz singers like Josephine. When a DJ samples they are reinvigorating something old into something new.

When I approached artist Ashley A. Woods about coloring “Secret Files,” it was off the strength of several watercolor pieces she’d posted on Instagram. Woods is primarily known for her linework on World of Wakanda, Tomb Raider, and the TV show Lovecraft Country. But AFROFUTURES is all about sampling and mixing. So remixing the creative team based on what the comic needed was key. As far as I know, Ashley has never done colors for anyone else. When I showed artist Johnathan Edwards Ashley’s final pass, he simply said, “Nice!” Followed by, “She killed it!” Do you agree?