I love stumbling across incredibly talented people. At this year’s SPX I walked away with some great books - Pope Hats and some new Nate Powell stuff and a couple of minis - but the find of the show, for me, was Joel Christian Gill and his comic, Strange Fruit.
Strange Fruit is a collection of stories about some of the unknown figures in black history. An escaped slave who rescued his family, the first black basketball player, a slave turned chess master, etc. There are little bits of commentary on the black community sprinkled throughout, told in the style of Windsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland. And Joel’s art is masterful, and his stories are heavy and heady and up-and-down wonderful. Go check out his blog and pick up his comics whenever you get the chance. Chase them down if you must. The first three issues were collected into one volume and he currently has issue 4 and 5 available.
Highly, highly recommended.
