Black Com!x Days showcases the art of 34 illustrators, writers and artists. Photo by Chris Stone 
Black Com!x Day gives people a chance to meet artists and buy their art. Photo by Chris Stone 
Puerto Rican artist Javier Cruz Winnik encourages people to develop their talents. Photo by Chris Stone 
Javier Cruz Winnik has illustrated a series, “A Reason to Smile.” Photo by Chris Stone 
San Diego-baed comic artist Rodney Anderson Jr. discusses his art with buyers. Photo by Chris Stone 
Cousins Darryl Darden (left) and Jerry Dunham are expanding their business with buttons. Photo by Chris Stone 
Artist Jerry Dunham has created 25 Star Kaiju figures with a goal of developing 1,000 of them. Photo by Chris Stone 
Brian Lambert, an award winning writer at Wingless Entertainment, talks to visitors about his work. Photo by Chris Stone 
David Phillips has penned a comic series, Agents of S.O.U.L. Photo by Chris Stone 
Black Com!x Day continues on Sunday at Balboa Park. Photo by Chris Stone
When David Phillips was a budding comic artist at age 13, his mother suggested a new drawing subject: a Black superhero.
At the time, said the 62-year-old Phillips, that never occurred to him because Marvel’s comic Black Panther (released in 1966) was relatively unknown.
“Then a light bulb came on,” said Phillips, born in Harlem and raised in Los Angeles. Fast forward to 1984 and Phillips created the Agents of S.O.U.L. (Super Outerspace Ultragalactic Legion) — superheroes who fight evil with their smarts.
Phillips is one of 34 featured writers and artists at Black Com!x Day 2022 — a two-day mini convention ending Sunday at the World Beat Center, 2100 Park Blvd., in Balboa Park.
Artists said their passions were to represent their communities, give a voice to people without one, and encourage readers using a positive point of view.
The free gathering, which celebrates Black excellence in all art forms. allows visitors to speak with artists and buy books and artwork.
The convention began in 2018, the year “Black Panther” was released as a movie, but was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. Doors reopen at 10 a.m. and the event ends at 6 p.m. A panel discussion will be held in an outdoor tent area at 1 p.m., featuring Black women in comics and publishing.
Relatively homeless, Phillips in the mid-1980s photocopied drawings and created his first black and white comic book.
“It was a good distraction and motivation from my troubles and my environment at the time, things that I was going through,” he said.
His Agents of S.O.U.L. rise from the ashes of the civil rights movement and use their wits to stop super powerful villains.
Although fictitious, the events in his comics represent everyday conflicts, he said. His hope is that readers will “get inspired to know that they can overcome any obstacles and they can be anything that they set their minds to.”
Another artist, David G. Brown, created a hero that rose from the ashes of the Los Angeles civil unrest following the 1992 beating of Rodney King.
His hero, L.A. Phoenix, has nonlethal weapons and comes to heal Los Angeles by dealing with community issues, Brown said. His trilogy of L.A. Phoenix comics has themes of anti-graffiti, anti-gang, anti-drug but pro-education.
Starting as a graphic artist in Philadelphia, Brown found limited opportunities, so he moved to Los Angeles. He found jobs in television and film studios as an animator. His work was featured on various popular cartoons of the era such as “The Cosby Kids” and the “He-Man” series.
Following the 1992 unrest, Brown thought he could assist through an after-school program for youngsters. He won a grant from the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, and his idea came to fruition.
Later, he partnered with the Los Angeles Public Library to offer free design workshops for children and teens as well as becoming board chairman of the Museum of African American Art.
His afterschool program led to Tales from the Kids — publications that feature children’s stories and artwork. Brown also taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District as a career technical education teacher. His course became a certification course for Adobe software products.
But his point of view has been featured through his political cartoons in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper. He helped produce: “Pandemic, Race and the Media: #Diabolical 2020 Sucked.” In 2017, he authored “Barack, Race and The Media: The Obama Legacy.”
“I am only one of a few African-American political cartoonists,” he said, “and I have always felt that most political cartoonist are middle-aged white men.”
Brown said he felt had an obligation to use his platform to speak for people who don’t have a voice — and from an African American perspective — about issues that may not impact White Americans, especially privileged middle-aged Whites.
His interest in political cartooning came out of his frustration with politics during the George W. Bush administration.
Next to Brown’s table at the convention was Antoinette Van Sluytman and her sister from San Diego, who shares her last name but paints under the name Aubree T. Rose.
The daughters of two professional painters, the women began with traditional portraiture, but expanded to film poetry, novels, cartoons, digital art and writing. Their multimedia business is called Broken Chalice Studio.
Van Sluytman has written an anthology of poetry, “The Unspoken Word,” and created a character, Blacktina, who highlights Black historical figures and is presented through the eyes of a little girl.
When asked what she derives from her work, Rose said: “I get piece of mind, enjoyment, representation. I get to say something. I get my voice out there. I get to do a lot of things through this medium, and ultimately I do it because it’s what I know best, what I do best and what makes me happy.”
On the other side of the room, Javier Cruz Winnik sketched as attendees approached.
Winnik began his art career by trying his hand at drawing cartoon characters. Once his skills improved, he created a series of books called “A Reason to Smile.”
“There was a need to have characters from other backgrounds, especially from the Puerto Rican background, to be seen and approached in a positive way,” said the 43-year-old artist from New York City.
At 10, he became familiar with the concept of following a passion, so work is more a joy than a burden.
His books’ message is: “The world is a big place, and we can enjoy all of it.”
He encourages children to play in parks to meet new friends and get exercise — and broaden their vision beyond their small circles.
“If we don’t have exposure to the world, we don’t know what we are capable of,” Winnik said. “We only understand what we are capable of with regard to something that is in our circle, so our circles have to expand.”
Winnik believes everyone can be an artist, even if it doesn’t seem to come naturally. If you put in the time, with the proper resources, accomplished artistic skills can be had, he said.
First published in 2012, he has a new work coming out in April.
His message is compassion.
“If we all have empathy for each other, we all will be able to take care of each other,” he said, “and the people who need to be taken care of can then take care of themselves better.”
