28 Days of Black Girls in Comics: Erika Hardison

It’s day four of #28DaysOfBlackGirlsInComics and it’s exciting to see people thrilled to see this type of content. Let’s get right into it!

Support Black girls in comics: Erika Hardison

I hate talking about myself so please extend me some grace. Ok, first thing is first, how did I even get here? I always knew I wanted a magazine or at the very least, write at a magazine. Magazines hold a special place in my heart because to me, they are cultural periodicals that reflects a specific happening in whatever is going on in society. I knew I didn’t want just a fashion or beauty publication—but a mag that would embody a community that loves culture.

I started covering more Black creatives especially in the art and literary spaces in 2016. My first viral Black nerd article was when I posted about Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Philly. After that, I started pursuing to seek out more Black creatives to feature on a number of mainstream outlets.

Eventually, I started covering New York Comic Con and my eternal favorite: The Black Comic Book Fest at the Schomburg. I created a dedicated editorial called, “My Superheroes Are Black!” in Fabulize to highlight Black creatives which is now my most popular body of work. Even though I was interviewing them, I was also inspired to step out of my own comfort zone and try to write some kick ass fiction myself.

In August, I was notified in my work chat that there was a popular Kickatarter getting a lot of support for trying to reach a goal. Their goal was to publish a number of Black comic book writers and artists who would all write a short noir story. It sounded cool so I backed it but then I proceeded to email to inquire if they were still accepting writers.

Initially they weren’t but I was informed that i should still pitch them because anything can happen and that’s when I pitched Entanglement. It was a rough pitch but I knew I wanted to write a crime story based in Chicago set in the early ’90s; New Jack Swing Era.

remember that comic I told yall I was working on? Well here's a page from my forthcoming crime noir New Jack Swing era comic that's coming out soon. Murder, music, power and lust all in one. pic.twitter.com/uRVucRRXpb— Ms. Erika (@MzYummyDread) December 12, 2020

Writing a comic is hard AF

I knew it would be hard but Fabrice Sapolsky and Chris Harris both guided me to help me get my comic right. Now, Noir Is The New Black is about to come out and I’m excited that my comic will be amongst amazing talented writers like Melody Cooper, David Walker and Roxxy Haze!

Support Erika Hardison and support #28DaysOfBlackGirls