Ebony Warrior #1 (ANIA)

(W) Eric Griffin (A) Steven X Rothier; Turner (backstory) (W) Eric Griffin (A) Mshindo Kuumba; 1993

Synopsis

Engineer and educator, Komal Jackson turns down lucrative offers from Fortune 500 companies to actively participate in the struggle to uplift his people in East Yorktown as the masked vigilante Ebony Warrior. Will Komal’s family succeed in saving him from the streets or will his pursuit of justice drag him into a world of corruption and violence.

Thanks to my friend and Black Comics mentor Marcus Roberts, I have an extensive list of Black Comics published in the 90’s. All a part of an era known as the Black Age of Comics.

This week’s key is a very important book from that list; Ebony Warrior #1 by Eric Griffin.

This book was part of a small publishing group known as ANIA which consisted of Ebony Warrior, Heru, Purge, and Zwanna Son of Zulu.

I really enjoy the overall production value of this book. Not just the art. I’m talking about the ads. I was surprised to see ads from a major movie release, Meteor Man, Sega Genesis, and Wizard Magazine published in a Black indie comic.

It also included a trading card illustrated by Eric Larsen. That along with Image comics ads throughout the book made me wonder if they were building a business relationship.

BONUS: A second story by Eric Griffin illustrated by the one and only Mshindo Kuumba. This may be his first professional job in comics which makes this somewhat of a double key.