Golden Legacy #2: The Saga of Harriet Tubman

Written by Joan Baccus. May be first recognized Black female author/artist in comic books. Published by Fitzgerald Publishing Co., the most successful Black owned comic book publisher of the Bronze Age.

Writers

Joan Baccus

 

Artists

Various

Era

Bronze

 

 

Publisher

Fitzgerald Publishing Company

 

Publication Date

1966

Synopsis

Golden Legacy was the umbrella title for a line of educational black history comic books published by Fitzgerald Publishing Co. from 1966 to 1976. Golden Legacy published comic book biographies of such notable figures as Toussaint Louverture, Harriet Tubman, Crispus Attucks, Benjamin Banneker, Matthew Henson, Alexandre Dumas, Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls, Joseph Cinqué, Walter F. White, Roy Wilkins, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Alexander Pushkin, Lewis Howard Latimer, and Granville Woods. (via Wikipedia)

 

Notes

Here we have another comic book that may be dismissed by the average comic book collector but is extremely important to the Black Comic Book Collector.

The Golden Legacy series was published by the Fitzgerald Publishing Company.  Until the 90s brought Milestone, Brother Man and Tribe,  Fitzgerald was arguably the most successful Black Comic Book publisher in history.  

I recall first seeing Golden Legacy comics not in comic shops but in Black schools, churches and libraries.  It felt like they were always around.  They aren’t hard to find.  In fact, my local shop came across a full set.

This particular issue came up in conversation as I was researching who is considered the first Black woman author and/or artist in comic books.  I’m familiar with Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist, but I was looking for a creator involved in the comic book industry.  (This distinction between comic strips and comic books needs further discussion.)

Joan Baccus (Maynard), the author of Golden Legacy #2 and several other volumes of the series, is the first name to pop up since Ormes.  That’s an 11 year stretch.  And Black female authors and artists are still very rare in comics.  Major publishers like Marvel and DC didn’t have a Black woman writer until the early 2000s (more to come on this point)!

Needless to say I’m still diligently looking for other names of Black women in comics.  I encourage the Black comic collectors community to weigh in on this conversation.  

Download our FREE Beginner's Guide to Black Comic Book Collecting

In this beginner’s guide I have showcased 13 of the most important Black comics of the 1990’s.    Also included in this guide is a Collector’s Checklist that presents even more Black comics published during the 90’s.

Welcome to the Black Comix Universe!