‘Black AF: America’s Sweetheart’ Stars a Young Black Girl Trying to Save America From Itself

Writer: Kwanza Osajyefo / Artist: Jennifer Johnson / Black Mask The Black series gave us a glance into a world where only Black people have superpowers and the organizations keeping that information closed off. Black AF: America’s Sweetheart is a world-building sequel where the public is now aware that Black people are capable of having special abilities. That goes as well as you might think. Enter: Ellie Franklin. Ellie was adopted by the Franklin family, lives in Montana, and has powers similar to a certain Kryptonian. Ellie is an all-around powerhouse forced to keep her abilities a secret. This changes once she sees other Black people on TV displaying their abilities as well as the additional scrutiny they now face. Yeah, shit ain’t looking good. Luckily, Ellie decides to do something about that.

Black AF: America’s Sweetheart’s Ellie has a heart of gold Ellie doesn’t know much about her past or who she is. What Ellie does know is that she wants to help. Ellie wants to show that Black people can have powers and can not be considered a threat. With that, a technology-based keepsake from Ellie’s past that she names B.O.B. helps her don some threads to become America’s first superhero. Ellie is able to help others but quickly learns that good intentions are roads often paved with politics. Black AF: American’s Sweetheart feels like a throwback to the Silver Age of comics trying to co-exist in the modern times of today. Ellie is young, optimistic, and bright-eyed in a world t…