Creators: John Jennings, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Bill Campbell, Damian Duffy, David Brame / Rosarium Publishing
Last week, we here at Black Nerd Problems got to present an exclusive about the latest project from Jennings, Ndlovu, Campbell, Duffy, and Brame: The Adventures of Lion Man. If you missed the exclusive, we’ll quickly recap some of the historical context that also lives within the book proper.
Back in 1947, Orrin C. Evans created one of the world’s first Black superheroes: Lion Man, whose singular appearance was in the singular issue of All Negro Comics. As you can imagine, the late 1940’s weren’t particularly kind to the publication and the ANC team couldn’t find a distributor, so the character faded into obscurity. But as luck would have it, Lion Man re-entered the public domain in a post-Black Panther world and now the character created by Orrin C. Evans and George J. Evans Jr. gets a second life in 2025.
The Adventures of Lion Man is a fascinating cross section of anthology, celebration, and reinvention. After the opening remarks from Michael Dando about the history of the book, we immediately transition to the original Lion Man story by Evans and Evans. The foreword is short and succinct: Lion Man is American-born, college educated and has been sent to guard the “Magi Mountain” of the African Gold Coast as it contains far too much uranium. Getting to the original story imparts a true sense of gravitas to the collection, as we get to see the precursor to so much media that has since come out. The pulp nature of the story feels familiar and in line with the era, with the added catharsis of watching old white men get their comeuppance. It feels like it is a proper #1, and it does evoke a sense that there was so much more to tell. And thankfully, this book manages to tell it.
Following the original, we have three new stories. “The Lion Outside” (story credits to both John Jennings and David Brame, writing and coloring by Jennings and illustrated by Brame) takes the pulpy science element and pushes it even further. The story takes a much more fantastic approach to the character, tinkering with some of the basic story structure we just discovered. Instead of being sent to protect uranium, Daniel Dennision is the student of Dr. Steven Webson who discovered the first ever deposit of veilium which serves as the crux for of conflict between the waking and dreaming worlds. It is a story about conversation and preservation, fitting giving the themes of the original, and provides additional texture and depth to the Lion Man mythos. This section of the book reads a bit more like an illustrated novel as opposed to a comic, but it lets Jennings’ weave the narrative wonderfully and lets Brame’s art and Jennings color pop off the page.
Next up was “A Plague on the Nation” (written by Bill Campbell and Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, illustrated by David Brame, with colors by John Jennings and Alexandria Batchelor, and letters by Jeremy Marshall). The comic chooses to anchor itself in a much more grounded reality. While of course, there is still a costumed superhero during costume superhero things, this comic feels akin to its modern-day cinematic brethren, a hero intervening in an international conflict because it is the right thing to do to preserve life. And like Black Panther and like Superman (2025) (comparisons I do not make lightly), “A Plague on the Nation” emphasizes the greater good, the importance of hope and symbols, and how the fight against injustice is a worthy one as difficult as it may be.
The ending comic is “The Tower” (another team up between BLKKATZ, Jennings and Brame), which we showed preview pages for last time. and I will gladly share my favorites here.
The final story takes the character to its most fantastical variation thus far and feels like a love letter to pulp fiction, and I am fraught to discuss it it in any more detail because I think this is something that should be experienced.
The Adventures of Lion Man does something really cool really effortlessly. A presentation of what was and what could be. We see different iterations of Lion Man and Bubba (Lion Man’s side kick) through different perspectives, and see different interplays between science, history, and dreaming. The team presents such a complete reintroduction package that pays homage and paves a way forward, and then on top of all of that, manages to toss in some really cool art and bonus goodies at the end.
I think this is a very cool project, and I think this should be on everyone’s radar, as both a reminder of a history that could have been just a footnote and as a victory lap for a team of Black creatives highlighting the importance of legacy and reclamation.
The Adventures of Lion Man is out now wherever you purchase your graphic novels (although may I recommend your local bookstore).
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