Barbara Brandon-Croft Explained

Barbara Brandon-Croft
Birth Date:27 November 1958
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York
Occupation:Cartoonist
Nationality:American
Genre:Comic strip
Notableworks:Where I'm Coming From

Barbara Brandon-Croft (born November 27, 1958)[1] is an American cartoonist,[2] best known for creating the comic strip Where I'm Coming From, and for being the first nationally syndicated African-American female cartoonist.[3] [4] [5]

Early life

Brandon-Croft was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Brumsic Brandon Jr. Her father was also a cartoonist and he was the creator of the comic strip Luther which was in circulation from 1970 to 1986 under the Los Angeles Times Syndicate newspapers.[3] [6] She and her father are said to represent the only occurrence of father-daughter newspaper cartoonists.[3]

While she was still a baby, her family moved to a predominantly Black neighborhood located in New Cassel, New York. [7] During school desegregation, she was bused to a nearby elementary school in Westbury, New York.

She attended the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.[1] [8] In 1982, she developed a cartoon feature for Elan, a magazine for black women.[1] She later joined the staff of Essence magazine as their fashion and beauty writer. She also created illustrations for The Crisis, published by the NAACP; as well as for The Village Voice and MCA Records.[6]

Brandon-Croft's illustrating talent had developed naturally. Growing up she helped her father with his comics in exchange for allowance.[1] She was first recognized for the comic strip Where I'm Coming From. She later did other illustrations including Sista Girl-Fren Breaks It Down...When Mom's Not Around.[1] Brandon-Croft also created a line of illustrated greeting cards for OZ.[1]

Where I'm Coming From

Brandon-Croft started publishing Where I'm Coming From beginning in 1989 in the Detroit Free Press.[3] The comic strip traces the experiences of about twelve African-American women[3] [5] and gives insight into the challenges of being an African American woman living in the United States.[9] It features characters such as Alisha, Cheryl, Lekesia, Nicole and others.[5] [6] The characters are based on Brandon and her real-life friends.[1] [6]

The artwork is minimalistic.[1] There is an absence of backdrop drawings, with the focus solely on the characters, who are represented by drawings of their upper torso.[1] Speech bubbles are also omitted and the characters address the reader directly.[1]

Where I'm Coming From went into national syndication in 1991 with the Universal Press Syndicate,[9] making Brandon-Croft the first female black cartoonist to be nationally syndicated.[3] [6] [9] [10] It was the first comic strip by a black woman to be syndicated in mainstream newspapers.[11] The comic strip was featured in more than sixty newspapers between 1989 and 2004.[3] [12] It appeared in newspapers throughout the United States, including Essence, The Sacramento Bee, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Baltimore Sun, as well as in The Gleaner in Jamaica and the Johannesburg Drum magazine.[1] [3] [12] Brandon-Croft ceased publication of the comic strips in 2005 after subscriptions dwindled.[10] [13]

Brandon-Croft's and her father's work are both represented in the Library of Congress and in editions of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year.[14]

Personal life

Brandon-Croft is married to Monte Croft, with whom she has one child, Chase. She resides in Queens, New York.[13] [14]

Exhibitions

Bibliography

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Otfinoski, Steven . African Americans in the Visual Arts . Infobase Publishing . 2003 . 9781438107776 . 27.
  2. Book: Comedy: A Geographic and Historical Guide, Volume 1 . Maurice Charney . Greenwood Publishing Group . 2005 . 9780313327148 . 131.
  3. Web site: Black Comic Book Day: Barbara Brandon-Croft - Where I'm Coming From . 23 February 2014.
  4. Web site: Toni Morrison Among Lates Medal Of Freedom Honorees . April 30, 2012 . 23 February 2014.
  5. News: Where I'm Coming From Sampler . The Lakeland Ledger . August 2, 1994 . 6B.
  6. Web site: Barbara Brandon Croft (1958-) . October 24, 2011 . February 23, 2014 . Source: Black Women in America, pp. 161-62; Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 3, pp. 16-17.
  7. Degand . D. . 2023 . 'Black lines on white paper': How comic artist Barbara Brandon-Croft draws on Where [She's] Coming From ]. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics . 1-23 . 10.1080/21504857.2023.2282063 . April 10, 2024.
  8. Charboneau . Jeffrey . Just for laughs . . 1995 . 12 . 2 . 28–29 . 28 March 2023.
  9. Web site: End is Near for Groundbreaking 'Where I'm Coming From' . 8 March 2005 . Dave . Astor.
  10. Web site: Barbara Brandon-Croft Ending Strip . Comics Reporter . March 9, 2005 . February 23, 2014.
  11. News: Origin Story . Douglas . Wolk . March 30, 2008 . The New York Times.
  12. Web site: 'Coloring Outside the Lines: Black Cartoonists as Social Commentators' exhibit to open at Laney . August 6, 2010 . Oakland Local . February 23, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100823215313/http://oaklandlocal.com/article/coloring-outside-lines-black-cartoonists-social-commentators-coming-laney-college-library-au . August 23, 2010 .
  13. Web site: Barbara Brandon . February 23, 2014.
  14. Book: C., Howard, Sheena. Encyclopedia of black comics. Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.,, Priest, Christopher J. (Christopher James), 1961-. 9781682751015. Golden, CO. 974683696. 2017.
  15. https://www.medialiagallery-archive.com/2020/feb2020spaceII.html Exhibition web page
  16. https://abc7ny.com/society/still-racism-in-america---a-retrospective-in-cartoons/6063450/ "SOCIETY: STILL: Racism in America - A Retrospective in Cartoons,"
  17. https://cartoons.osu.edu/events/still-racism-in-america-a-retrospective-in-cartoons/ Exhibition web page
  18. https://arts.ucdavis.edu/event/still-racism-america-retrospective-cartoons Exhibition web page

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