Afua Richardson is an

African-Native American Black Indians are Native American people – defined as Native American due to being affiliated with Native American communities and being culturally Native American – who also have significant African American heritage. Historically, certai ...

artist. She did covers for five issues of Marvel's ''

World of Wakanda ''Black Panther: World of Wakanda'' is a comic book series and a spin-off from the Marvel Comics '' Black Panther'' title. It published six issues before being canceled. The series was primarily written by Roxane Gay, with poet Yona Harvey contr ...

'' and art for a short story backup in the first issue. Her comic, ''Genius'', with writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman won Top Cow's 2008 Pilot Season. She illustrated a Langston Hughes poem in 2014 for NPR's ''Black History Month'', and did variant covers for several comic book titles including ''All Star Batman'' for DC comics, ''Attack on Titan'' for Kodansha, ''Mad Max'' for Vertigo, as well as covers/variant covers for ''X-Men '92'', ''Totally Awesome Hulk'', ''Shuri'', and ''Captain America and the Mighty Avengers'' at Marvel Comics. She was one of a small group of African American women artists who were employed by the "big two" comic publishers at the time she entered the industry.

Biography

Richardson was raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. From a family of scientists, she studied classical flute from age nine. As a flautist, she performed with ensembles at Carnegie Hall and on '' Soul Train''. She also performed with

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

and

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

. She was a

backup singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

, a

beatboxer Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

, a background dancer on ''

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the B ...

'' and appeared in an off-Broadway show with

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...

. She is part of the musical collective Future Soul Society, and recorded with Alexa Edmonds Lima under the name 'Afua & Alexa'. Richardson is a self-trained artist. She was a member of the now defunct

Ormes Society The Ormes Society is an online group that promotes black women who work in the comic book industry. The organization is named after Jackie Ormes, a pioneering African-American comic artist. History The Ormes Society was founded in 2007 by artist ...

, which promoted African-American women in the comics industry. For the comic book series, ''Genius'' (2007), she worked with writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman to tell the story through the voice of a black woman, Destiny Ajaye. Richardson's experience of being a minority in the United States influenced her work. In ''Genius,'' she draws violent acts in a way that is both "matter-of-fact and highly stylized," according to

ComicsAlliance ComicsAlliance was an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the catego ...

. She portrays Ajaye's thought processes and David Brothers called it "instantly understandable and worthy of poring over."

Awards

In 2011, Richardson received the

Nina Simone Award Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms * National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No income, ...

for Artistic Achievement as one of the few African-American women comic book artists to work for the leading publishers in the field.

Bibliography

Interior art

* ''

'' #1 (2017) (backup short story)

Top Cow

* ''Genius'' (2007)

Cover work

DC

* ''

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...

'' #2 – Variant (2017) * ''All Star Batman #1'' – Variant (2016)

Marvel

* '' Captain Marvel'' #4 – Variant (2016) * ''

Totally Awesome Hulk Totally may refer to: * ''Totally'' (album), album by German band Bad Boys Blue *Totally (company) Totally may refer to: * ''Totally'' (album), album by German band Bad Boys Blue * Totally (company), publishing company *Totally Games, video game ...

'' #2 – Variant (2016) * ''

X-Men '92 ''X-Men '92'' was originally a limited series as one of the many tie-in titles for Marvel's 2015 ''Secret Wars'' event and later was released in its second volume as a continuous series in early 2016, starring members of the popular 1990s Fox Ki ...

'' #1 – Variant (2016) * '' Captain America and the Mighty Avengers'' #14 – Variant (2015) * ''

'' #1–#5 (2017)

Image

* ''Black Magick'' #3 – Variant (2016)

Other art

* ''Attack on Titan Anthology'' – Pinup (2016) * ''Mad Max Fury Road Artist Book'' – Two-Page Spread (2016) * ''The Negro Speaks of Rivers'' – Illustrations of the Langston Hughes Poem set to Narration for NPR (2014)

References

External links

*
Richardson on Tumblr

NC Comicon Interview 2016

Atlanta Geek Scene Interview 2016

The Negro Speaks of Rivers 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Afua African-American artists 21st-century American women artists African-American musicians American flautists Living people 1980 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Artists from New York City