Robert Morales (1958 - 2013) was an American
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
writer, editor, and journalist known for creating ''
Truth: Red, White & Black'', which featured his original character
Isaiah Bradley
Isaiah Bradley is one of the superheroes to hold the title of Captain America, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is an early product of the United States' Super Soldier program (codenamed Project: Rebirth ...
. In addition to creating comics for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, Morales was an editor at
''Vibe Magazine'' and ''Reflex'' magazine throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
Life and career
Robert Morales was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on February 3, 1958. He was of
Afro-Puerto Rican descent.
Journalism and editorial career
Morales wrote short review pieces for the ''Dossier'' section of ''
Heavy Metal'' magazine in the period 1982 to 1985.
He was the executive editor of ''Reflex'' magazine in the early 1990s, where he brought author
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
onto the editorial team as consulting editor.
He was senior editor for the music and entertainment magazine ''
Vibe
''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...
'' from 1994 to 2007. He was the editor and literary executor for science fiction author
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ) (born April 1, 1942), is an American author and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays (on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society). His ...
, and assisted in the publication of Delany's graphic novel ''Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York''.
Delany reflected that Morales had originally introduced him to author
Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with themes such as childhood trau ...
, with whom he later collaborated.
Over the course of his career as a journalist, Morales wrote for publications such as ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
''.
Comics
Morales was also a comic book writer, known mostly for his work on the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
series ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
''. While working on ''Captain America'', Morales was known for writing story-arcs which tackled ongoing political issues and topics.
Morales pitched the idea for a black
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
at a meeting with
Joe Quesada
Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...
, Marvel's editor-in-chief. Morales later reflected that he was surprised that he was given the assignment, commenting that "I wrote a proposal that was so staggeringly depressing I was certain they’d turn it down. But they didn’t". The concept was developed into the hero
Isaiah Bradley
Isaiah Bradley is one of the superheroes to hold the title of Captain America, appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is an early product of the United States' Super Soldier program (codenamed Project: Rebirth ...
in the series ''
Truth: Red, White & Black''. Morales co-created the series with illustrator
Kyle Baker
Kyle John Baker (born 1965) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series ''Plastic Man''.
Baker has won numerous Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards for his wor ...
, with whom he had previously worked on satirical cartoons for ''Vibe Magazine''. ''Truth'' reimagined the origins of Captain America, by following the stories of four African-American soldiers used involuntarily as test subjects by the US government to develop
Steve Rogers' super serum. The series explicitly linked the Captain American mythos with the real world history of
unethical human experimentation in the United States
Numerous experiments which are performed on human test subjects in the United States are considered unethical, because they are performed without the knowledge or informed consent of the test subjects. Such tests have been performed throughout ...
,
white supremacy
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
and
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
. Much of the series was informed by Morales' studies of
African-American history
African-American history began with the arrival of Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. Former Spanish slaves who had been freed by Francis Drake arrived aboard the Golden Hind at New Albion in California in 1579. The ...
at the
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) b ...
.
The series faced Internet backlash ahead of its release from fans who worried that it would tarnish the legacy of fictional character Steve Rogers. Many critics, however, later recanted their criticism after the series was published. Morales rejected criticism that he made Captain America a party to racism, stating that "It's a book where every single person is complicit, one way or another".
The trade paperback version of ''Truth'' contained an afterword by Morales in which he clarified that myth, history and imagination, and provides sources for his story.
After writing ''Truth'', Morales was brought on to write the main ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
'' series, after the departure of
Dave Gibbons
David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
. Morales wrote ''Captain America'' volume 4, issues #21–28 in 2004. In an attempt to humanize Steve Rogers, Morales' managed to split fans' opinions fairly resoundingly, with Morales eventually leaving the title ten issues short of his intended contract for the series.
Death
Morales died in his home in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
on April 18, 2013.
[Hughes, Joseph]
"Robert Morales, Writer Of Marvel's 'Truth: Red, White And Black,' Passes Away,"
''Comics Alliance'' (April 18, 2013).
Selected bibliography
* ''
Truth: Red, White & Black'' #1–7 (Jan.–July 2003)
* ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
'' #21–28 (Feb. 2004–Aug. 2004)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Robert
African-American comics creators
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American male writers
Puerto Rican writers
American comics writers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American writers
1958 births
2013 deaths
American editors
African-American journalists
20th-century African-American writers
21st-century African-American writers