My cartoon and comic creativity help thread

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Hi. Rather than start individual threads asking for help with cartoon and comic creativity, which includes help with creative writing, I think it might better for me just to post about all this here. I also want to include stuff about help with drawing and voice acting.

I have a few ideas I would like to start with.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 4 • Views: 5,341 • Replies: 114

Here's one idea I want help with.

What would be a good name for this Black urban superhero?

He can generate hair blasts when he is angry and/or when he's under great stress or excitement (that's kind of like a super flight-or-fight response), but has to wear a special durag over his hair to keep his powers in check.

I wanted to call him "Black Durag" but that sounds too generic.

I am open to suggestions. Please help- thank you.

3 Replies

Just write it.

0 Replies

@JGoldman10,

Black Samson, in reference to the Biblical hero.

2 Replies

@JGoldman10,

Isn't calling him Black anything a bit racist?

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

That's offensive.

0 Replies

@cherrie,

No, black is the color of his durag. I am not creating a Captain Ethnic.

0 Replies

"Nap Man" or "Napman" might work. I was thinking "Napper Man" or "Napperman" too, but that sounds a bit too busy.

2 Replies

@JGoldman10,

JGoldman10 wrote:

"Nap Man" or "Napman" might work. I was thinking "Napper Man" or "Napperman" too, but that sounds a bit too busy.

So Black Samson is offensive but all the above are OK.

Other than your mum, do you know any other black people?

1 Reply

There is a hair related comic character already out there. You might want to look at it so you don't get accused of plagiarism.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w7jTpcDH5VA/WEZvjRFr0UI/AAAAAAAAGcs/TL1Hf7rbU4gxr4Uhsh_SbZJPBb6CKH7FQCLcB/s1600/hewligancover.jpg

0 Replies

@JGoldman10,

Nappy is seen as a racial slur.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/08/09/412886884/the-racial-roots-behind-the-term-nappy

Without context, Napman sounds like a sleeping hero or a dream based hero like Sandman from the 1940s.

2 Replies

@Rebelofnj,

Nappies over her are what you call diapers. Nappies are full of ****, so it's the same as calling one's hair ****.

0 Replies

@Rebelofnj,

Rebelofnj wrote:

Black Samson, in reference to the Biblical hero.

He's already a comic book figure. Plagiarism is a law suit waiting to happen.

0 Replies

@izzythepush,

And my dad was a White Jewish man. What's your point?

"Black Samson" is offensive for religious reasons.

Yes I know other Black people.

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

Look at the first two definitions for "napper":

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=napper

https://books.google.com/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&pg=PA1351&dq=nap+black+hair&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjnr9SDuf3kAhVvUt8KHVHDD-cQ6AEwB3oECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=nap%20black%20hair&f=false :

nap- the short, curly hair of a black person

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

My point is that Samson is not offensive, not for normal Christian people, but nappy is offensive to a lot of black people..

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

Urban Dictionary is not accurate.
The second definition entry also has numerous mentions of the N-word.

And the Google Books link says that Nappy is often derogatory.

Plus the link I provided but you didn't read says the term is still seen as offensive.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

No- the character's powers have nothing to do with Samson. That's why I said "Black Samson" was offensive.

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

Why is "nappy" offensive when African Americans use the term amongst themselves to refer to their hair?

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

The N word is also used in the community. That does not make it any less offensive.

To quote the article you haven't read:
"Hair texture was one of the many rationalizations of the perceived subhuman status of the African, according to Silvio Torres-Saillant, a professor of humanities at Syracuse University. He says the focus on hair began as Europeans tried to rationalize their dominance and superiority.

"[The argument] was based on the phenotype," said Torres-Saillant. "And that included the skin color, their build, their height, and it especially included their hair."

Those negative associations have endured for centuries."

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