Pop Filter Event of the Week: Civil Rights Superheroes premieres at ToonSeum

Accompanied by primary documents such as letters from Dr. King, the 1956 film, A Walk To Freedom, and editorial cartoons of the day, Civil Rights Superheroes: Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story reveals how comic books and cartoons have inspired everyday citizens to work for racial equality and peace both here at home and around the globe.

Published in 1958, the powerful book ventured where no others of its genre did at the time. Neither the seedy crime-centric comic nor the family-friendly Sunday funnies of the era, the groundbreaking work immortalizes the extraordinary feats of everyday superheroes such as MLK and the citizens of Montgomery, Alabama.

Eschewing the terrains and trappings of typical comic books, such as far-away galaxies and gritty city streets, the heroic story captures 381 days of Montgomery, Alabama's legendary Bus Boycott. Drawn by the Al Capp Organization, the famed creators of L'il Abner, and penned by blacklisted writer Benton Resnick, the pioneering work serves as a mini-primer on the history and practice of non-violent resistance.

Visitors will learn about the comic book's trajectory, from production to censorship to global impact, and will discover how the work galvanized a movement and spread Montgomery's poignant story with a nationwide audience. Although the book was distributed by churches, labor unions and civic organizations throughout the South, very few original copies survive.

Inspiring international social justice movements, the book has been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Farsi and Vietnamese and distributed in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Curated by Sylvia Rhor, assistant professor of art history at Carlow University, the exhibition is on view through March 14.

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