Rob Stull

My Friend,

TOM FEELINGS

(5/19/1933 – 8/25/2003)

Tom Feelings was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. He was an award winning Author, Illustrator, Teacher, Activist and Sequential Artist. Not to mention, a world renowned children’s book illustrator, who once collaborated with the likes of Maya Angelou, Margaret Walker and Langston Hughes. He was the featured artist in my 10-year traveling exhibit, Sequential Art: The Next Step (showcasing the work of African American comic book artists). He was also my friend.

I first met Mr. Feelings in 1995 when he blessed me with an offer to participate in my exhibit. I was well aware of his (at that time) current milestone achievement “The Middle Passage : White Ships / Black Cargo.” An incredible picture book (no words) visually depicting the journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean. What I was not aware of, however, were his significant contributions to the world of sequential comic book art earlier in his career. An impressive body of work that included writing, penciling and inking credits on Bertram Fitzgerald’s Golden Legacy/Black History comic book series, numerous war comics, and the “ghost” illustrator for the Batman newspaper comic strip. Mr. Feelings would fill in for the regular Batman artist when he went on vacation, but the newspaper would not let him sign his name to the original artwork…it was the 50’s…need I say more? A large portion of that early comic book work was showcased for the first time in The Next Step exhibits. A spectrum of this master illustrator’s work from the beginning of his career up to 1995. Back then I often thought how natural it was for our paths to cross at that particular time in both our lives.

Mr. Feelings developed the concept for The Middle Passage book while living in Ghana, West Africa in the 60’s. He spoke of how he visited some of the old holding forts (or dungeons) that housed hundreds of Africans along the coast line, before shipping them off to the “New World.” He once told me that the head-space he needed to put himself in to produce, and later complete, this work was both emotionally and psychologically exhausting. That would explain the nearly two decades long process (from start to finish) of completing this historical landmark of modern publishing.

I highly recommend The Middle Passage. If you are unfamiliar with the man or his work, hit the link at the bottom, buy a book and educate yourself. It will change your life. It changed mine.

“When I am asked what kind of work I do, my answer is that I am a storyteller, in picture form, who tries to reflect and interpret the lives and experiences of the people that gave me life.” – Tom Feelings

Thanks for reading.

Peace,

R

Buy the book: The Middle Passage.