Kwanza Osajyefo

Kwanza Osajyefo (pronounced kwahn-zuh oh-SAH-je-foh) is a Black American comic book writer, creator, and digital publishing executive who has worked in comics for nearly two decades. He is best known as the co-creator and author of BLACK — a critically acclaimed graphic novel series that asks: what if only Black people had superpowers? Osajyefo began his career as an intern and online producer at Marvel Entertainment, working his way up to digital editor. He later returned to comics to launch DC Comics' first webcomics imprint and drafted the blueprints for DC's digital comics initiative — one of the most significant structural contributions to digital comics publishing of its era. In 2016 he co-created BLACK with designer Tim Smith 3, artist Jamal Igle, cover artist Khary Randolph, and editor Sarah Litt, launching the project through a Kickstarter campaign during Black History Month that connected with readers in ways the team wasn't prepared for. BLACK — published by Black Mask Studios — imagines a modern America where only Black people can develop superpowers, opening with a young Black man who survives being shot by police and discovers he is part of the biggest lie in history. The series was praised by Comic Book Resources, Paste Magazine, io9, and others for its unflinching engagement with race, policing, and the Black experience in America. A sequel series, WHITE, followed in 2019, examining the societal response to Black superpowers and expanding the universe. A second sequel, BLACK [AF], was also published. Beyond BLACK, Osajyefo served as a creative architect of Humanoids' H1 Comics line — the American imprint of the premier French comics publisher — co-writing the flagship title Ignited with Mark Waid. He self-describes as a fabulist, Afrofuturist, and humanist, and has stated his preference for stories that draw from the human condition, centered on characters with varied perspectives.