Clarence Matthew Baker was an American comic book artist who drew the costumed crime fighter Phantom Lady, among many other characters. Active in the 1940s and 1950s Golden Age of comic books, he is the first known African-American artist to find success in the comic-book industry. Baker attended the Cooper Union School of Engineering, Art, and Design in New York. By 1944, he was employed in his first professional artist job with the S.M. Iger Studio. He first published his work in Jumbo Comics #69.
The Phantom Lady is Baker’s most recognized work. Baker penciled what is arguably the first graphic novel, St. John Publications’ digest-sized “picture novel” It Rhymes with Lust (1950). His specialty was drawing “good girl art”, a comics sub-genre for which his available work is in high demand with collectors. He worked for various publishers including Fox, St. John, Fiction House, and Quality Comics.
His other notable work includes military-humor title Canteen Kate, Tales of The Mysterious Traveler; the feature “Sky Girl” in Fiction House’s Jumbo Comics, and the jungle adventures of “Tiger Girl.”
Five years of lobbying comes to fruition on September 1, 2001, as the U.S. Postal Service releases the first American stamp celebrating Muslim holidays. A blue stamp featuring gold calligraphy celebrating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, along with the English words “EID GREETINGS,” …read more
On September 1, 1807, he was acquitted on the grounds that, although he had conspired against the United States, he was not guilty of treason because he had not engaged in an overt act, a requirement of treason as specified by the U.S. Constitution. Nevertheless, public opinion condemned him as a traitor, and he spent several years in Europe before returning to New York …
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.