From what I’ve seen, last week’s stunt by a group of black comic strip creators was pulled off very well indeed. The stunt, as you’re aware of by now, was to render the same story over and over again in each of their respective strips as a means to protest the belief that black-themed comic strips are interchangeable. The idea was a smart one, and it has generated some much-needed discussion on the web.

I’ve done several interviews with comic strip artists in the past, and they agree that the newspaper strip field is a stiflingly conservative one, in which change is slow and incremental and rarely met without resistance – especially from the readers. I suspect part of the reason why stems from the fact that many newspaper readers regard the funnies as an oasis of comfort and amusement amidst stories of war, crime, a flailing economy, environmental problems, etc. – no matter how bad the world is, the theory goes, one can always rely on getting a good laugh out of Cathy or Dilbert or Mutts. Strips like these tend to reconfirm shared beliefs about ourselves and society, real or not.

The only problem is that not everyone shares these beliefs. And even in 2008, some people don’t like to be reminded of this fact.

The perception that all black people think alike is pervasive. It cuts across practically all lines of mass media and has made it historically difficult to get more black voices into the mix. My chief concern with this stunt was whether or not enough of these strips would be seen at once so that the point would come across clearly, and I’m talking about in print, not online. Will small-town, suburban Middle America get the message, or will it be written off as something clever? Time will tell, but I hope the cartoonists who took part in this stunt will look on this as a first step in building awareness – especially now that cost-cutting has resulted in more and more strip cartoonists losing their jobs.

Strips like PVP and Penny Arcade have proven that cartoonists can build and sustain a career on the web. Perhaps more black cartoonists should follow this model – developing a brand online, independent of newspapers and syndicates that feel no need to add a Watch Your Head because they already have Herb & Jamaal or Jump Start. If editors – and readers – are unwilling to open their minds a bit more, then look for it to happen, sooner rather than later.