Clarence Matthew Baker also known as
Matt Baker was born on December 10th, 1921 in Forsyth County, North
Caroline. As a child his family moved to Pittsburgh. After high
school he was drafted during World War 2 but a heart condition
prevented him from being in it. He began studying art in New York
City and became an outsourced comic book artist. What that means is
that he was commissioned to do at from one particular person, kinda
like an agent, and sent his work in.
The first of his work that is
actually confirmed is from a “Sheena Queen of the Jungle” story
in 1944. He drew for many different comic book companies using the
name Matt Bakerino before settling with Atlas Comics which eventually
became Marvel Comics. He became the first Black comic book artist.
With his art he drew Westerns, science fiction, and romance comics.
He passed away from a heart attack at the age of 37. In 2009 he was
inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. As someone
that draws till this day and started when I was about 4 years old it
would've been cool to know about this guy during Black History Month
growing up.
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