Ebony White
Encyclopedia
Ebony White is a fictional character
from the 1940 comics
series The Spirit
, created by Will Eisner
. He first appeared in the The Spirit comic strip of June 2, 1940. He is a black
sidekick
to Denny Colt, the title character. His age is ambiguous: sometimes he appears to be a young boy, at other times he is clearly an adult who drives a taxi
. He frequently helps the Spirit out of tough situations.
s in mainstream 20th century United States
culture. His name is a racial pun
, and his facial features - including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips - are typical of blackface
caricatures. The size of a small child, he resembles a stereotypical pickaninny
. As a loyal assistant to the white hero, he has been compared to the Uncle Tom
stereotype. (Midnight, a character created as a substitute for the Spirit, had a talking monkey as one of his sidekicks.)
Eisner reported receiving letters of both praise and criticism for the character at the time. In a 1966 New York Herald Tribune
feature by his former office manager-turned-journalist, Marilyn Mercer claimed, "Ebony never drew criticism from Negro groups (in fact, Eisner was commended by some for using him), perhaps because, although his speech pattern was early Minstrel Show
, he himself derived from another literary tradition: he was a combination of Tom Sawyer
and Penrod
, with a touch of Horatio Alger hero, and color didn't really come into it".
Eisner later expressed mixed feelings about his portrayal of Ebony White. He acknowledged that he was conscious at the time that he was using a racial stereotype, but was unapologetic about it, defending it by stating that "at the time humor consisted in our society of bad English and physical difference in identity." In reference to his graphic novel
Fagin the Jew
, Eisner acknowledged parallels between Charles Dickens
' use of racial stereotyping for that character (which Eisner criticized) and Eisner's own portrayal of White, but asserted that his own work had not "capitalized on" the stereotype.
' Spirit comic-book series, which began in 2007, White is portrayed as a fourteen year-old street kid, illegally driving a taxi. In an early appearance, the script alludes critically to his historic racist portrayal, with a character asking if he "will be standing on the Spirit's lawn with a lantern". He is portrayed as putting his street experience and his daring attitude to work at the Spirit's service. His origins are now tied to Colt's, with White being the cabbie who brought Colt to the place in which Colt apparently met his demise. Knowing of his death, a guilt-stricken White acknowledged that his previous prejudices against Colt, whom he had considered an amateurish detective afraid to sully his hands, were harsh, and that White could have helped him more. Colt, who had already awakened from his apparent death, then asked White for help. The youngster gladly accepted, keeping himself on call for his new friend.
The character also appears in Brian Azzarello
's neo-noir First Wave
universe, once again as the sidekick of the Spirit. Here Ebony is portrayed as a teenaged girl rather than a young boy.
. Here, he is a young hustler who becomes the Spirit's sidekick following Denny Colt's awakening.
The character did not appear in the December 2008 motion picture adaptation
of Will Eisner's series.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the 1940 comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
series The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
, created by Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
. He first appeared in the The Spirit comic strip of June 2, 1940. He is a black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
to Denny Colt, the title character. His age is ambiguous: sometimes he appears to be a young boy, at other times he is clearly an adult who drives a taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
. He frequently helps the Spirit out of tough situations.
Racial connotations
The character is cited as an example of racial stereotypeStereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s in mainstream 20th century United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
culture. His name is a racial pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
, and his facial features - including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips - are typical of blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
caricatures. The size of a small child, he resembles a stereotypical pickaninny
Pickaninny
Pickaninny is a term in English which refers to children of black descent or a racial caricature thereof. It is a pidgin word form, which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino . In the Creole English of Surinam the word for a child is pikin ningre...
. As a loyal assistant to the white hero, he has been compared to the Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom is a derogatory term for a person who perceives themselves to be of low status, and is excessively subservient to perceived authority figures; particularly a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people....
stereotype. (Midnight, a character created as a substitute for the Spirit, had a talking monkey as one of his sidekicks.)
Eisner reported receiving letters of both praise and criticism for the character at the time. In a 1966 New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
feature by his former office manager-turned-journalist, Marilyn Mercer claimed, "Ebony never drew criticism from Negro groups (in fact, Eisner was commended by some for using him), perhaps because, although his speech pattern was early Minstrel Show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
, he himself derived from another literary tradition: he was a combination of Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
and Penrod
Penrod
Penrod is a collection of comic sketches by Booth Tarkington that was first published in 1914. The book follows the misadventures of Penrod Schofield, an eleven-year-old boy growing up in the pre-World War I Midwestern United States, in a similar vein to Tom Sawyer...
, with a touch of Horatio Alger hero, and color didn't really come into it".
Eisner later expressed mixed feelings about his portrayal of Ebony White. He acknowledged that he was conscious at the time that he was using a racial stereotype, but was unapologetic about it, defending it by stating that "at the time humor consisted in our society of bad English and physical difference in identity." In reference to his graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Fagin the Jew
Fagin the Jew
Fagin the Jew is the title of a graphic novel by Will Eisner .In this book, Eisner retells the story of Fagin from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist from Fagin's point of view...
, Eisner acknowledged parallels between Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' use of racial stereotyping for that character (which Eisner criticized) and Eisner's own portrayal of White, but asserted that his own work had not "capitalized on" the stereotype.
Present
In DC ComicsDC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Spirit comic-book series, which began in 2007, White is portrayed as a fourteen year-old street kid, illegally driving a taxi. In an early appearance, the script alludes critically to his historic racist portrayal, with a character asking if he "will be standing on the Spirit's lawn with a lantern". He is portrayed as putting his street experience and his daring attitude to work at the Spirit's service. His origins are now tied to Colt's, with White being the cabbie who brought Colt to the place in which Colt apparently met his demise. Knowing of his death, a guilt-stricken White acknowledged that his previous prejudices against Colt, whom he had considered an amateurish detective afraid to sully his hands, were harsh, and that White could have helped him more. Colt, who had already awakened from his apparent death, then asked White for help. The youngster gladly accepted, keeping himself on call for his new friend.
The character also appears in Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello
Brian Azzarello is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo.-Career:...
's neo-noir First Wave
First Wave (comics)
First Wave is a 2010 six-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Azzarello drawn by Rags Morales and published by DC Comics.It is also the name of a separate DC Comics fictional universe, crossing pulp fiction characters over with versions of established DC heroes.-Publication history:The...
universe, once again as the sidekick of the Spirit. Here Ebony is portrayed as a teenaged girl rather than a young boy.
Other media
Ebony appears as a character named "Eubie" in the 1987 Spirit TV movie, played by Bumper RobinsonBumper Robinson
Bumper Robinson is an American actor and voice artist. Robinson got his nickname because he repeatedly bumped into things while running through his home as a young child.- Life and career :...
. Here, he is a young hustler who becomes the Spirit's sidekick following Denny Colt's awakening.
The character did not appear in the December 2008 motion picture adaptation
The Spirit (film)
The Spirit is a 2008 American superhero noir film, written and directed by Frank Miller and starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on the newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner...
of Will Eisner's series.