Inside the NOIR IS THE NEW BLACK expanded edition

Noir Is The New Black, an anthology that includes noir comics by Black creators, is getting a brand new expanded edition, out all over the place at this time.

And at this time The Beat has some unique insights from a pair of the concerned creators, particularly Joseph P. Illidge and ChrisCross, who created the new brief story “The Winterfields,” which is a prelude to the upcoming full-length graphic novel The Winterfields popping out in 2025 from Noir is the New Black writer FairSquare Comics. In addition, now we have some new unique artwork to share…yow will discover all of it under after a promo picture by Cross and colorist Chris Sotomayor, take pleasure in!

Noir Is The New Black

Illidge had this to say about The Harlem Renaissance as the setting of a narrative:

“The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was such a revolutionary time of amazing Black writers, artists, and musicians. Against such a backdrop, the people who are just trying to find their way can be just as heroic and considerably more tragic. Cain Winterfield is the kind of guy who lives in harm’s way by being a bodyguard so he can make enough money to live and raise his son. He may not change the world, but he will provide for his boy, Carver. Carver Winterfield is a pre-teen living on the line between violence and adolescence. Unlike teenage superhero sidekicks who smile and joke through battles while living the good life, Carver is more attuned to the realities of the street…but inside he’s trying to figure out who he is outside of being his father’s son.”

And Cross had this to say about noir as a style:

“Noir to this day has never really been a diverse genre. As broad as it is in the medium, I think of the old great film noir titles like Rear Window, Double indemnity, Vertigo…I imagine how the movies would have been with a Black lead. My job with The Winterfields is to make the art as interesting as the visuals in those films. It’s not always black and white, but alongside our “Devil with a Blue Dress On”-style femme fatale, Joseph and I get to inform a narrative about Cain (who’s harking back to novelist Walter Mosley’s character Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins), who has a son, Carver, who could also be creating to be as loopy as Mosley’s Raymond “Mouse.” But the father and son dynamic will show to have a way to the insanity. We will see precisely why this era of Winterfields are to be a vital drive in 20s Harlem. My job is to indicate you simply that.”

Finally, under yow will discover an unique reveal of paintings from the expanded edition by Chriscross with colours by Toyin “Morby” Ajetunmobi.