Quick Facts
Biography
Joel Christian Gill is an American cartoonist, comics artist, graphic novelist, and author of three graphic novels from Fulcrum Publishing: Strange Fruit Vol I : Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, Bass Reeves: Tales of the Talented Tenth No.1, and Bessie Stringfield: Tales of the Talented Tenth, No. 2 and the forthcoming Strange Fruit Vol II: More Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History in February 2018.
Early life
Gill earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art from Roanoke College and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Painting from Boston University in 2004.
Career
Owing to the success of his ongoing series of graphic novels highlighting little known and uncelebrated historical African-Americans and the contributions they made to American history, Gill is frequently profiled in print and interviewed on television and radio. He is also asked to speak at comic arts conventions and college campuses across the U.S.and in 2016 was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University.
He has also contributed to the Huffington Postadvocating for the end to Black History Month and for the incorporation of the achievements of African-Americans into the larger narrative of American history. Gill is also a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable.
Gill currently teaches at the New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA) in Manchester, New Hampshire, and is Chair of the college's Foundations department.