When celebrating the history of something, I think it’s good to look at the good and bad. There’s a whole lot of good when it comes to “black comic history,” but holy crap is there also a lot of bad. Here’s one of those bad things. Created in 1940 by comic legend Will Eisner, Ebony White was a sidekick to Denny Colt, aka The Spirit. The character is a bit ambiguous, at times being an adult driving a car, and at other times he’s a resourceful kid. Many times the character disarms the villain, or excels in science, no matter the possible age. The character in a lot of ways is an early version of Batman’s Robin, living with The Spirit in his headquarters, having his education sponsored by the Spirit, and even being called his ward at times.

But, the age isn’t the biggest thing about the character. As you can clearly see, the character is designed with the racial stereotypes of the time. With large white eyes, and thick lips, the character is a cringe-worthy character design for an African-American character.

The character at the time was both praised and criticized. Eisner himself was mixed about Ebony White. He acknowledged the racial stereotype, but also didn’t apologize, feeling it was what was done during the time.

In the 2007 DC Comics Spirit series the character was updated a bit, and was a 14 year old who illegally drives a taxi. The rather racist history of the character was acknowledged at time with statements made to him, including one about being a lawn jockey. In another reboot of the Spirit, the character is a young girl instead.

Cringe-worthy or not, Ebony White is one of the earliest African American characters to appear in a superhero comic.