As mentioned here on ComicMix back on February 12, Cheryl Lynn has been busy creating a new and very needed comics organization.  The website is now live and ready for your participation! 

The Ormes Society, named after the legendary pioneering cartoonist of color Jackie Ormes, is an organization dedicated to supporting black female comic creators and promoting the inclusion of black women in the comics industry as creators, characters and consumers.  In addition to their front-page weblog, the Society also has an active forum up and running. 

Cheryl is a real powerhouse so there’s bound to be tons of activity; get in on the ground floor!  The launch of the organization will be discussed in further detail at the New York Comic Con, where Cheryl will be a panelist on the Black Panel in prime-time, Saturday afternoon at 2 PM, moderated by ComicMix columnist Michael Davis!

Look for further updates on Ormes Society activities here in the near future!

Mark Evanier reports the sad news of the death of comics great Bob Oksner at age 90. 

Oksner began drawing around 1940 for Funnies, Inc., an art service that supplied comic book material to a number of publishers, including Timely (now Marvel) Comics, who hired him to work on various strips throughout much of the decade.

In 1945, he began work on a syndicated newspaper strip, Miss Cairo Jones, that caught the attention of DC editor Sheldon Mayer, who invited Oksner to work for DC — where he wound up for the rest of his long and storied career,on titles as varied asThe Black Canary, The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Sgt. Bilko, Leave it to Binky, Stanley and His Monster and many more. Oksner co-created The Angel and the Ape in the late sixties, received the National Cartoonists Society Award in its Comic Book Division for 1960 and 196, and won the Shazam Award in 1970 for Best Pencil Artist (Humor Division).

Mark has much more on his site.