For about half a century, Quattro has immersed himself in comic book history and written extensively on the topic. Along the way, he has become a resource for Hollywood in its love affair with comics-themed content. Quattro served as a history consultant on the 2017 film “Professor Marsden and the Wonder Women.”
Quattro was having a hard time tracking down information about Baker until someone suggested he reach out to Samuel Joyner, an influential cartoonist, teacher and illustrator from Philadelphia who died last year at age 96. Black artists often had to work for comic shops, which Quattro describes as art studios that essentially functioned like assembly lines that churned out books quickly. At the time, he notes, “they were selling tens of millions of comic books every month."
Another subject of the book, Alvin Hollingsworth, started working in comics when he was barely into his teens. As a younger man, he drew the life story of Lena Horne for a 1948 issue of "Juke Box" comics and later moved on to magazine illustrations, fine art and teaching.