A new exhibition at a Mississippi arts and cultural center explores the work of UC Riverside professor John Jennings in centering Black characters in graphic novels.
“John Jennings: Build Your World,” an immersive display of four of Jennings’ projects, opened June 20 at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, or the MAX, in Meridian, Mississippi. It will remain on view through spring 2027.
Jennings, a professor of media and cultural studies and an award-winning graphic novelist, is a native of Flora, Mississippi. In spotlighting his work, the center described his richly imagined world-building featuring Black characters and Mississippi culture.
Jennings took part in an artist talk and led a guided tour for opening day.
“I am so excited to be traveling home to Mississippi and sharing my experiences with the patrons of the MAX,” he said. “It’s a true honor and I hope people come and see what we’ve conjured up together.”
The show includes sketches, storyboards, and finished art from projects that include collaborative adaptations, a Marvel superhero, and a solo project.
“The exhibition offers a tangible way to study the creative process—from initial sketches to the finished page—and provides a gateway into the profound social and cultural questions addressed through science fiction,” a news release from the MAX stated.
Jennings said while people often associate the South with the past, many creators of Black speculative fiction are from places like Mississippi.
“Dreaming of a better future: that’s an Afrofuturist notion,” he said.
The featured projects are:
• “Silver Surfer: Ghost Light,” a Marvel Comics reinvention of a forgotten Black character created in 1969 as a cosmic guardian.
• “Blue Hand Mojo: Hard Times Road,” a solo work conceived, written, drawn, and colored by Jennings set in 1930s Chicago, blending folklore and magic.
• “Kenny Dreadful and the Hainted Hoodie,” an original Southern Gothic tale about a magical hoodie haunted by ancestral spirits that blends horror and folklore.
• “Kindred,” a graphic novel adaptation of author Octavia Butler’s seminal science fiction novel. Two dozen original drawings from the graphic novel are on display at the exhibition.
“I’m especially excited to showcase these never-before-seen drawings from ‘Kindred’ alongside the completed book, to demonstrate the process Jennings used to imagine and create new, liberated worlds,” said Benjamen Douglas, curator at the MAX.
A series of related programs will accompany the exhibition including the Mississippi Book Festival in September that Jennings is scheduled to attend.
Header image by Marianne Todd/Courtesy of The MAX
