Billy Graham - Writer / Artist
Biography
Billy Graham was the first African American to be hired by Stan Lee to work at Marvel Comics. His art in the Black Panther and Luke Cage titles helped define the style and develop the worlds that continue to be immensely popular to this day.
His contribution to the comic book community began the process of creating a space for Black artists to call their own, bringing Black readers characters that looked like them, and dialog and situations they could relate to.
Billy's artistic talent was how he made a living, but his real passion was the stories. Creating worlds. He was a prolific writer: several of Billy's plays were produced and performed off-Broadway, but until recently nobody knew that he had written a screenplay.
"Ashanti Princess" is that screenplay. It is the first of Billy Graham's films to be developed for production. Years after his death, his granddaughter, Shawnna Graham, is picking up where Billy left off by working to bring his script to audiences who grew up with his art.