Rapper and comic creator Darryl McDaniels, known as DMC from seminal hip-hop outfit Run DMC celebrated over a decade of making comics with his company, Darryl Makes Comics, at New York Comic Con October 9-12. The influential artist signed books, promoted his new line of cookies, and participated in a panel discussion on the Black experience in fan-driven spaces titled, “Young, Gifted and Whack,” alongside Wayne Brady and a slew of other creatives. “Nobody knows my first love is comic books,” DMC told the New York Amsterdam News in an onsite interview early Sunday morning. “Before rock and roll … before hip-hop came to Queens and the Bronx, all I did was read, collect and draw comic books.”
Darryl, who debuted his first comic at New York Comic Con over ten years ago, has often been on hand for the weekend to meet fans, sign autographs and tell his story. “In my comic I represent everything,” he explained. “I deal with every issue, every struggle that anybody could ever go through. My hero fights martians, demons, monsters, gangsters, anything.” DMC has used the medium to express his relationship to struggles that are personal to him: alcoholism, mental health, and adoption are themes presented throughout his work. “Through the galaxy, through the multiverse, whatever you can struggle against, my superhero fights against.”
DMC gravitated towards art and comics despite the lack of acceptance from his community and peers in the face of unrest during the Civil Rights Movement and the social climate of the time. “I understand oppression and racism, but as a kid my heroes was white ass Steve Rogers (Captain America) and white fucking Peter Parker (Spider-Man),” he said.
Johnny Knollwood photos
He recalls getting pushback from his own community. “I got a lot of disrespect because of it. ‘You’re into that corny white people shit, why are you reading those books, you’re supposed to be militant,’” he recalled others saying to him, eventually turning to hip-hop, which “gave him the power,” and injecting his fandom into songs like “King of Rock.” “Now we crash through walls, cut through floors, bust through ceilings and knock down doors,” he rapped. DMC would break down walls again by collaborating with Aerosmith on a rendition of “Walk This Way,” which harmoniously fused rock and hip-hop to mainstream audiences in a pioneering way.
DMC is no stranger to the power that art and expression hold in the face of division. “Art and creativity succeed where politics and religion fail,” DMC said. “And politics and religion fails us forever.” You can stay up to date with all of DMC’s ventures including Darryl Makes Comics, Darryl Makes Cookies, Darryl Makes Coffee, and an upcoming musical collaboration with members of Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, and Guns N’ Roses at his website.
“King of Rock,” awesome!