Hello and welcome back! Did you know that Kankakee county is home to an original comic book series? For this week’s Black History Month feature, we are going to be discussing the story and artwork of original comic book creator, Darrell Damper.

In addition to being a self-taught artist, Darrell is a Navy veteran, father, and creator of original comic book series High-Top.

High-Top, which currently has four issues available, tells the story of Anthony, otherwise known as High-Top. By night, Anthony is an upstanding citizen who works for the local community center helping young people. By night, however, High Top emerges as a vigilante who, in true superhero-fashion, fights to provide justice for his hometown.

Although Darrell’s work is self-published and he describes himself as self-taught, he did receive some art education. In fact, Darrell tells in his episode that the idea of High-Top as a character was originally drafted with the help of a professor for class final project. Darrell even shares a glimpse into the inspiration of how High-Top came to life, stating that the character is “a mix between Deadpool and Batman”.

Thank you for your service, Darrell, and thank you for sharing your creativity and art with the community. 

Listen to Kankakee Podcast episode with Darrell:

https://www.kankakeepodcast.com/episodes/episode-18-darrell-damper-comic-book-creator/

If you’d like to purchase any of the High-Top comics, please visit: 

https://4thsondesigns.com/

If you’d like to browse more High-Top as well as Darrell’s other art, please visit:

https://www.instagram.com/4thsoncomics_llc/

Lizzie Yolich
Administrative Assistant
Kankakee Podcast