Encountering Poems by Langston Hughes in Comic Strips

More than a year ago when I was studying a few different African American comic strips, I stumbled onto something unexpected. A couple of Stephen Bentley's strips for his comic Herb & Jamaal included poems by Langston Hughes.

First, on in his March 4, 2010 strip, I noticed that Bentley incorporated Langston Hughes's short poem "Acceptance."

Later, for his March 27, 2010 strip, Bentley incorporated one of my favorite poems by Langston Hughes, "Still Here."

The humor of Hughes's works seemed to lend themselves to the story arcs and personalities of Bentley's strip. Over the years, Bentley has incorporated quotations from a number of notable African American writers and cultural figures into the strips by people such as James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.