Art exhibit brings history of Frederick Douglass, John Brown to life in graphic novel form

Throughout the month of February, the Liberty University Art Museum is exhibiting a professor’s ambitious project, “Sound of the Trumpet,” which introduces the historic relationship between abolitionists Frederick Douglass and John Brown to a new generation through comic book animation.

Dr. Barron Bell, an art and design assistant professor who has taught online courses for the Department of Studio & Digital Arts (SADA) since 2013, is the lead artist and editor on the project, part of a larger ambition to spread Douglass’ life story.

Bell had already been working with the Douglass Leadership Institute on an animation project related to Douglass’ legacy, called “The Runaway Plot,” when he met screenwriter Dustin Green and producer/director Jim Morrison IV, who were in the midst of pitching a movie script about Douglass to Hollywood. Bell brought the duo, himself, and his longtime collaborator, writer/producer Daniel Hancock, together to adapt the script to a graphic novel that would aid in pitching the feature film. The result is “Sound of the Trumpet.”

“Ever since starting ‘The Runaway Plot,’ I’ve been trying to have a large, expansive volume of Douglass’ entire life story in graphic novel form, and I’ve been kind of pecking away at little portions of his story,” Bell said. “When I met (Morrison and Green) and heard about their idea, I knew it would get me one step closer to my goal. It also aligned with my personal goals of communicating the hard truths of history in an engaging way and through a Judeo-Christian worldview.”

He said the goal of “Sound of the Trumpet” is to demonstrate how Douglass and Brown worked to end slavery in America and to tell the story in a way that doesn’t compromise historical accuracy while keeping readers intrigued.

“We want to weave a narrative that’s very dramatic, very exciting, and very action packed while also integrating well-researched historical facts,” Bell said. “We are telling a very credible historical narrative that involved two Christian men who were coming at anti-slavery and the abolishment of slavery from two completely different perspectives: the pen versus the sword.”

Bell has also included 10 SADA students in the project, giving them professional experience as graphic designers, 3D modelers, and character designers for the novel.

The 100-page novel is still in production, but the art exhibit features 15 pages and background information on the project’s goals and behind-the scenes work of putting the story to paper. In other corners of the exhibit, replicas of newspaper front pages from the “Bleeding Kansas” era (1854 to 1861) and examples of Bell’s other works are available to view, including his “Dominion” series depicting the biblical story of King Saul in an outer space, sci-fi world.

Bell has been creating comics and graphic novels since 2001. He said the medium is where art and storytelling work together to portray truth and narratives in an entertaining and consumable way for those who are not prone to traditional reading.

“A lot of kids won’t normally read, but they’ll read a comic,” he said. “With a comic, while it is reading, it’s more like experiencing the story. Our current culture is very visual-based, and so graphic novels and comics meet a nice little middle ground where you can engage a kid visually because it’s cool and it’s colorful.”

Through “Sound of the Trumpet” and his larger goal of depicting Douglass’ entire life in graphic novel form, Bell said he wants to encourage conversations and education about this time of American history.

“What I ultimately want visitors to get out of this exhibit is the ability to feel history, to actually uncover things that a lot of people have long forgotten or had never really heard of,” he said. “I also want conversations to begin about this hard part of history. I want people to understand that they have to get the whole story. There were good people who existed during this time period, and there were bad people … . Let’s talk about the objective truth, and let’s talk about it from God’s standpoint. How do we all fit into this story? How do we talk about this together in a healthy and productive way? This can help those conversations.”

Todd Smith, founding curator of the art museum and chair of SADA, said the exhibition provides “an innovative and engaging context for celebrating the incredible life and achievements of Frederick Douglass.”

“The graphic novel, which is so popular today, is an artistic format that is appealing to a wide range of audiences. The partnerships to bring this exhibit together have been a wonderful experience for our students.”

In addition to Bell’s work, the museum is also currently recognizing a separate project from the Helms School of Government that also focuses on the topic of slavery in America. Spearheaded by research fellow Andy Langeland (22), the effort is uncovering some of the often overlooked and unaccounted aspects of manumission in Virginia’s history.