Rythm Mastr: Tower of Power: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is an issue of the comic book “RythmMastr: Every Beat of My Heart" formed out of a single newsprint sheet folded to create a four-page booklet. The front page has four graphic panels of different sizes. The top panel has text at the top in both vertical and horizontal lettering that reads “RYTHM / MASTR.” The panel depicts a large grey water tower seen through the sites of a weapons, with a white target bull-eye superimposed over it. Under the tower is a white rectangle with black text that reads “TOWER OF POWER.” There is small black text just above the white rectangle that reads “written & Drawn by / Kerry James Marshall / c KJM / 1999.” The next panel down shown a wide view of the water tower scene with a man aiming a rocket launcher on his shoulder towards the distant water tower. The man, wearing a dark blue jacket, stands with his back to the viewer. The bottom two panels show the man fitting a large silver rocket into the base of the rocket launcher. The interior of the booklet has four graphic panels on page two and five graphic panels on page three, all depicting an explosion and it's aftermath. The back page of the issue has four graphic panels. The top depicts the water tower platform with a grey cone in the shape of the water tower on it. There is a small rectangle with text at the top that reads “When the smoke cleared.” The second and third panels are in the middle of the page and show a crowd of people lost in a cloud of smoke. The third panel shows people in front of a brick building gazing upward. The fourth bottom panel depicts five characters from the back as they stand inside the grey cone of water.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1999-2000
• Illustrated by: Kerry James Marshall, American, born 1955
• Written by: Kerry James Marshall, American, born 1955
• Published by: Carnegie Museum of Art, American, founded 1895
• Type: comics
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W (closed): 17 1/16 × 11 9/16 in. (43.3 × 29.4 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Comics and graphic novels
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Graphic design
• Topic: Social reform
• Object number: 2020.57.3.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Kerry James Marshall Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.