As I said at the close of February and beginning of March's B n' B Book Club read "March" by John Lewis, Black History, and Black Represention, is more than a month. In the spirit of continuing the conversation, I wanted to share a particularly poignant treat I experienced!
This week I was gifted some extra time, so I figured I'd get caught up on my YouTube Comic watch list. I decided to start with a live stream recording of "Chatting with the Comic Community" a show by one of my favorite comic book content creators Shaun aka "Stay Puff 1989" on YouTube and @Stay_Puff_1989 in Instagram, which turned out the be the best desicion I've made all week! *Note* If you follow Books and Bobbins (@ Bobbinsandbooks) on Instagram, you may recognize Stay Puff from our stories back in February, where we shared some of his #28DaysofBlackComicCreators posts during Black History Month.
I've been wanting to watch this particular episode since it came out last month. It featured Sebastian A. Jones founder of Stranger Comics, a company I've been dying to learn more about since seeing their comics highlighted on Shaun's Instagram feed. They caught my attention for two reasons... one, their covers featured absolutely beautiful artwork, and two, the focus of these georgous covers was an equally georgous Black girl!!!!
Represention in general, is a huge issue but finding diversity in comics with quality characters and storylines is a real challenge. Shaun's posts definitely piqued my interest, but I knew absolutely nothing about Stranger Comics or their character universe and wanted a little more back story.
What I got watching this episode was SO MUCH MORE.
Over the course of the two hour show, I was introduced to the infectiously passionate and brilliant mind behind Stranger comics Sebastian A. Jones. He details his fight to create and protect his intricate and complex characters as well as reveals some of the inspirations behind his company. Jones generously speaks of his love of comics, his passion for Black Music (a passion that culminated into his record company, which he ran for a decade, specializing in Jazz, Blues and the origins of Black Music Culture) as well as his own personal background which all spurred him to created the unique and inclusive experience of Stranger Comics.
Describing his vision for the books produced by his company as inspired by a combination of Taschen, Blue Note Records and HBO, he and his creative team make the highest quality and customer experience their goal.
In their own words "Stranger Comics creates content with a philosophy of quality, where both story and art are sacred and authentic representation matters." "Stranger Comics was born because we wanted to build inclusive worlds where thought provoking stories exist."
Bottom line, this guy not only wants to make great comics, but comics that have a great impact. True to their mission, within Stranger Comics' first ten years, the company has already made history producing the first comic series, Niobe: She is Life, to feature writing by a Black woman (Amandla Stenberg), artwork by black Woman (Ashley A. Woods) and have the comic itself starring a Black female character (Niobe). I for one cannot wait to get into that wonderful world!
Considering the the company's first ever "STRANGERCON" is coming up on THIS SATURDAY 03/20, I don't think I'll have to wait very long! Featuring a give away, auction, special guests and more, this sounds like the perfect opportunity to start a Stranger Comics collection!
Don't take my word for it, hear from the creator himself on Shaun's show (link below) and get caught up in a whole new, inclusive, world of fantasy.
Our mission: Stranger Comics creates content with a philosophy of quality, where both story and art are sacred and authentic representation
