Aza Comics is giving girls a trip through the universe. That’s what the creator of the comic promises.
Jazmin Truesdale started the Black-owned, all-women comic-book universe because she wanted to see herself and other minorities represented, she told CBS News in an interview.
The Aza Universe creator said friends inspired some of the characters. She recalled being out one night with a diverse group of friends identifying as Black, Latina, and South Asian. Truesdale told CBS News, “I was like, if I want to see myself [represented], I’m sure they want to see themselves.”
“That’s how the whole Keepers was born. It’s like a group of women from different parts of the world all fighting to protect the universe,” she continued.
According to Aza’s website, Truesdale’s creation, using the industry’s best talent, “will develop a new generation of heroes for TV, Film, Comics, and Games that will be inclusive of everyone no matter the age, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.”
Truesdale told CBS News that she went through a difficult time just before she created the comic-book universe. “I kind of write these real-world instances happen to these girls, and how they would navigate them or how we as women would wish we had navigated that thing we wish we had said or that thing we wish we had did.”
The comics creator added, “I talked to every publisher out there, and they were like, ‘This is fascinating, but we don’t know what to do with this.’” “I had finished my MBA like the year before, and I was like, ‘Alright, so we’re going to do this thing. I’m going to make this company, and I’m going to publish it.’”
As the saying goes, if you can’t get a seat at the table, bring your own table. That’s what Truesdale did after she faced obstacles landing partnerships.
Source: Black Enterprise
