The Small Press Spotlight is looking at Niobe: She Tribe, a one-shot comic from actress Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King, The Underground Railroad) and Stranger Comics’ president Sebastian A. Jones. The comic will be part of the publisher’s Tales of Asunda series and will feature Niobe, the franchise’s star character first introduced in “The Untamed: A Sinner’s Prayer.” Mbedu and Jones will take on writing duties for the title set to release in the spring of 2023.
Stranger Comics is known within the comic industry for its diverse heroes and for championing BIPOC women. Tales of Asunda is an ongoing series in the expanding, interconnected world of Asunda, which is rich in culture and tradition with years of development. It celebrates many of its lead characters and backdrops in afro-fantasy-inspired settings, but with emotional themes that resonate globally on a deeply human level.
Read more here:
“Niobe: She Tribe will tackle the pros and cons of “tradition,” asking both character and reader if all traditions are good, to be followed as law, binding in mind, body, and spirit. If they are disputed, what are the motives? If they are flawed, how can they be resolved? And if traditions are changed, how can people accept and evolve?
When Niobe learns of a tradition that a tribal chief is decided in a fight to the death she must choose between challenging and changing an ancient custom or remaining hidden from the world and her destiny.”
Jones, the creator of Asunda, said of Mbedu:
“Upon meeting Thuso I knew I had to work with her. Her honesty and modest genius hold a wellspring of magical and relatable stories that need to be told. When we started brainstorming for the ‘She Tribe’ comic, Thuso breathed new life into Niobe and the vulnerable character relationships with such thought and care. Thuso is a rare spirit who speaks of many lives lived, here and before, and I couldn’t be more excited to share with our fans what we’ve got in store for Niobe and Asunda.”
Stay tuned for official release dates. Check out the cover by artist Tehani Farr.
