If you missed the 2nd Annual Women In Comics Collective Convention on March 12 you really missed out on something special, here is a wrap-up of the events and some links for you to check out so you can check out what you missed!

Vortex Comics out of Nigeria have several properties that they are currently promoting right now and as part of my Africa Rising series I will be covering one of their titles, Mumu Juju.  Mumu Juju, roughly translated means “magical foolishness” which is exactly what the protagonists Mortar and Pestle are up to in this series about two spiritual servants working off a debt to a god that sends them on various quests for magical items in the spirit world.

This review is part of my Africa Rising series highlighting African comic book companies, authors, characters and stories. Comic Republic, founded by Jide Martin in Lagos, Nigeria, is a fledgling comic book company melding African lore and spiritualism with superheroes. They have a full library of comics with both male and female superheroes that are all black and all Nigerian. 

I’m starting a series here on theblerdgurl called “Africa Rising” and through it I am going to highlight several artists and comic book companies that are based in Africa, artists that are telling stories about Africa or feature African characters. To kick things off, I‘ve highlighted 7 comic book companies that are either based in Africa or headed by 1st gen African founders. Each of these companies’ work I will go into more detail about throughout the month.

VIZ Media has just announced the debut of Death Note: The Complete Anime Series available on Blu-ray. You folks might not know this about me, but I love me some anime and not just the mecha fighting kind either. I love the mystical crime drama mysteries as well, like Durrarara!, Psycho Pass, Ghost in the Shell and one of my favorites, Death Note. (I actually own the entire “Black Collection”)

For those of you who are not familiar, Death Note the anime is based on the groundbreaking Death Note manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata (and published by VIZ Media; rated ‘T’ for Teens). The story is an edgy supernatural crime thriller about Light Yagami, a genius high school student  who’s life changes forever when

One day I was looking over a friend’s shoulder at a graphic novel they were reading on an iPad. I was immediately captivated by the gorgeous artwork, even though I was unable able to see the text from where I was sitting. I immediately downloaded the book from Amazon to find out more and that’s the first time I saw artist Paul Louise-Julie’s name. What my friend was reading was The Pack, a graphic novel about a couple of brothers who happen to be werewolves in a story that takes place in ancient Egypt.

LockettDown Productions and BronxHeroes are back with the 2nd Annual Women in Comics Collective NY International (WiNC for short) Convention. It’s held at Bronx Library Center (NYPL) 316 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10458  Saturday, March 12 from 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM and admission is FREE. One of the most awesome things about Bronx Heroes is that they are dedicated to the indie comic world. They give indie artists a chance to shine like industry veteran Alitha Martinez , who is currently working on Batgirl for Marvel but has her own project Yumi and Ever which she self-publishes through her company Artiststorm.  Regine Sawyer, owner of LockettDown Productions and creator of the Women in Comics Collective International as well as the Women In Comic Convention,  has several titles under her own publishing company. Which means she is not only creating comics herself she HIRES artists to work for her. LockettDown titles include Eating Vampires and The Rippers. These women have a wealth of real-world knowledge about the business of comics, art and what it takes to succeed in the largely white male-dominated comic book industry. If you are a woman or POC you really need to get ot this convention not just to support, but learn something.  This year the schedule and artists line up looks AMAZING. Check out the details below.

Artists Against Police Brutality or APB, is an anthology developed by Bill Campbell, the writer and owner of  Rosarium Publishing, in response to the Staten Island Grand Jury decision in 2014 to not indict the officers that choked Eric Garner to death….and other related events.

APB is one of those books that is so important but is a very intense read. If you’re African-American, no…if you’re human, the stories will affect you on a visceral level. It took me awhile to get through this anthology and I actually thought that posting a review now might no longer be timely. Then David Joseph was shot this week and I was again reminded how important this work and others like it actually are. Not only to shine a light on the institutionalized methods of police brutality but to give people an outlet for the flood of emotions that often come from the constant media barrage of what often is portrayed as justifiable homicide at the hands of the police.

artist: Ashley A. Woods