In an attempt to give a voice to those creators who have been largely unrepresented in mainstream comics, DC announced today a new entry in their digital first series. Using the banner of Represent, it presents Stories of Personal Experiences, Unheard Voices, and Social Revolution.
For the Free First Chapter, DC Digital First Represent showcases: “It’s a Bird” by Christian Cooper and Alitha E. Martinez, which is a available now. It tells the story that goes from Birdwatching in Central Park to CNN Headlines. Represent Allows Storytellers To Share Real-Life Experiences. Here is their press release announcing this great series.
BURBANK, CA (September 9, 2020)—Today DC proudly announced a new digital-first series, Represent!, launching with “It’s a Bird” by Christian Cooper, Alitha E. Martinez, Mark Morales, Emilio Lopez, and Rob Clark Jr. This first chapter is available now, offered for free on participating digital platforms including readdc.com, Comixology, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and more. Additional chapters of Represent! will be available digitally in 2021.
“This digital series is designed to showcase and introduce creators traditionally underrepresented in the mainstream comic book medium,” said executive editor Marie Javins. “We’ll highlight both new and familiar voices, beginning with ‘It’s a Bird’ by writer Christian Cooper and artist Alitha E. Martinez, a semi-fictionalized account of Christian’s very real evolution from a kid with a pair of binoculars to a man in an unexpected media spotlight after an altercation with a woman walking her dog in Central Park.”
In Cooper and Martinez’s story, Jules, a Black teenager, is given a pair of old binoculars as he heads out for a morning of bird-watching. “I hope young people read it in particular, and that they’re inspired to keep the focus where it needs to be, which is on those we have lost and how we keep from losing more,” said Cooper, while Martinez added, “I wish this story could have been that punctuation of, ‘…and we all lived happily ever after.’ But it just keeps coming.”
More from story collaborators Cooper, Martinez and Morales, can be found here.
DC encourages you to share this story with friends and family and to talk about how you can inspire change in your communities. Many organizations—including Color of Change, Equal Justice Initiative, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, National Urban League, and the Bail Project—are also working to advance social justice and civil rights in support of #BlackLivesMatter.
“It’s a Bird,” edited by Marie Javins and Liz Erickson, is available now, offered for free only on participating digital platforms, including readdc.com, Comixology, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and more. Look for more from DC’s Represent! storytellers in 2021.
Does this look like a series you might be interested in? I know I am. Please check it out and share you thoughts on DC’s Represent, here at Geek Vibes Nation.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
