/UCWE/ After months of reader anticipation, Approbation Comics will publish Myraid, a 48-page anthology with five different stories under one title.
Myraid features “ChiSai” – the first comic to feature a teenage African-American single mother as its heroine.
ChiSai is the story of Shy Stevens who is forced to run away from home at age 16 with her best friend Lisa. Both girls escape the perils of living on the street by entering the employment of the city’s most powerful crime lord. Secrets are accidentally discovered and things go downhill as Lisa is murdered and Shy is brutally gunned down. Shy survives only to discover that she is pregnant. Under the tutelage a mysterious woman only known as “Trainer”, Shy learns fighting techniques and tactical military survival training. Shy’s life becomes consumed by the burning desire to destroy the crime syndicate and their leader once and for all.
Creator Bart A. Thompson says the concept for ChiSai came to him about two years ago when Marvel hinted at accepting new creator owned material for its, now-defunct, Epic line.
“I started pondering over concepts that I haven’t seen at Marvel or anywhere else, and soon things started to fall into place. What on the surface sounded like a standard revenge tale, soon became a powerfully creative pitch when the details were added.”
“How many heroines are there in comics that were never under a male counterpart’s shadow or a team? Besides Storm, how many strong African-American heroines are in the industry’s forefront? “Also, teenage pregnancy is still a major problem in America, but it’s not something that’s examined as a long-term issue in fiction.”
Spencer Betz, founder of the Single Moms & Dads non-profit Organization (M.O.M.S), praises the project’s ideals saying that he “thinks it’s wonderful that you recognize the need for more attention to single moms… We are a growing population and I don’t see the numbers decreasing in the future.”
“Every good story needs to have a beginning and an ending, and everyone who is born must eventually die. The threat of death is what makes life worth living, to paraphrase a famous saying. This extends to fictional characters, too,” Thompson teases. Thompson wants ChiSai to be an alternative to some of the filler titles that have circulated within the comic publishing industry through the years.
“Every event will lead into something larger, and every action will cause a reaction. Every choice will have consequences – they can be good things, bad things, or something else.” Whatever the outcome, Thompson intends to tell a relevant story that reflects important issues with a serious action slant.
When asked why Chicago, IL was chosen for the story’s location, Thompson shrugs. “After going to the Wizard Chicago con every year I saw more and more of the city and it just seemed like the perfect place to set the story.” Thompson also notes that most stories in fiction are placed in New York City or Los Angeles. Thompson tries to use more overlooked locations to place his works.
Steve Fox is a Tennessee resident who beat out about 30 other artists for the position as ChiSai’s artist. He modestly says that he’s just “your average wanna draw comics for a living-guy.” ChiSai will be Fox’s first official comic book work but past credits include the CyberPunk Collectible Card Game.
Thompson is expected to become one of the industry’s brightest up and coming writers. Along with ChiSai through Myraid, Thompson’s other 2005 works include scripting the ongoing series Lethal Instinct for Alias Enterprises starting in April and the creator-owned Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies which is expecting summer release.
Myraid #1 is a 48-page, standard-sized (6 34;” x 10') comic book. It will retail for $2.99 in the US and $4.75 in Canada. Myraid is distributed by Diamond Distributors (item code MAR052592) and guaranteed to be in stores nationwide this May (see the March Previews, Volume 15, Number 3 for pre-order details)! The first issue has two full-color action-packed covers done by comic artists Al Rio and Jacob Elijah. Subsequent issues feature cover art by Roger Cruz, Jinky Cornado, Vatche Mavlin, Mike Lilly, Matt Haley, and Franchesco!
