Way back in the bad old days of 2008, I read a comic called Genius. It was part of Top Cow’s Pilot Season program, an initiative meant to bring new blood into the industry and to the company, and it was created by Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman, and Afua Richardson. Now, it’s 2014, I work at Image Comics, and Genius is on the way back this August as a weekly miniseries.

The concept of Genius struck me first. There have been several incredible military leaders throughout the years, and the latest is Destiny Ajaye, a young woman from South Central. Rather than becoming a kingpin or joining the military, she takes another route: armed insurrection. She unites the gangs and goes to war against the LAPD.

I’m an ’80s baby whose life was changed by Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and has spent a lot of time writing about the intersection of black culture and comics. The concept alone spoke to me, it reminded me of conversations and boasts that felt familiar and real. Bernardin and Freeman’s dialogue was on point and natural, authentically “black” without tipping over into parody or offensiveness. Richardson’s art was the bomb, inventive and kinetic and off-beat in all the right ways.

Genius hit me in my heart. There aren’t a lot of comics coming out of mainstream houses aimed at people like me, much less specifically me, but this one? It’s a comic that’s tailor-made for me, it feels like. The concept, the art, the focus on a majority-black and brown cast…there is something about Genius that other mainstream comics are lacking. It’s something different, something outside of the usual Direct Market experience.

It’s a familiar story, a Hero versus the enemy with an army at her back, but the twist is in the character work and the artwork. The characters feel familiar and honest, and Richardson’s artwork ranges from staging natural moments in a surreal manner to perfectly-emotive conversations. The creative team clicks for me.

A side effect of my job at Image is that I got issues 1-4 early as part of the production process. It’s work, but I read them while I was on vacation instead of waiting until I got back. I read them because I believe in Genius and Bernardin and Richardson and Freeman and I’m excited for this comic.

Final Order Cut-off for the comic is Monday. It’s shipping weekly in August, with two issues hitting on the last Wednesday of the month. If you shop at comic shops, tell them you want it. The Diamond Code for #1 is JUN140478, if you need it. Pre-ordering helps comics a lot, and for a book like this that’s sitting left-of-center with what’s prevalent, you’re going to need a little extra legwork to get what you need. You don’t have to pre-order it, it’ll presumably be available in a digital edition, but if you’re the pre-ordering type and you trust my taste, please call your shop and hook it up. I’m a fan, and I hope you will be, too.

I wrote about Afua Richardson for Black History Month 2011 and about Genius for ComicsAlliance in 2010.

from women of marvel. art by romina moranelli(, whose style here has a little bit of humberto ramos-ness to it, but who also has a skinny style i dig a lot).

Top Cow First Look Volume 1 TP, Genius #1, Monster Attack Network, The Highwaymen

There are a lot of different types of comics. Comics with crazy high concepts, cheesecake comics, autobio, and on and on and on. There’s this other lane I enjoy, too, which are basically just comics for the sake of being comics. Straight up comic books, no gimmicks. These are the sort of books that you can give to anyone, because they aren’t hinging upon decades of history. They get in, they get out, and you’re left entertained.

Marc Bernardin, with his writing partner Adam Freeman, is good at those kinds of comics. A quick flip through his ComicBookDB profile reveals a more or less even mix of original work and corporate comics, including a movie tie-in miniseries. The thing about this collection of one-shots and minis is that they don’t get to hinge upon past history. At best, you have a status quo you can tie into for a little extra punch, but you don’t get the momentum you would from delving into continuity porn.

You have to sit down and make your story good enough to be worthy on its own merits. Bernardin’s had eight(ish) pages on the low side of things, and six on the high side, to make his readers into true believers. That means that there’s no time at all to screw around. Bernardin (and Freeman!) uses a deft mix of humor, big action right out of the gate, and fast pacing to keep you hooked. On top of that, his books tend to be aware of the medium and genre they’re working in. There are little nods and hints toward other books or franchises, just enough to let your mind make the connection, but not so much that it interferes with the book.

Bernardin writes straight up comics, and that counts for a lot to me.

Top Cow First Look Volume 1 TP is a five dollar trade with six first issues of upcoming Top Cow series.

If you want some incentive to pick it up, here are some keywords:
-Afua Richardson
-Marc Bernardin
-Adam Freeman
–Genius #1

Pick it up or word is bond Cheryl Lynn is gonna come to your house while you sleep and punch you in the stomach.

Check out this preview, courtesy of Top Cow:

I wrote it up for CA a while back.