Taneka Stotts is an award-winning queer comics creator and editor (and also a very wonderful person). Along with her assistant editor, Shing Yin Khor, and Sfé R. Monster, she runs Beyond Press. After the team successfully funded and released Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, Taneka and Shing turned focus to Elements, an anthology focused on creators of color.

In Elements we aren’t sidekicks or token quotas to fill – we’re heroes.

This book has a fire theme and 200 plus pages of lit that range from sci-fi to alternative cyberpunk. There are 23 stories from 32 contributors of color. Faves Chrystin Garland (Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems), Yasmin Liang (Star Trek Ongoing), and Rashad Doucet (plus more) are in it.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks and creators in the limelight getting the shine that they deserve. With her partners at Beyond Press, Taneka Stotts is putting in the work every day to bring that vision to life. As consumers, one of the most important things we can do to lift up the media that we enjoy is to vote with our wallets. It’s a phrase that’s not new, but most definitely not a cliché. Our buying power is valuable in the marketplace, and the way that we use that power really does matter. If you’re a fan of comic books or stories about multi-dimensional character of color by creators of color, then support this book. It’s the privilege we have to make an impact on an industry that often forgets we even exist.

The Kickstarter campaign to fund a softcover version of the Elements Anthology will run from July 1st – July 31st. You can find more info on their website.

Representation in media is so important. What are some of your favorite comics for us, by us? Leave a comment, share this post, and tag a friend who needs to see this.

In Elements we aren’t sidekicks or token quotas to fill – we’re heroes.

Want more articles by Ira Hobbs? Sign up for Blavity’s daily newsletter.

Beyond Press

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week