I know I sound like a broken record when I say representation matters, but REPRESENTATION MATTERS! For those who do not already know, and I know it might be surprising, but people other than heterosexual, white men actually exist in the world. To all the right-wingers out there, sorry to have busted your bubble, I just get really excited when I see main characters and protagonists who do not fit this specific description, being featured in different forms of entertainment. You know how parents cheer on their baby for taking their very first steps and they encourage them to keep walking? Well the entertainment industry in America is that baby and I'm the parent whenever I see something like a person of color or someone who is a part of the LGBTQ community being the star in a movie or a comic book!
Speaking of comic books, I came across a comic book that really got me excited just from looking at the cover. One day after a job interview I had in Manhattan, I decided to go to Kinokuniya, a bookstore that sells Japanese related stuff such as manga and anime collectibles along with Western literature. I went there planning on buying manga but instead ended up buying something else, which is the norm for me whenever I walk into a store. What I bought instead was an amazing comic book called "Motor Crush" by Babs Tarr, Brenden Fletcher, and Cameron Stewart. On the cover is a young, black woman riding a futuristic motorbike while holding a board with a bunch of nails in it that has "Your Face Here" written on it! How cool is that!
After reading what it's about I just had to buy it. This sci-fi, action comic takes place in a fictional place called Nova Honda, which is the racing capital of the world. Not only does it have professional street racing, but illegal street racing as well. The woman on the cover is Domino Swift, and she is one of the best racers in the professional tournaments and in the illegal ones. Aside from kicking butt in the races, she is also trying to learn more about herself and her past and runs into some trouble during the process.
I've gotten so invested in the comic book and Domino's life that I have to buy the rest of the volumes. While researching more about the comic book, I came across an article on Google that talks about comic book retailers not ordering "Motor Crush" when it was first released in 2016 because of there being a black woman on the cover. According to the article, the retailers stated that they aren't the racist ones, but their customers are. I wasn't extremely upset after reading this because it's not something that has never happened before. It's really sad knowing this happened; especially since it was in 2016! The superheroes and characters that we root for in comics, movies and television series come in all different colors, shapes, and backgrounds. "Motor Crush" is a comic book for everyone to read, and the main character being a black woman should not be the reason why people are discouraged from reading it.
