Coinciding with this week's San Diego Comic-Con International, award-winning writer and director Shequeta L. Smith has launched the first book in a her six-part graphic novel series, Rayven Choi, complete with a 14-minute companion film. The book is currently available in English but will also be available in Korean.
The multimedia series turns the comic book boys' club on its head with a strong African-American heroine leading the action-packed story of vengeance and female empowerment, written and directed by a woman. Putting a powerful African American protagonist at the heart of the adventure was important for Smith, knowing that positive female characters are in short supply in the comic book world. And recognizing female creators are even rarer in the comic book and film sectors, Smith aims to shine a light on the untapped talent of women in both industries. Smith is a seasoned filmmaker who beat more than 5,000 entrants to become the only individual female director to reach the Top 20 in HBO's Project Greenlight. After that, she turned her focus to adapting her award-winning screenplay, Rayven Choi, into a graphic novel. "The female voice has been difficult to find in both the comic book and film worlds," she says. "I created Rayven Choi to help fill this void and to showcase the superhuman inner strength that all resilient women seem to possess."Videos