Raising Dion: A new comic series reflecting America, and how it could be

Like half of the adult women out there, I put down my last comic book at around the same time that I picked up my first bottle of perfume, thinking that I was putting away childish things to be a more responsible grown up. I didn’t turn to comics again until I was a college intern, and I had to write a story for a magazine about a small comic book publisher. Back then, only a handful of Black comic book writers were on the scene, and one had to make deliberate efforts to find the brave creative souls who told African descendants’ stories of adventure and intrigue.

But how wonderful it was to simply scroll through my social media feed this morning and find this endearing trailer promoting a new comic, “Raising Dion.” As Whitney once sang, “Mommies and Daddies always believe/that their little angels are special indeed …” But Dion, the son of a slain American hero, is actually a one-of-a-kind child who possesses superpowers of his own. His late father’s best friend is white, so hopefully they can touch on how two cultures can integrate harmoniously and do so with a warm gentle touch, without a heavy handed, preachy tone.

Now, Black comics are flourishing, and we can have our choice of comics where we are the central character, in the driver’s seat. Sometimes, being treated as the sidekick, regardless of how infallible moral he or she might be, who is noble and loyal to the point of neglecting his or her own life and needs (hello, Abbie Mills of Sleepy Hollow) is just not enough!

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