Tag Archives: good trouble productions

Register! reminds us about the history and fight to expand the vote in the United States

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Register! by Andrew Aydin and Valentine De Landro is a captivating journey through American constitutional amendments, focusing on the 26th and 15th. It blends history with contemporary narratives, offering an inspiring read for all ages.

Story: Andrew Aydin
Art: Valentine De Landro
Color: Marissa Louise
Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Josh Reed
Research by: Joshua Rogin, Andrew Aydin

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

TFAW

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Recognized #1 is a good introduction to LGBTQ+ history

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Recognized #1

Recognized is an anthology series that celebrates LGBTQ+ heroes like Alain Locke, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Larry Kramer. Originally a team-up between the New York City Department of Education and Good Trouble Productions, it delves into their impactful legacies, featuring stories by a fantastic lineup of comic creators. It’s a solid comic to begin to dive into the history of the movement while also providing answers as to where to go to next to learn more.

The use of comics as a way to teach is an ever growing movement with so much potential. The concept of comics being used to cover history or help individuals learn concepts goes back decades but it’s recently where its become more accepted. Good Trouble Productions is one of the comic publishers leading the movement and they have teamed up with the NYC Department of Education for a series of comics to teach history and civics.

Recognized #1 is a comics anthology that serves as a solid introduction to four individuals in the LGBTQ+ community who helped make history in numerous ways. Each story focuses on students being transported in some way to learn and discover more. Alain Locke, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Larry Kramer are the focus of this first issue taking use through the 1900s and delivering the basics as to what their role in history was.

Where Recognized shines is it gives a truth to their experiences warts and all. Some are recognized today as leaders for the LGBTQ+ movement but during their time, they were shunned by the community. It’s an interesting call out in two of the four stories showing an unvarnished truth that even within noble movements, there was discrimination and bigotry.

Recognized is focused on being an introduction. The writers deftly focus on the key points and key information about each moment in history giving the basics and packing a lot in to each segment. The art is accessible and even with varied artists, the look of each works together. There’s no jarring switching of style and they overall work together to create a smooth reading experience. Each chapter as well is broken up by beautiful artwork that’d each be fantastic as posters.

Recognized #1 takes us through about 60 years of LGBTQ+ history, from the Harlem Renaissance to the AIDS movement. Each is focused on an individual that many might not know about, but know about what they created or who they themselves helped. It’s a fantastic introduction to individuals who are just getting the recognition they deserve and acts as a fantastic guide to learn even more about them all.

Story: Danny Lore, Valerie Complex, Clay Cane Art: Brandt & Stein, June Kim, Nicholas Orr, Ellea Bird
Color: Marissa Louise Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Joshua Reed
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Good Trouble Productions provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Register! #1 teaches the hard fought battles to expand voting rights

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Register! #1

Register! by Andrew Aydin and Valentine De Landro is a captivating journey through American constitutional amendments, focusing on the 26th and 15th. It blends history with contemporary narratives, offering an inspiring read for all ages.

The use of comics to educate individuals has been a growing movement that has really picked up momentum in recent years. Register! is a comic series from Good Trouble Productions working with the New York City Department of Education to teach American history, specifically the history of the right to vote.

Often when you see a comic on the topic, it’s focused more on why one should vote and how sacred of a right and responsibility it is. It’s goal is action, not education. Register! #1 is interesting in that its focus is the history of the right to vote but at the same time, it reminds readers why voting is so special and how powerful it can be.

Aydin is part of the team behind the graphic novel series March and Run, each telling the story of Cong. John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement. He’s shown he can both entertain and educate and that shines with Register! #1. The issue gives the basics of lowering the voting age to 18 and also expanding the right to vote to Black men after the Civil War. It takes readers through the history, and more importantly the pushback and fight to deny those rights.

Where Aydin’s focus is really interesting is the fight against expanding voting rights. He highlights how lowering the voting age took years to get done and that while the country was willing to let 18 to 20 year olds die on the battlefield after being drafted, they couldn’t exercise their voice by voting. When it comes to 15th Amendment, its the language used that’s interesting as the expansion of those rights were also steeped deeply in racism. Aydin does an excellent job of making the history interesting, dramatic, and entertaining, easing the ability to get sucked into it and learn.

The art by Valentine De Landro is solid. With color by Marissa Louise and lettering by Clayton Cowles and Josh Reed, the comic takes you into the time period for each Amendment. I can’t say if the details are right, but it feels right and helps add to the immersion to the educational experience.

Register! #1 is a solid comic teaching about two Amendments and debates that feel like they reverberate today in other ways. There’s discussion of further lowering the voting age and there’s battles to make it more difficult for individuals to vote. It’s a comic that does a great job in both entertaining and educating readers.

Story: Andrew Aydin Art: Valentine De Landro
Color: Marissa Louise Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Josh Reed
Research by: Joshua Rogin, Andrew Aydin
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Good Trouble Productions provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Sesame Street #1

Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in

Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.

Aliens vs. Avengers #1 (Marvel) – Really the title says it all.

Archie: The Decision (Archie Comics) – Betty or Veronica? We finally find out!

BRZRKR: The Lost Book of B #1 (BOOM! Studios) – The latest story of B has him the 13th Century and serving as the ultimate weapon of the legendary Ghenghis Khan!

Convert #1 (Image Comics) – A science officer is stranded on a distant planet and makes an astonishing discovery. We want to see what that is!

Eye Lie Popeye #1 (Massive Publishing) – Popeye goes manga!

Life #1 (DSTLRY) – Stephanie Phillips and Brian Azzarello are writing this comic which is a flip book and features the art of Lee Loughridge and Danijel Zeselj.

Nice House By the Sea #2 (DC Comics/DC Black Label) – It’s another group whisked away during the apocalypse by an alien, except they’re in on the situation. It’s similar to the first volume but like a new season of Real World, a whole new group of personalities.

Recognized (Good Trouble Productions) – An anthology series that celebrates LGBTQ+ heroes like Alain Locke, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Larry Kramer, with contributions from top comic creators.

Register (Good Trouble Productions) – A captivating journey through American constitutional amendments, focusing on the 26th and 15th.

Sesame Street #1 (Oni Press) – A new series featuring the Sesame Street gang for all ages! Grover wakes up to another beautiful day on Sesame Street! But he soon discovers that his friends each have a problem to solve before they can enjoy it.

Universal Monsters’ Frankenstein #1 (Image Comics/Skybound) – Skybound’s line of Universal Monsters comics have been great so far so we’re hooked to see what they can do with the classic Frankenstein.

Congressman John Lewis’ Run: Book One Gets a Release Date

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After delays, the release date of Run: Book One will be released on August 3. The graphic novel is the follow-up to the best-selling and award-winning March trilogy and was completed before the civil rights icon’s death last July. Cong. John Lewis will once again collaborate with March co-author Andrew Aydin and March artist Nate Powell. L. Fury will make her graphic novel debut as the artist. Run was announced in 2018 and is being published by Abrams ComicArts.

The cover for Run: Book One is by Powell and Fury and reflects the events after “Bloody Sunday” in Selma and the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Some are shown running from and toward the violence while others get prepared to run for office.

And that’s where the graphic novel takes us. It picks up after March and shows how Lewis went from an activist and “radical” to a public servant. The graphic novel continues the Congressman’s journey to show his fight continued after the signing of the Voting Rights Act.

Run: Book One covers 1965 to 1066 as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founding member Julian Bond runs for office in Georgia and Lewis loses his SNCC chairmanship to Stokely Carmichael. At the same time, the violence continues.