oldin out for ero
LEE FRANCIS RUNS AN ALL-INDIGENOUS
PUBLISHING HOUSE AND COMIC
BOOK STORE.
Wor d s Emma Do
You mightn’t know it from the endless Marvel and DC superhero
reboots, but there’s a thriving indie comic scene out there –one
where writers, artists and publishers dream up entirely different
kinds of superheroes. Lee Francis is one of those people. The
Albuquerque-based writer, educator and owner of book and comic
store Red Planet also runs Native Realities, a publishing housefor
stories by and about First Nations peoples from around the world.
With roots in the Native American Laguna Pueblo tribe, Lee spenthis
childhood between Washington DC and his grandma’s placeonan
Indian reservation in New Mexico. His science fi ction and fantasy-
obsessed dad encouraged him to pick up comics from a youngage.
“I remember getting really excited when I saw a Native character,”
he says. “But when I was older, I recognised there was something
off about the way they were represented – always on a horseor
with a headdress.” Lee became increasingly frustrated by thewider
perception that Native people weren’t urban. “Indigenous people
aren’t all living in the bush or on reservations,” he says. “I wanted
to show the realities of Native people in city centres.”
After teaching Laguna Pueblo history and culture to young peoplein
his home community, Lee took Indigenous representation intohis
own hands, launching Native Realities in 2015. He wanted students
to see themselves in pop culture; but more than that, he wantedto
sparkreaders’imaginations.“Thepowerofcomicsisthatyoucan
tellfantasticalstorieswithelementsliketimeandspacetravel,”
heexplains.“That’sreallycritical,becausethere’sthispervasive
understandingofIndigenouspeoplesaspartofthepast–thatwe
arealldeadordying.Withcomics,youcanbegintoportrayafuture.”
OneofLee’sfavouriteNativeRealitiestitlesisDeerWoman,an
anthologyaboutthewayNativewomencanhealfromsexualand
domesticassault.“IfNativepeoplearesorelyunderrepresented
incomics,thenNativewomenareevenmoreso,”Leesays.“It’s
apowerfulstorywhereweseethewomencreatingorfindinga
superherowithinthemselves.”There’salsoSixKiller–“anAlicein
WonderlandmeetsKillBillstory”aboutawomanseekingrevenge
forthemurderofhersister.“I’mfondofstorieswhereNative
womenarelike,‘I’mgoingtohityouwithstuff,’”Leelaughs.
WhileNativeRealitiesisanoutletforIndigenousartistsandwriters,
IndigiPopXiswheretheycanlinkupwithlike-mindedfolks.Lee
startedthepopcultureconferencein2016,andit’ssinceexpanded
totwolocationsintheUS.There’sasimilar‘IndigenousComic-Con’
slatedforMelbournethisNovember.“Peoplearedoingamazing
workinAustralia,likeBrentonE.McKenna,MagabalaBooksand
Cleverman–but,likeintheStates,they’rescattered,”Leesays.
“We’retryingtocompileenoughmaterialgloballyonourend,so
whentheindustrytalksaboutdiversitywecansay,‘It’shere!’”
DespitethesuccessoffilmslikeBlackPantherandAvengers:
Endgame,partsofthecomicindustryarestillupinarmswhenit
comestothesubjectofdiversity.In2017,Marvel’svicepresidentof
salessuggestedthecompany’sflaggingcomicbooksalesweredue
tothenew‘diverse’characters(afemaleThor,MuslimMs.Marvel,
biracialSpider-Man).OveratRedPlanet,however,Leesees
customerswhoareraringtopickupsomethingdifferent.“There’s
roomforallthesestories!”hesays.“Thereareonlysomanytimes
youcanretellBatman–it’sbeenaroundfor 80 years.”Doeshesee
anIndigenoussuperheroonthesilverscreenanytimesoon?“Ithink
it’sonthehorizon.Therearesomanygreatfolksdoingthiswork,
wejusthavetogetthemoutthere.”PhotoAlicia Padilla Photographymy project