Inside The Pages Of The First Ever Indigenous Comic Book
It’s no secret that comic books are an extremely popular medium that attract fans from all corners of the world. Just look at the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC multiverse, and countless other franchises and multi-platform sagas.
And finally, we’re seeing a push for representation both in the production and content of comic books. Introducing the Indigiverse.
Meet The Creator Of The Indigiverse
That much needed representation of First Nations’ creators has finally surfaced in the new Indigiverse series Dark Heart, written by Gooniyandi-Miriwong Kadjerong man Scott Wilson.
“Why not use the medium of comic books and why not use pop culture to influence and empower new generations so that we have it saved, we have it protected,” said Wilson.
“All Australians, all humans on this planet can celebrate the richness of our beautiful culture here… Without my culture, without my language and my people and my connection to that, the Indigiverse would not exist.
There’s a long line of influence that have allowed me to connect to my people, my culture, that really inspired and empowered me to ensure that my children will grow up learning our culture.”
What Is The Indigiverse?
Much like the MCU is home to a whole bunch of characters and stories, that’s the plan for the Indigiverse.
Dark Heart is the first series so far, and already it has sold out at its first launch at SupaNova, one of the two main comic conventions in Australia. The story follows the journey of Adam Heart discovering powers that originated 65,000 years earlier from Elder Protectors. It’s a journey that’s enriched with First Nations culture, with the traditional language Gooniyandi.
“In our comic books, we have our language glossary, all the language utilising it and translate in the books,” said Wilson. “And that is just the beginning for us to start doing that across Australia.”
How Did The Indigiverse Start?
This is the first time in history that a fictional universe for First Nations people has ever been created.
“We just saw a great need to create a universe that allowed Aboriginal artists and creatives to work with other non-Indigenous artists and create content that was based off of our dreaming, our stories and things like that, and we just wanted to showcase that,” said Benny Eggmolesse, executive producer of Dark Heart.
Artist Katie Houghton-Ward was brought on to the project to bring the Indigiverse to life.
“My favourite thing to draw was the cover, because it’s the Rainbow Serpent… It’s been such an adventure, getting to know the characters and being so intimate and close with something so personal that dreaming is to the Indigenous universe.”
Eggmolesse also pointed out that Indigenous stories have been used in the entertainment industry. But any successes in the industry have no flowed back into the communities from which they came.
“There’s been a wealth generational gap, and that has not flowed back into our communities, to our people and inspired our young people.
This for me is so important because it is about our stories being told our way, not not sort of dampened down in any way, shape or form. And we get to see that flow back into our community.
And not just our Aboriginal community — it benefits the comic industry in general.”