(upbeat music)
- Everybody knows Spider-Man,
everybody knows Superman,
everybody doesn't know
Harriet Tubman Demon Slayer.
I wanted our focus to be diverse titles.
We are actively working
to make sure we have books
that you just may not see in other shops.
(ding)
(lively piano music)
My name is Ariell Johnson, and
I am the owner and operator,
aka Head Nerd in Charge, of
Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse-
a comic book store devoted to diversity.
When I was about 11 or so, I
was introduced to the X Men.
I really connected with Storm
because she looked like me,
white hair and white eyes aside.
It was out of my love of her character
that I got into comic books.
Once I graduated I did
struggle with finding my place
in the world.
I wasn't quite happy in my
career and after a conversation
between my sister and my brother-in-law,
they gave me that extra push that I needed
to do the thing that I get excited about.
Fast forward and we're here and
we've been here three years.
(whimsical music)
In building Amalgam, I
wanted my comic book store
to focus on diversity
because I know what it's like
to not be represented.
We also take steps to
make sure people know
that they're welcome here,
from the books that we
stock on the shelves,
from the people that I have working here;
everything about the space is diverse.
I know creators have had
stories about dealing with
stores and publishers,
getting their work published
or in a store,
and sometimes it is just very much like
"Well, this is too different
from what we normally sell
"so we don't wanna take a chance on it."
But Amalgam will.
(cheerful music)
Shawn Alleyne is an indie creator
who has been a long time
supporter of Amalgam.
We have carried his books in the past
and currently we're carrying
his line of tee shirts.
- Well, the name of my comic book
is The Almighty Street Team.
It's a collaborative urban superhero
martial arts comic book.
Usually, the comic books
that I create stay close to
the stuff I grew up loving,
which was like the
urban street characters.
I did have some trouble
placing the book in stores,
but we found a home in Amalgam.
Right away she got the
idea; she got the vision,
and she connected with the book.
When I see the support to
the indie comic book creators
it makes me feel like,
"Hey, yeah, I can continue
to make a living doing this."
- When I opened the shop,
so many people said,
"This is what we've always needed,
"I've always wanted a place like this."
We have had an overwhelmingly
positive response
from our local community,
the geek community beyond,
the blind community, queer geek community;
people are excited that this space exists,
and if you have something
that you wanna see in your community,
my challenge would be to do the work
to see if it's something that you can do.
I don't think that people
should keep waiting to be saved
by someone else.
You can be your own superhero.
