“The Heart of The Forest” is a comic I’ve been working on for almost 2 years now. I gave up on it so many times;it was stupid, it was too long, no one would like it, my art wasn’t good enough, and on and on and on.
“We hang out on this box every day after school? But why? Why do we sit here?”
Illustrator and cartoonist Richie Pope, 2018 recipient of the Columbus Comics Residency debuted this comic at TCAF this year. (Another great TCAF debut is this one by Shannon Wright).
The synopsis that we’re given is a simple one: “Two friends (one with
a runaway imagination, the other just consistently chill) try to
uncover the mystery behind the strange metal box they sit on.”
What follows is twenty pages of two friends musing about the box that
they’ve come to sit on every day after school. Their theories about it
are wild: ranging from mecha slumbering underground, or a transportation
device to, more nefarious and hilarious origin stories. Set in a
black-and-white format, Pope’s signature art style makes the wondrous
and extremely far-fetched a familiar affair. While reading, it’s easy to
follow along.
Also, it’s super refreshing to see Black kids shooting the breeze. I’m
down to see Black kids at peace; joking around and eating sunflower
seeds. Not being heavily policed, or harmed, or thrown under the bus
when their Black bodies threaten white fragility which results in
unnecessary and often fatal phone calls to the police.
Rebellions are built on hope 