Indianz.Com > News > Montana Free Press: Graphic novel brings Native story to life
Montana poets embrace Native culture in new graphic novel
The Lakota storytelling of “Thunderous” seeks to honor Indigenous traditions.
Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Montana Free Press
For the past decade, comic books and graphic novels have grown in popularity, with Hollywood movies and TV series adaptations — especially from Marvel — finding critical acclaim. Last year, the graphic novel industry posted $24 million in sales, an increase of 171% over 2020. But the increase in titles and revenue is maybe less interesting than a shift in content.
While Japanese graphic novels have been popular for decades, a new wave of comic stories from around the world, focused on a variety of cultures — India, Australia, all across South America — are coming out of small and medium-sized publishing houses. That environment has given a new Native American-centered, young-adult graphic novel called “Thunderous,” by two Montana writers, an opportunity to reach a wider audience.
“Thunderous” is about a Lakota teenager from South Dakota who yearns to fit in. The main character, Aiyana, worries that what makes her different — her Lakota heritage and connection to her previous home on a reservation — are what she needs to hide. And despite loving her family, she pushes them away to seek acceptance among her classmates. Not long into the story, Aiyana is transported into a world of talking animals and a special quest that will transform her. The characters, themes and lessons of the story are rooted in Lakota storytelling, and while Aiyana is not a hero with superpowers in the Marvel sense, her journey has a classic hero’s-origin-story flavor.
Smoker and her co-author, Natalie Peeterse, are both Helena-based poets. Smoker is a member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, has published a poetry collection called “Another Attempt at Rescue, ” formerly worked in the Indian Education Division of the state Office of Public Instruction, and currently works as the Indian Education Practice Expert for Portland-based Education Northwest. Between 2019 and 2021, she shared the role of Montana Poet Laureate with Melissa Kwasny. Peeterse, who co-runs Open Country Press, a Montana literary publishing company, has published two collections: “Black Birds: Blue Horse, An Elegy” and “Dreadful: Luminosity, Letters.” Neither had written a comic-style story before.
Early last year, a media group called Curiosity Ink Media, which partnered with the independent comic publishing company Dynamite to produce original stories with diverse perspectives, approached a Lakota friend of Smoker’s. They wanted him to create a young adult story with Indigenous characters. He already had several projects on his plate, so he asked Smoker if she wanted to take it on. Smoker says the companies didn’t have any particular ideas for the story, they just knew they wanted to support a Native project.
Erika Fredrickson is a freelance journalist based in Missoula, where she writes about technology, the environment, and lifestyle. She was the arts editor at the Missoula Independent for 10 years before it was shut down in 2018.
Note: This story originally appeared on Montana Free Press. It is published under a Creative Commons license.
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