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  • (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.

(upbeat music)

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