Shero Comics Launches Kickstarter For Critically Acclaimed Manga Sequel "Young Grandmaster Choi II"

LOS ANGELES - Sept. 9, 2024 - PRLog -- One year after publishing Book I of "Young Grandmaster Choi," Shero Comics, the multimedia company helping women and girls of color uncover their superpowers, is pleased to announce that "Young Grandmaster Choi Book II" will be released on Kickstarter on September 10th, 2024. The campaign gives fans early access to books, T-shirts, dolls, coloring books, and headbands, as well as bulk book deals for librarians and teachers.

The series follows orphan-turned-superheroine Rayven Johnson-Choi as she navigates life as a Black American girl in South Korea and uses martial arts to deal with her grief and a never-ending sea of bullies. In Book II, Rayven struggles to find her place in Korean culture until she uncovers a little-known fact that Korean Fried Chicken originated from African American Soldiers during the Korean War. Book I debuted in June 2023 to immediate acclaim.

"I've been so moved by the outpouring of support for Rayven's story; between fan art from young artists, comic book workshops with excited students, and groups of 'Shero Dads' who've bonded with their daughters over the book," said Shequeta Smith, creator of the series and CEO of Shero Comics. "Although everyone can learn something from Rayven, I'm honored to give little Black girls the rare opportunity to see themselves as a leading character in a fish-out-of-water story."

Smith, a former educator who recently celebrated inducting her entire catalog of comic books and graphic novels into the Library of Congress in June 2024, has been educating young people around the world on the art of writing and creating comic books through author visits over the past seven years. As part of the "Young Grandmaster Choi Book II" campaign, Smith will offer in-person author visits and comic book workshops to schools nationwide.

The story and mission of Shero Comics will soon take center stage in "The Shero Universe," the first-ever feature-length documentary to explore Black women in comics. The film is largely funded by The Big We's She Stories grant powered by Melinda Gates's Pivotal Ventures, which Smith won in early 2024.

Currently, Smith is a semifinalist in Pharrell Williams's' Black Ambition Prize with Shero Games, the company's gaming division, and hopes to use the funds to expand Shero's diverse video game programming.

To be the first to support the "Young Grandmaster Choi Book II" Kickstarter, click http://kck.st/4bWUfLy Backers who pledge to the campaign within the first 24 hours can purchase custom canvas art of themselves drawn as a chibi Hapkido Grandmaster.

For more information on Shero Comics please visit http://www.sherocomics.com