By Zack Quaintance — Throughout 2021, DC Comics published one (and to my knowledge only one) series digitally that never later saw print. That series was Represent!, and it included some of the best comics I read all of last year. I had wanted to write about it at the time — something along the lines of DC Comics is publishing its best series in recent memory, and almost no one is talking about it — but life intervened; I never did. This month, however, DC has put those comics into print, doing so with the release of a new Represent! hardcover.

So, I’ve decided to (finally) take action. While this series flew under the radar during its initial digital publication — there are no imminently marketable superheroes in it, and it’s unclear what the readership numbers were for DC’s digital-first releases, but they moved away from them relatively quick — I had a really wonderful time reading them, even being moved near tears by some of these stories. Today I’d like to just talk a bit about what these comics are, why many of them worked so well, and what makes this new book a very good read.

If you haven’t heard of these comics, first, the basics: announced in September of 2020, this series gives traditionally underrepresented voices in comics chances to tell their own stories. They are all self-contained vignettes, most of which span about 12 pages of story, and all of which have a clear beginning, middle, and end. While published by one of the Big 2, this is also a book that does not connect to anything past or future, at least not directly. Anyone can read this — even (maybe especially?) folks who don’t like superheroes, or even genre stories. There’s a universal quality to these stories, grounded as they largely are in the real world.

And, perhaps most importantly, they all work really well. The best way to give perspective readers an idea of what to expect from these pieces is to look at Represent! #1. The opening story is titled It’s a Bird, and it’s written by Christian Cooper, the former Marvel Comics editor who was in the news in May of 2020 the Central Park Bird Watching Incident. This piece is illustrated by Alitha E. Martinez with inks by Mark Morales, colors by Emilio Lopez, and letters by Rob Clark, Jr.

It springs directly from Cooper’s experience with the Birdwatching Incident, its first page opening with a fictionalized version of Cooper being handed binoculars for birding. Jules heads to the park, where he does just that, but when he puts the binoculars to his eyes, he sees famous real-world examples of deadly police shootings, of Amadou Diallo and Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Jules sees these incidents through the binoculars as — as in Cooper’s own experience — a woman with an unleashed dog threatens him with setting him up for police violence when he asks her to obey park rules. Cooper’s story melds with the wonderful artwork to elevate it all to a powerful reading experience, ending with pages of tribute to the stories that appeared in the binocular’s view.

It’s really moving work, speaking to the power of sequential graphic storytelling to engage the mind. The artwork uses everything from color to super-powered iconography to emphasize points of pain and points of optimism in the face of pain, all of which is what you can expect from the other pieces that make up this book. Other chapters include farming in rural Mississippi, pursuing culinary dreams as a Black woman, being bullied in school, and more.

There’s a pressing feeling in these 14 stories, a feeling that the creators involved have been wanting for years to tell stories of this personal nature in this familiar comics format. That energy makes the book engaging, thought-provoking, and vital. Of course, reactions will vary to the individual pieces. You will almost certainly find some of these tales more engaging or moving than others; I know that I did. But that’s how books that compile vignette comics always work.

As a whole, however, DC Comics’ Represent! hardcover feels like a singular kind of book, with Big 2 production turned to culturally relevant stories with hints of both genre and memoir. It’s a book that speaks to past wrongs and future progress, using the vast power of the medium to make it all hit, and hit hard. If you didn’t read these comics digitally as they came out (and, maybe, even if you did), this is a great chance to catch up with some of the best comics of 2021 now.

TRADE COLLECTION REVIEW: Represent! Hardcover from DC Comics

Represent! Hardcover from DC Comics
Writers: Christian Cooper, Nadira, Jesse J. Holland, and more
Artists: Eric Battle, Doug Braithwaite, Alitha Martinez, and more
Publisher: DC Comics
Stories of personal experiences, unheard voices, and social revolution. New voices present relevant, topical visions of social change and personal histories, some true-to-life while others are semi-fictionalized accounts of real experiences. All have one thing in common-innovative styles and compelling stories which examine how our culture builds understanding, tracing society’s arc toward justice as we evolve in pursuit of a more just and compassionate world. Includes talent spotlights..
Price: $24.99
Release Date: February 1, 2022
Buy It Here: Represent! Hardcover from DC Comics

Read more great Comics Bookcase reviews!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.