Earlier this year news broke that the Marvel series, Iron Man, was welcoming a new character into the franchise, RiRi Williams.
Now the new superhero has a new friend joining her on the variant cover of ‘Invincible Iron Man #1.’
According to ABC News, 33-year old Ariell Johnson, the founder of Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, Inc. in Philadelphia, will appear on the cover. Johnson is the first African American female on the east coast to own a comic book store, and she now has a new comic to add to her collection.
She credits her colleague Randy Green for making the collaboration possible, she said, “When the email went out about potential variants for stores, he was really excited and took it upon himself to work out the details. It was really his hard work.”
Johnson developed an interest in comics around the age of 10 or 11 when she discovered the X-Men superhero Storm.
She said, “To think I made it a decade-plus and I had never seen a black, woman superhero is crazy because little white boys have so many. When you are a person of color, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel to find someone you can identify with. I always felt like I was watching other people’s adventures.”
In college she would buy new comics every Friday, and take them to her favorite coffee shop to read until closing.
Once the coffee shop went out of business, she had the idea to open up a place that gave her the same exact feeling. “The goal is to be an inclusive geek space. So it’s not just comics; it’s gaming, it’s sci-fi, it’s horror, whatever you geek about, we want to make room for you,” said Johnson.
Her interest in comics and the development of her business has made a positive impact on her community, and has given her recognition from females of all ages.
TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94 on Instagram & Twitter
