This Summer, Fanbase Press’ ‘Four-Color Heroes’ Advocates Mental Health Awareness And Finding Belongingness
by Brendan M. Allen
Fanbase Press has announced that its upcoming LGBTQ+ coming-of-age graphic novel, Four-Color Heroes, will feature a foreword by GLAAD Award-winning writer David M. Booher, as well as an essay by clinical psychologist and media consultant Dr. Drea Letamendi on protecting the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth.
Written and illustrated by Aotearoa/New Zealand-born creator Richard Fairgray, the story is set in a New Zealand high school during the passing of the Civil Union Act 2004. As tensions rose nationwide over the basic equal rights of same-sex couples, two boys were fighting a battle on a smaller scale, against enemies from within and without, as they found love and self-discovery through the pages of a comic book.
“With the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the silencing of marginalized voices by book bans and censorship, I hope that Four-Color Heroes serves as a necessary representation to readers that we – as LGBTQ+ individuals – do matter, that we are valued, and that there is a caring community of support available,” notes Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon.
Four-Color Heroes is scheduled for release in print and digitally via Hoopla, ComicsPlus, and Kindle Direct on July 26, 2023, and is currently available for pre-order at your local shop.
In light of Fairgray’s New Zealand roots and the Māori heritage of one of Four-Color Heroes’ protagonists, the graphic novel will also be made available digitally in Te Reo Māori in Fall 2023 as translated by Komako A. Silver and Alejandra Jensen.
