Fanbase Press is honored to announce that its upcoming LGBTQ+ coming-of-age graphic novel, Four-Color Heroes, will feature a foreword by GLAAD Award-winning writer David M. Booher (Killer Queens, Canto), 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 (Black Sand Beach), 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.
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.
“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.
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 (The Art of Taonga Puoro).
For more information on Four-Color Heroes, please visit www.FourColorHeroes.com or www.fanbasepress.com, as well as Facebook (/FourColorHeroes) and Twitter, @4ColorHeroesGN.
ABOUT FANBASE PRESS
As an Eisner Award-nominated comic book publisher and geek culture website, Fanbase Press produces new and distinctive works, as well as daily reviews, interviews, and podcasts, that span the pop culture spectrum and give voice to the themes, ideals, and people that make geekdom so exceptional.
Fanbase Press’ previous titles, including the 2018 Eisner Award-nominated Quince, the 2022 International Latino Book Award-winning Nuclear Power, the 2020 Foreword INDIES Award-winning Quince: The Definitive Bilingual Edition, and the 2022 Foreword INDIES Award-nominated Ripple Effects, are available online at www.fanbasepress.com and on Amazon, as well as digitally through Hoopla Digital, ComicsPlus, and Kindle.
ABOUT DAVID M. BOOHER
David M. Booher is a GLAAD-winning writer of comics, television, and film. His most recent comics work includes Killer Queens (Dark Horse), Joe Hill’s Rain (Image/Syzygy), Canto (IDW), Specs (BOOM! Studios), All New Firefly (BOOM! Studios), and Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures (IDW). His all-ages fantasy series Canto is in development as a feature film, which he is set to adapt. His LGBTQ-led Killer Queens was featured in the New York Times as a must read in honor of Pride Month. A lawyer by training, he lives in Los Angeles with his husband and the true brains behind their operation—their adopted greyhounds.
ABOUT DR. DREA LETAMENDI
Dr. Drea Letamendi (she/her/ella) is a clinical psychologist and media consultant with degrees and training from Cornell University, UCSD, and UCLA. She serves as an internal consultant and trainer at UCLA, leading projects in the areas of resilience, crisis response, and suicide prevention for teens and young adults. Dr. Drea created and hosts The Arkham Sessions, a podcast about the psychology of Batman and other pop culture narratives. Her latest publication with Springer is titled The Force Awakens: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Using Star Wars.
ABOUT RICHARD FAIRGRAY
Born completely blind in one eye and with only 3% of vision in the other, Fairgray is an award-winning creator who has published over 200 titles, ranging from children’s books like Gorillas in Our Midst and My Grandpa Is a Dinosaur (Sky Pony) to graphic novels and ongoing comics like Shed (Blue Fox Comics) and Haunted Hill. He splits his time between his home in Hollywood and his home in Canada, where he lives with his husband and dogs.
