Former Marvel editor Christian Cooper became a familiar name on social media and cable news networks a few months ago when he was harassed by a woman while birdwatching in Central Park, and now he's turning his experiences into the free lead story for a new DC anthology titled Represent!
"This digital series is designed to showcase and introduce creators traditionally underrepresented in the mainstream comic book medium," DC's newly-promoted executive director Marie Javins says in the announcement. "We'll highlight both new and familiar voices, beginning with 'It's a Bird' by writer Christian Cooper and artist Alitha E. Martinez, a semi-fictionalized account of Christian's very real evolution from a kid with a pair of binoculars to a man in an unexpected media spotlight after an altercation with a woman walking her dog in Central Park."
Javins and Cooper worked together at Marvel in the '90s. Since then, Cooper segued out of the industry and currently works as an editor in the biomedical field.
"I hope young people read it in particular, and that they're inspired to keep the focus where it needs to be, which is on those we have lost and how we keep from losing more," Cooper said of his story.
Check out more images from Represent! DC released in our gallery below.
"I wish this story could have been that punctuation of, '…and we all lived happily ever after.'" Martinez added. "But it just keeps coming."
'It's a Bird' debuts today on all of DC's digital platforms. Future installments of Represent! are scheduled to come in 2021.
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