SPITFIRE: The Meaning Behind the Poems

At the start of each issue of SPITFIRE is a poem. These poems are a way for me to champion my mission of ingraining black/hip-hop culture into my comic book universe, and THE comic book universe. At the same time, the poems serve as a mechanism for ingraining the comic book culture into the black/hip-hop universe. I'd like to attempt to have this unique style of storytelling weaved into the story of SPITFIRE to lend it some authenticity that no other graphic novel, or comic book has. A graphic novel that infuses their story-telling with the realities of being black in america is Blokhedz, created by the Madtwiinz. Go check it out!

I remember reading that when I was in the seventh grade and relating to a lot of the story, but there were also cool fantastical elements to it. I like how that story poses the question of what a adventure would look like it the epicenter of the storytelling unfolded from the eyes of an African-american. In North America it's so common to see the white-male hero in a white-male world. Nevertheless all those stories are great, but my world is from my eyes and I want to tell my story, a story about a black man. The reality of my world, and the world of many other African-American men and women is that poetry and rap plays a key role in our lives. Rap Music and poety expression shaped my childhood, so much so that I even think in raps! I know someone can relate! The way the poems are presented are in a very rap-lyric style, where the highlights shows the connecting rhyme schemes. I used this highlighting to suggest the poems' connection to rap and to bring up understanding of what rap is at its core. Rap is poetry. These poems are from the perspective of the characters in SPITFIRE. One poem will be from Jay's perspective, the next will be from Maggs' perspective and the next from Officer Radisson. I think poetry and rap are beautiful and unique ways of expressing thought.