Black Solstice

by Martin Desmond Roe, Travon Free, Aremo Massa (Illustrator)

Overview

From the minds of Martin Desmond Roe and Travon Free, the Academy Award winning writing duo behind the film TWO DISTANT STRANGERS, comes a brand-new graphic novel!

Last winter solstice the whole world turned upside down when every single Black person gained a superpower that lasted exactly one day before disappearing entirely.

It's three days until the next solstice, and everyone on earth is anxiously holding their breath to see if it happens again. Everyone except the Wallace kids—they're betting their lives their powers will return and they plan to use them to change everything. . .for everyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506733227
Publisher:	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date:	12/19/2023
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Martin and Travon are a writing/directing duo who have won 8 Emmy Awards and 1 Academy Award for their Netflix Short Film - TWO DISTANT STRANGERS.

TRAVON FREE’S writing can be found all over TV and the internet as one of the most sought-after comedic voices on social, political and pop culture issues by many major TV and print outlets. His writing and directing credits include Showtime’s BLACK MONDAY, HBO’s CAMPING and WINNING TIME, THE DAILY SHOW WITH JOHN STEWART and TREVOR NOAH, SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE, and was the co-head writer on FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE. A five-time Emmy winner himself, he was also a producer of the short documentary 38 AT THE GARDEN that was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2022 and won the 2022 Sports Emmy for Best Short Documentary.

MARTIN DESMON ROE has been one of the most successful directors in music videos commercials and premium docu-series for over a decade. A multiple Emmy winner, he has created and directed a number of TV series, including WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS and HEIST for Netflix, TOM vs TIME for Facebook, WHY WE FIGHT for ESPN and SHUT UP AND DRIBBLE for Showtime. Included in Ad Age’s 40 under 40 Martin has been at the forefront of sports advertising for a decade, winning every major advertising award and directing dozens of commercials for Nike. His film BREAKING2 for Nike and National Geographic won the Golden Lion at Cannes, changing the landscape of branded content forever.

In 2022, the duo claimed a Sports Emmy for writing and directing WHAT AGNES SAW, a short film about a 100-year-old Olympian, which was played as part of the opening ceremony during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Their recent feature-length documentary BS High premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film festival and will air on HBO in the summer.

They are currently set to co-write/direct the adaptation of S.A. Cosby’s hit best-selling novel RAZORBLADE TEARS for Paramount Studios which is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer along with an original global heist film, THE GRAND COMPLICATION for Amazon Studios and produced by 87 North.

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2023

A trending social media meme that Black people were granted brief superpowers on winter solstice 2020—“Black power had a whole new meaning”—is turned into a lackluster debut graphic novel by Oscar-winning directors Free and Roe that fails to capture the serendipity of its inspiration. The disorganized narrative opens in 2021, when Solstice will arrive again in three days and Black people are hoping to receive “a good ol’-fashioned, no-bullshit superpower” for 24 hours. Info dumping slows the pacing until the focus switches to Quentin and Nekesa “Kesa” Wallace, siblings who gained celebrity during the last solstice. Sassy Quentin is known as The Whore, who “fooled that pop star into marrying” his “tight tight chocolate gold” (with paper-thin reference to Harry Styles as groom), and activist Kesa is The Prophet (she could communicate with all Black people simultaneously). In a baffling attempt to “change the whole fucking world,” Kesa assembles a team to rob the Federal Reserve—a scheme that unspools in the narrative’s tepid finale. Massa’s chunky drawings too often lose detail, creating an unfinished, flat look. Despite some funny beats, the script lacks finesse, aiming at timely satire but coming up stale. This doesn’t live up to its clever potential. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly