Today we are thrilled to have a guest post from
Tim Fielder, cartoonist, animator, Afrofuturist, AND author/illustrator of the graphic novel INFINITUM (on sale now)! This epic Afrofuturist tale spans millennia as it follows Warrior King Aja Oba, cursed by immortality, as he navigates through major world events and into the distant future.
Publishers Weekly praised INFINITUM: "Fielder (Matty’s Rocket) digs deep into his pulp toolbox to fuse genre influences in this daring epic, which bristles with action and verve."
And Jerry Craft, New York Times bestselling author of New Kid called INFINITUM
"[an] amazing tale of one man’s odyssey from African king to ruler of the stars told with breathtaking visuals. INFINITUM is epic in every way! Engrossing! Powerful! Intelligent! Cinematic!"
Keep reading to learn about Tim Fielder's personal connection to Afrofuturism and the history behind INFINITUM. Be sure to check out his website for even more information!
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My Afrofuturist Origins
by Tim Fielder
I am now, and have always been, an Afrofuturist. Afrofuturism, the intersection of technology, speculative thought, and philosophy bound together through race, is becoming part of High Culture. Right now my first book as a "debut author" titled
INFINITUM: An Afrofuturist Tale published by HarperCollins Amistad holds a unique position.
INFINITUM is the first Afrofuturist graphic novel published by a big five company with an original storyline. I am so proud of my book.
As the creator, I’ve been asked to give a little background on my artistic origins.
It’s interesting when one takes up the sum total of their artistic life. I have always done some form of Visual Afrofuturism since I was a young boy. I come from the state of Mississippi. I was born in Tupelo, home of Elvis. I was raised in Clarksdale, home of Robert Johnson. My life in the Mississippi Delta was one in which all of the deep-seeded phobias and isms of Black American life existed intertwined with the magical upbringing that is inherent in a rural upbringing. Mixed along with this was my exposure to science-fiction films, comic books, and all sorts of geek-like things that young kids could engage in…minus the estrangement from peers.
It wasn’t cool then to be a geek.
I would eventually move to New York City. As the saying goes, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Of course there is and isn’t a level of truth to that. Ultimately, like with the 4-color fictional tales read in my rural upbringing, this urban transition was quite dramatic. Life in the late 1980s NYC was an energetic fusion of early hip-hop culture blended with it’s more alternative sibling, Black Rock culture. I dove head and spirit first into the lifestyle change like a comic book character changing into a superhero costume. Within a matter of weeks I went from a mild mannered young African-American male unsure of himself, to a radicalized "all black" wearing mohawk dreadloc-wearing Afropunk. I would take this new identity and use that to explore cartooning, that thing that I love, and merge that into African religious modalities, science-fiction concept design, and expansive panel to panel storytelling.
I was in a grimy urban metropolis, but heaven nonetheless.
Jump forward 30 years, I am much more comfortable in my skin then I was in my youth. My art has advanced further then I could have imagined. Through INFINITUM, I wanted to produce a book that would look expansive visually, push the limits of what comics were allowed to do narratively, and bring some level of epic scale to the Black speculative experience. However, it was important for me to do it in a way that audiences of all races, genders and ethnicities would be able to relate to the story. The story is, after all, essentially about the human experience. I hope that librarians will be willing, as individual readers and guides for readers, to take a chance on my book, take a chance on my vision, and enjoy having your mind expanded (hopefully) into the farthest reaches of time.
INFINITUM: An Afrofuturist Tale can be purchased where all fine books are sold.
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Thanks so much, Tim!
INFINITUM is on sale now. We can't recommend enough this expansive, one-of-a-kind reading experience. If you want to learn more, check out the replay of our
Door to Door episode featuring Tim and Jonny Sun, author of
Goodbye, Again!
-Chris
Today we are thrilled to have a guest post from