Hello World!
This 2022 Interview we archive Zee bee, an African American Female Anime Artist
Zee Bee:
Give us a Bio: Who is Zee Bee?
• Well I’m Jamaican and Panamanian and label myself as an Afrolatina artist. I always grew up having a deep fascination with anime (thanks to my older cousin who is also an artist and anime lover himself). He put me onto a lot of different series and I was really drawn to all the different cool anime styles and stories there were out there. I can say that anime truly shaped my art styles. And as I grew, I dabbled a little bit in reading some manga but not really a lot. I’d say I’ve definitely watched more anime than read manga in my lifetime! But I decided to just give it a whirl in creating my own because I just always loved to tell stories in my youth as well as draw. So I figured why not put two of those amazing things together!
Tell us a Synopsis of your Anime Project?
• Ruby and Rosa’s world is quite the complicated one, especially since they accidentally end up in another one! But their original Earth is riddled with war between two specific races: Shadow Demons and Uciine. Initially both races lived in peace, but after discovering that Uciine people could unlock a lot of power potential in Shadow Demons, they quickly started killing them off and taking their Ucen Gems for themselves (which are 3 gems built within an Uciine’s chest that possesses various special powers). You can think of the Uciine as almost super evolved humans with unique powers. But long story short, some greedy, evil Shadow Demons who were clearly power-hungry decided to start this whole Shadow-Ucen war, which resulted in a lot of kids becoming orphans as their parents/families were killed off in the mayhem on both sides. That’s why SUVA (Shadow-Ucen Vessel Academy) was created. Essentially it’s a giant organization made for Shadow Demons who believe the killing off the Uciine is wrong and yearn to protect them. It’s a super large unit made to protect the rest of the surviving Uciine people and there they all fight together to stop more innocents from being savagely murdered. But that also comes with a price. Even though they’re all working together to protect one another, they’re not allowed to have any romantic relationships with each other (solely because a mixed offspring of both Uciine and Shadow Demon DNA could result in creating a very catastrophic being). So it is mandatory that all Shadow Demons and Uciine refrain from any type of relationship like that other than fighting partners and friendship. But that’s where Ruby and Rosa’s struggles start. They’re not allowed to be together romantically but they still try to keep it under wraps and make it work regardless. Also if you’re questioning “Well they’re lesbians and can’t create an offspring together anyway.” That’s where you’re wrong. In my world, they actually can because Shadow Demons (both male and female) can impregnate a partner. And no, the Shadow Demon women do not have “you know whats”. They have 100% female anatomy. Basically, if a Shadow Demon female is romantically involved with another Shadow Demon female, one of them can perform a powerful spell ritual on the other that mixes both of their DNA to impregnate their partner. So Ruby can do that as well. Rosa cannot though so only Ruby would be able to impregnate her in the future and not the other way around. But hey! I haven’t even gotten to that part in the series yet!
How hard is it to be taken serious as a Female African American artist breaking through in Anime?
I guess at first it was a challenge because I was originally just doing this for fun and would criticized on what kind of “technical” things I should do when making comics. But honestly, I just had a story to tell so I wanted to do it my own way without any rules. So I took the criticism but at the end of the day I still kept my way of making comics authentic to myself and how I wanted to make them.
How did you gain such a Huge Social Media Audience?
It just came from years of sharing my work publicly and interacting with my fans and other artists out there. I think as an artist it’s so important to interact instead of just simply sharing your work. Interactions build a stronger bond to your work so that’s why I always make sure to show other artists love and respond to all of my fans’ comments/messages.
What is your Target Audience?
Since my comic is heavily LGBT, my main audience would be LGBT and minorities, but I’d also say it’s a universal comic series that can be enjoyed by any and everyone so I don’t want to set any limitations to who can read it. I can say that my fans range from straight to LGBT and from several different ethnicities across the world.
What’s your publication goals?
The comic is strictly web-based for now but eventually I’d love to have it printed and sold in stores. I’d also love for it to be translated in many different languages since the series is embraced worldwide.
What inspires Zee Bee ; her Influences growing up as far as Artist and Books?
I was mostly inspired by anime because I enjoyed the art and stories. I didn’t read too many comics/manga growing up but that didn’t intimidate me from starting my own. I just pretty much went with the flow and learned different comic/manga techniques along the way. That’s how my art and series was able to really evolve over time.
What is your Dream?
My biggest dream is to have my series adapted into an anime series. I know it’s a big dream but I also know it’s not impossible (even if I have to animate it myself). That’s why I’ve also been working so hard to improve my animation skills.
Please give us a Sample of your Work?
Hello World !
Today we Visit a Cosplayer in our 2022 Interview ?
Shelly Santiago So Shelly Santiago, tell us about yourself? Well Shelly Santiago you can find me on socials such as: Facebook: EastCoastPowerRangers Instagram: eastcostpowerrangers Twitter: LadyGreenRanger Tiktok: LadyGreenRanger I'm a former martial arts combatine.. I still practice martial arts just not competitively.. And of course I'm a Cosplayer. What is it that you exactly do in Cosplay? I do what cosplayers do, live their childhood dream and become the heroes they've always wanted a be.. who has sat I'm front of the TV yelling I'm that "superhero".. I just chose to as an adult to finally become one. I love being able to make ideas/ characters come to life. Where can we find your Shows on Youtube? You can find me on Kombat in the grid (link below)
I've also have been featured in sideprojektpodcast What was your inspiration? I have tons of inspirations my first SUPERMAN , Mighty morphin Power Rangers (Tommy) and the one and only Bruce Lee. But I honestly want to inspire others. What is your target audience? Honestly my target audience is everyone and anyone who wants to become a Cosplayer it doesn't matter if you're big, small, brown, black, white, gay, straight, anyone can become the hero/character they want to be .. What is your dreams? To become someone's inspiration What is this project about ? Kombat in the grid is and fan series project in which Power Rangers have a unique crossover with Mortal Kombat. This project was made through the Hearts and Soul, Blood, Sweat and Tears of SuperFans Cosplayers of all shapes and sizes. We've Honestly become a COSFAMILY.
Biografia
Iniciou seus trabalhos com quadrinhos desde cedo (7-8 anos), fazendo histórias para o círculo familiar e amigos próximos. Em 1973, aos 14 anos, criou e lançou Velta, sua criação maior, no jornal mural O Comunicador, do Colégio Estadual de Jaguaribe.
Em 1975 começou a publicar nos jornais A União e O Norte, de circulação estadual, lançando outros personagens, além de Velta, como o índio Itabira (1975, em parceria com seu pai, Emilson Ribeiro), a andróide Nova e[O Desconhecido Homem de Preto (estes dois últimos em 1976). Em 1978 começou a editar revistas por conta própria e colocá-las nas bancas de três estados nordestinos. Editou cerca de quinze revistas independentes, sendo o mais recente o álbum 25 anos de Velta (1998).
Em 1980 começou a publicar quadrinhos no jornal O Correio da Paraíba, também de circulação estadual. No decorrer da carreira, participou de várias exposições em João Pessoa, PB, em outros estados como São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, e na Europa (França). Entre 1985 e 1991, publicou diversos trabalhos da linha erótica e terror em editoras de São Paulo, como Press/Maciota, Nova Sampa e ICEA.
Em 1989, escreveu, dirigiu, atuou e produziu o vídeo O Desconhecido Homem de Preto, sobre o personagem lançado em jornais paraibanos em 1976. O filme teve boa repercussão local e nacional, tendo sido comentado pela revista de cinema Cinemix, o programa Documento Especial, da TV Manchete-Rio, o jornal Folha de S. Paulo e foi exibido em grandes eventos de quadrinhos, como a I Bienal Internacional de quadrinhos do Rio de Janeiro.
Em 1993 começou a fazer trabalhos para editoras dos Estados Unidos, na trilha do seu conterrâneo Deodato Borges Filho, o Mike Deodato Jr. , em personagens conhecidos como O Incrível Hulk e Os Vingadores, ou pouco conhecidos como Glory, Avengelyne, Prophet e Os Protetores, entre outros.
A maioria dos trabalhos exportados tem sido como arte-finalista fantasma, onde não lhe foi dado o devido crédito, por parte dos editores e, em algumas ocasiões, levou a "alcunha" de Deodato Studios. Naquele mesmo ano de 1993, produziu o segundo vídeo: A volta do Homem de Preto, que chegou a ser exibido na TV Cultura de Minas Gerais.
Publicou história colorida de Velta na revista Metal Pesado #6 e, ultimamente, teve uma revista formatinho com Velta, lançada pela editora Escala (2002), o álbum Velta contra o Devorador (Opera Graphica, 2002), o livro História da Paraíba em Quadrinhos (independente, 2003) e o outro álbum 30 anos de Velta (Opera Graphica, 2003).
Em 2013 lançou o livro "Fantasmagorias de R. F. Lucchetti", um livro de contos do mestre da literatura de gênero no Brasil, Rubens Francisco Lucchetti. Por esse trabalho, Emir foi finalista do prêmio Jabuti 2014, na categoria melhor livro ilustrado.[