KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A comic book shop in Knoxville is putting diversity on display. During the month of February, the front shelves at Nirvana Comics are lined with comics from Black authors and artists.
In a store with shelves lined in comics, sits a section of representation.
"There's a comic for everyone," Co-owner of Nirvana Comics Jasmine Mitchell said. She is the brains behind the storefront display.
At the beginning of February, she put a variety of comic books with Black authors, artists, superheroes, and role models on the front shelves of the shop.
"When we say there's a comic for everyone, we're not kidding," Mitchell said. "I've done this for the last few years for Nirvana Comics and I've been very proud not only just to do it for Black History Month, for all the other months."
Mitchell explained she helps the store celebrate and acknowledge Women's History Month in March, Asian Pacific America Heritage Month in May, and many others.
"We love highlighting all these different people, and maybe it also introduces people to another world, which is great," Mitchell said.
There are plenty of white, male superheroes lining the pages. For decades, minority characters, like her favorite, Static Shock, were hard to come by.
"It was nice to see a Black superhero be able to do all these different things," Mitchell said. "I'm a big Vixen fan, and you don't really think about it until you're like, 'oh my gosh, that's the reason why I like this character like, oh, okay, this makes sense.'"
It's something her husband, and co-owner of Nirvana Comics, Grant Mitchell, learned a little later in life.
"I grew up watching Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman," Grant Mitchell said. "I could imagine myself being that superhero any day of the week, you know, it was easy for me. [Jasmine] just watched Static Shock, because that was her thing."
Grant wants more kids to feel like he did growing up. That's why now, they work together to spotlight diverse authors, artists, heroes, and role models in the shop.
"It just creates that spark of like, 'I can make a difference, I can do this, I'm actually good with being me, like, I can be me, it's okay to be me and who I am,'" Jasmine Mitchell said.
Jasmine said she's proud of where the industry is going when it comes to representation, but there is still more work to do.
She says, along with Black superheroes being more prevalent, there are also authors and artists who are creating their own comic companies, instead of latching on to the big brands.
The husband and wife duo believe there is always a spot for representation on their shelves.
"We have a comic for you here, no matter who you are," Grant Mitchell said.
