David Washington didn’t go for comics as a kid.

Yet, as an adult, the businessman and lawyer found himself self-publishing his own graphic novel, Black Defender: The Awakening. The book, illustrated by Zhengis Tasbolatov, with a foreword by martial arts legend Billy Blanks, actually had its origin on the big screen.

“My family and I enjoy family Friday nights where we sit and watch action films,” Washington explains. “But my kids couldn’t see a reflection of themselves in those heroes. We would take them out to every Marvel movie. We would take them out to every DC movie. But when they look up on the screen, they’re not really represented as well. So, I thought, I can do this, I can fix this.”

To address the lack of well-rounded Black characters on the screen, Washington decided he would start with a graphic novel.

“I went to Ollie’s discount store and grabbed a bunch of graphic novels, started reading them, and scrolled through the internet to find scripts [and see] how graphic novels were written,” he says. “Then I started writing. It was really a labor of love, because I wanted my kids to be able to see reflections of themselves in the characters—and not in a funhouse-mirror way.”

Black Defender follows Chris Withers, a successful entrepreneur in the fictional Dale City, who becomes concerned with police indifference to a rash of missing Black girls. His wife, a reporter named Crystal, is on the case, but when a terrible tragedy strikes, Withers realizes he’ll have to take matters into his own hands, with the help of a scientist friend who has developed a powerful new body armor.

The book won the 2024 Best Indie Book Award in the graphic novel category as well as an International Impact Book Award, and it was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. And the author, who published the book through his own Washington Comix, is just getting started.

Washington discussed Black Defender: The Awakening via telephone from North Carolina, where he lives and works. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did the character of Chris Withers and the Black Defender come to you?

They say to write what you know, right? Chris Withers is about 70% me—everything from the military background to the martial arts background. One of the things that happens, unfortunately, is when people are looking at Black action heroes, they don’t give them enough development. My kids often say, “Dad, you’ve been in the military, you do martial arts, you are a lawyer, you have a Ph.D, you’ve done this, you’ve done that.” My kids see that on a regular basis with me, but there’s a lot of kids that don’t see that on a regular basis.

I wanted to be able to show them that there’s some fullness to our heroes. One of the things that is cool is that when I go out to events to talk to young people, they can talk to the guy who embodies a lot of the things that you see in that book.

Have your kids read the book?

The kids love it. In fact, my kids were my core staff of editors on the first draft, so they would tell me if I was off or not. My daughter was my toughest critic by far. If you can get past my daughter, you’re OK. I never believed in reincarnation until I had this little girl. Sometimes when I talk with her, I could swear that she’s a 70-year-old woman that got brought back to the earth. She will not pull any punches.

My kids got to see all this as it went along: when it was in the manuscript form and every time we got returns back from the artist. They got a chance to see the entire thing from the ground up. As a father, I take a particular pride in that, because my children got to see what it’s like to build something, and it gives them an example that they can do it, too. One day, if they want to build something, they can do it because they’ve been shown how it’s done.

What was the character design process like?

I was very detail oriented with character design. I sat down and wrote psychological profiles for many of the characters, because I wanted to understand their motives, I wanted to understand their goals. I wanted it to be understood that there’s more going on here. I gave the illustrator, Zhengis Tasboloatov, a work-up package with descriptions in written format, and then pictorial examples, saying, Hey, here are some of the things you might want to look at when you’re illustrating these characters. Even some of the supporting characters—for example, the newscaster—had their own packets.

No spoilers, but there’s a pretty shocking twist about halfway through the book. Have readers brought that up with you?

Yes. I wanted the material to connect with people. I’m so grateful and thankful for all the people who’ve supported this book, but when a person who has never read comics—in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and cracking the binding on a graphic novel for the first time—comes back with such feelings and emotions, that’s what I was trying to get. And I’m so grateful that the audience took to it that way, because it makes me feel that the work really was done correctly.

Your book won a Best Indie Book Award and an International Impact Book Award, and it was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. What was it like receiving these honors?

I was over the moon. When you look at the NAACP Image Awards roster, two books came from HarperCollins. Two books came from Penguin Random House. And then there’s me, the independent graphic novel in that category. I’m so humbled, thankful, grateful, and appreciative to see all the awards and all the recognition that the book has gotten.

I thank everyone that’s supported me in this process. I’ve had so many people support me with kind words and actions that I’m just overwhelmed. I really want to tell everyone:  Thank you for supporting this concept, for supporting this book. Thank you to the judges, to all the reviewers. I’m thankful for the opportunity and thankful for everyone who contributed to this process. I just can’t thank you guys enough.

Is it safe to say that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the Black Defender?

Oh, yes. What we have in front of us is four more books. I’ve got three more heroes to introduce and then one team-up at the end. I’m going to write those books, but right now we’re moving Black Defender into the film space. The screenplay has already been written, and right now we’re raising funds. The objective is to start principal photography on the movie by October 2026. Once the movie is in motion, then the next book comes out.

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.