11 Black comics writers to read, from DC to Marvel and beyond

Regine Sawyer

For Regine Sawyer, comics have always been a part of her life. From a childhood of Sunday comic strips in the newspaper to today, she’s had a hand in the reading and the making of comic-based stories.

It didn’t seem like that for a while, though. In college, Sawyer felt obliged to find a “real job.” That led to a technology degree and a management job, where she worked until comics came calling. Sawyer met the owner of an independent comics company. She landed a job at that company, where she did everything from editing, to scouting, to administrative work. Eventually, she couldn’t deny it any longer: she needed to make her own comics.

In 2007, Sawyer founded her own company, Lockett Down Productions Publications. She started self-publishing her own work, which includes The Rippers, a sci-fi tale featuring Rhiannon O’Cair. Rhiannon is a bounty hunter with memory issues, making for some real trouble when she’s accused of a serious crime.

More recently, Sawyer has produced Eating Vampires. That comic focuses on Evelyn, a young girl who also happens to be the last of the Healers. Rigel Alexa, a Battle Guardian, must keep Evelyn safe with the help of a group of mystical women. The massive amount of vampires after Evelyn, Rigel, and their allies makes for a serious horror comic.

Sawyer has also done plenty of work organizing and advocating for women in comics. She’s the founder of the Women in Comics collective (WinC), established in 2012. WinC, open to women of any background in the comics industry, has held workshops and panel discussions across the United States and at many different comics conventions.