Basi Affia’s comic books include only Black characters, many of whom are based off of real historical figures.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Basi Affia is making a name for himself as Iowa’s first Black comic book publisher.
Affia, who is a Lincoln High School alum, only got into comic books five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. He’s always wanted his own comic books to include characters that look like him.
“That is the bread and butter of what I do, bringing authentic representation to science fiction and fantasy,” Affia said.
Affia’s comic book company is called Sensi’il Studios.
“Sensi’il means sequential art,” he said. “It’s actually from an ancient form of storytelling where they would draw on folded pieces of paper.”
Affia started his business in 2022 as a way to tell untold Black stories.
“Usually when we get Black stories, they’re about segregation or slavery,” he said. “I want to see more Black kings. I want to see more uplifting of Black cultures and characters.”
To date, he has published four comic books that are written by him, all set in outer space featuring only Black characters.
“The AI’s characters in my comic books are modeled off of Black historical figures like Mansa Musa, Pharaoh Taharqa, Jomo Kenyatta, just a bunch of different people from Pan-African history,” Affia said.
Affia also uses his identity as a veteran as inspiration for characters.
“Veterans are a minority as well and they deserve to be heard, so in one of my books I also incorporated that,” Affia said.
At the end of the day, Affia just wants Black kids to see themselves in comic books.
“We can be the main character,” he said. “Our culture can be celebrated. We can have cool animations and be in sci-fi and fantasy and all these different things.”
2025 promises to be a packed year for Affia with more comic books and more comic convention appearances on the horizon.
