Searching For Arizona…..
Templar Arizona is a comic book written by a black woman named Charlie “Spike” Troutman. I wanted to interview her but had yet to make contact with her, so I caught the train to the most logical place to find a comic book artist: at a comic book convention.
On the train, I notice the crowd that may be joining me for the event. There attire was mostly t-shirts and jeans with glasses and backpacks or simply a costume of their favorite superhero or character. I know this a classic case of stereotyping but after a mandatory stop at Garrett’s Popcorn, I needed these people to guide me in the right direction so I wouldn’t get lost. So instead of asking the train conductor for directions, I simply followed the “geeks.” Upon arriving there, it was like the casting of 2010 “Revenge of the Nerds” I wasn’t looking for “Booger” or Lamar, (wouldn’t that be cool if I saw Booger though)
I was looking for ‘Spike’. Templar Arizona story comes from Ms. Troutman’s imagination and consists of characters that share the same personality of people she either knows or had met. In fairness, I wanted to interview Spike because she is black and also a woman. I thought it would be cool to show a profession not typically taken by blacks, especially women; and use it for motivation for those trying to break in that field. On the other hand, after reading some of her material, I realized she is a talented writer. In hindsight, I wondered if my attempt became transparent and offensive to Ms. Troutman because she never conducted the interview, she agreed to do it at the event, but when I emailed her the questions she never responded. I think because I didn’t have any business cards or maybe it conflicted with her schedule or maybe she just forgot, but my speculation lead me to a bigger issue.