Posted in: Comics, Image | Tagged: Chachu, Iman Vellani, Jordie Bellaire, Marianna Ignazzi, ms marvel, tiny onion
Ms Marvel Actress Iman Vellani and Marianna Ignazzi create the comic book Chachu from Image Comics in August
Article Summary
- Iman Vellani launches her first solo original comic, Chachu, a five-issue neo-noir miniseries from Image Comics.
- Set in 1979, Chachu follows Leila and her estranged private-eye uncle on a road-trip mystery full of family secrets.
- Marianna Ignazzi draws with colors by Jordie Bellaire, as Tiny Onion and Image back Iman Vellani’s new series.
- The post also traces Iman Vellani’s comic shop roots, Ms. Marvel fandom, and her rise from reader to comic writer.
Iman Vellani, who played Kamala Khan, Ms Marvel in the Marvel TV show of the same name, is writing her first comic book written solo, Chachu, a five-issue neo-noir miniseries drawn by Marianna Ignazzi (Exquisite Corpses) and coloured by Jordie Bellaire, from James Tynion IV‘s studio Tiny Onion, through Image Comics, for the 5th of August, with cover variants by Matías Bergara, Jacob Phillips, and Christian Ward.
Set in 1979, Chachu follows Leila, a 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian girl with a penchant for film and pulp novels, who travels to California hoping to connect with her estranged uncle—her “Chachu”—a middle-aged, semi-retired private eye once famous for marrying the starlet he was initially hired to find. But when his wife mysteriously vanishes once again, the two are forced on an impromptu road trip investigation that transforms her first taste of adulthood into a thrilling confrontation of family secrets, unresolved grief, and the fantasies both she and Chachu have built their lives around.
“I’ve always been deeply curious about comics as an art form because of their capacity to hold contradiction—arguably better than any other medium,” said Vellani. “That became especially meaningful to me while writing Chachu, which grew out of this tension between mourning my youth while I still have it, and an incessant urge to come-of-age already. It’s been an immense privilege to build my first original series alongside such an accomplished roster of collaborators, all of whom challenged and supported me in ways that made this book far better than anything I could’ve imagined on my own or in therapy.”
“From the very first reading of Iman’s script, I could already picture this ’70s world revealing itself through reflections in sunglasses and rearview mirrors, slowly emerging through cigarette smoke and neon lights,” said Ignazzi. “I tried to capture Leila and Chachu’s journey through strong blacks and a graphic style that could still feel emotional and deeply narrative. Seeing my pages come to life through Jordie’s colors has been wonderful—she brought an incredible atmosphere, warmth, and cinematic depth to every scene.”
On the catwalk for the premiere of the TV series Ms Marvel, Iman Vellani went out of her way to call out Kevin Feige on this. Stating that no, the MCU is not Earth 616, no matter how many times Marvel Studios President and then-CCO of Marvel Comics, Kevin Feige says it is, but that it is Earth 199999. She also went to school directly opposite the Ontario comic book store Heroes World and she was a customer there for years. And the first comic with Ms Marvel in it that she bought, she bought from him under his recommendation. And as you can see, the store has reciprocated in kind.
Situated opposite a high school, Heroes World has always enjoyed an audience of school kids, but not always for comic books. They have trading cards, they have action figures, they have T-shirts and other ephemera. But Andre remembers Iman Vellani as a young schoolgirl buying lots of back issues, and not just recent stuff but diving into the eighties, especially Iron Man in the issue 200s. But she also bought new comics from him, and he recalls pointing out the 2017 run on Iron Man, specifically the cover with Riri Williams as Iron Man, and Ms Marvel, and she picked it up with the new releases. Andre sold Iman her first Ms Marvel comic – and it wasn’t the last. She would sometimes come into the store a couple of times a day, and if she was ever a dollar short, she would fastidiously make it up at a later date.
Heroes World – and the school – closed their doors during the pandemic, so Andre stopped seeing almost all his customers. But when the news about the casting of Ms Marvel for the TV series and The Marvels movie came through, he recognised her, and when the local news station came picking around the school and the neighbourhood, that just confirmed it. Iman came back to the store with a friend, fully masked, and went straight to the new comic book release wall. Andre hailed her, saying, “You’re just going to come in and not say anything? Congratulations!” There were geeky, elated moments with virtual high fives over her casting.
He also got to speak to Rish Shah, who plays Kamran on the show, and who thanked him for selling Iman her first Ms Marvel comic, telling him that her comic book knowledge was what propelled her to understand the character and get the part. Iman told Andre that her comic book store owner, her aunt and her drama teacher were the three people most responsible for where she was now. Andrew told me that he loves to see a genuine fan, someone who knows the comics as much as she does, playing that part.”
Iman Vellani has also continued to visit the store and has posed for selfies with customers – and with Andre, of course. and told him that her coolest moment so far was filming with Samuel Jackson. Now that his participation with The Marvels movie is out there, Andre feels happier to share that now. Andre tells me that “the girl you are seeing in interviews is genuinely the real deal, she’s a sweetheart, she’s smart, she really loves comic books. I hope the people at Marvel recognise this, I hope Marvel uses her for comics and literary outreach, for representation, for getting young people into comic books.” And on the release of Ms Marvel: The New Mutant #1 from Marvel Comics in 2023, co-written by Iman Vellani, she came by her old comic book store for a release day signing.
The shop made sure they had enough copies for everyone who came along, and she signed all of them.
Store owner Andre Greenidge was especially pleased to stock so many copies of the comic book in question…
… as he was actually written into the comic by Iman Vellani, with his store’s HW logo. As Ms Marvel arrives at the Orchis-sponsored University she is infiltrating…
Last time I spoke to Andre, he talked to me about Iman, telling me “the girl you are seeing in interviews is genuinely the real deal, she’s a sweetheart, she’s smart, she really loves comic books. I hope the people at Marvel recognise this, I hope Marvel uses her for comics and literary outreach, for representation, for getting young people into comic books.” And mow it’s Image Comics turn as she is writing the comic book solo. What are the odds they will be doing a signing for the release of Chachu in August? Got to be high…
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