Updated: December 8, 2023

On Saturday December 2nd Legion M head of content, David Baxter, hosted and moderated our Defiant: The True Story of Robert Smalls spotlight panel at LA Comic Con! Featuring Chris Cooper (producer and Legion M exec), Rob Edwards (graphic novel and movie writer), Marvin “Krondon” Jones III (producer and actor) and special guest Sebastian Jones (president of Stranger Comics), our Defiant panel was a great success—raising applause from the audience throughout the fifty minutes the team spent on stage discussing the challenges involved in producing a graphic novel, while also giving updates on the project as a whole. Not a second was wasted as Rob kicked things off, setting the stage for ‘why Defiant and why now?’ This continued as everyone got their moment to shine and display their passion for the Robert Smalls story and how it is being adapted as a graphic novel and as a film (or possibly TV series). We had some great audience questions and actually ran out of time and had to finish answering them down at the Stranger Comics booth, where Rob and Marvin signed Defiant mini-posters and chatted with panel attendees. Many others (who hadn’t attended) also stopped at the booth to learn more after being intrigued by the Nikolas Draper-Ivey created image on the Defiant poster. The momentum continues to build and we feel that 2024 will be a pivotal year for the project, and can't wait to see it explode onto the scene!

Original Post: November 29, 2023

With L.A. Comic Con coming up soon, we wanted to give a quick update for those who might be in the area and planning on attending. So mark your calendars for our DEFIANT panel, which is taking place on Saturday, Dec 2 at 3:00 pm in Panel Room 303 AB. Badge passes are still available.

The unbelievable life of little known American hero Robert Smalls is being memorialized by Legion M in an inspiring graphic novel that raised over $150K on Kickstarter! As an enslaved harbor pilot in Charleston at the height of the Civil War, Smalls pulled off the most audacious heist in history by commandeering a Confederate warship, disguising himself as the captain then filling it with family and friends to run the naval blockade to freedom in the North. Subsequently, he became a naval war hero whose example helped convince Abraham Lincoln to accept African American soldiers into the Union Army. And that was only the very beginning of his extraordinary life!

Join graphic novel writer Rob Edwards, screenwriter of the Academy Award® nominated The Princess and The Frog, producer Marvin Jones III (Black Lightning), producer Chris Cooper (Defiant) and special guest Sebastian Jones (President of Stranger Comics, Author and creator of the fantasy world of Asunda, including lead character Niobe) as they talk about the process of adapting Small’s amazing story to graphic novel form, plus provide exciting updates on the progression of this project! Legion M executive David Baxter will moderate the discussion.

Onward & Upward!