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Harriet Tubman and her iconic story is coming to comics with Joe Illidge

"I think [adaptation] is freeing in the sense I have clarity on that." writer and editor Joseph P. Illidge

Harriet Tubman
Image credit: Powelson (Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture)

Comic book writer and editor Joseph P. Illidge recently joined Popverse's Ashley Victoria Robinson on a live episode of Enter the Popverse to chat about joining the Popverse family. Illidge is not only writing for Popverse, but currently penning a graphic novel adaptation of Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry for Harper Collins. In collaboration with artist Marcus Kwame Anderson is tackling the monumental task of bringing such an important story to the medium of comic books. Although still early in his writing process Illidge shares how he approaches Herculean storytelling tasks such as this.

Luckily for us, Popverse’s Ashley V. Robinson got to ask about the minutiae of Illidge's approach to the creative process, delve into the sense of responsibility he feels with this project, and unlock how his long career in comic books has helped of hindered him?

"I think [adaptation] is freeing in the sense I have clarity on that." writer and editor Joseph P. Illidge tells Popverse, “I think nervousness comes when you don't know what the direction is. When you don't know what the goal is. But having established that goal for myself from a writing perspective - and also a major significant thing is the illustrator - my collaborator, Marcus Kwame Anderson. It's being able to do the script in a way that gives him freedom to really bring the best of himself to the story, and so I'm really going to enjoy when we get to that stage.”

Watch on YouTube

Here is our 11-minute interview clip from Joseph P. Illidge's interview on Enter the Popverse.

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