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Shequeta Smith is an author-filmmaker with multiple projects under her belt. In 2014, Shequeta beat out five thousand filmmakers to be selected as a Top 20 Finalist in HBO's Project Greenlight with her comedy teaser trailer, "The Gestapo vs. Granny". She was the only female, solo director selected in the competition. In addition to this, Shequeta wrote, directed and produced the short film, “The Takeover,” that has been featured in multiple film festivals and has garnered over two hundred thousand YouTube views. Most recently, Shequeta successfully released a 14-minute short film and the first two books in her six-part Korean-American graphic novel series, Rayven Choi. Both the film and book are based on her award winning screenplay.
Reviewed by Justine Reyes for Readers' Favorite
Rayven Choi: Chapter 1: Koreamerica by Shequeta Smith centers around the main protagonist the book is named after. The very first scene shows us that Rayven Choi is not kidding around when she shoots a man almost point blank. But who was he? At a young age, Rayven was forced out of a normal life when somebody put a hit on her father, which resulted in a bloody train massacre, leaving her without both of her biological parents. Rayven is the sole survivor. The police and FBI get involved when the assailant tries to go after Rayven once more and it becomes clear that as long as Rayven is in America she will never be safe. Luckily, Rayven’s father had befriended a man in South Korea where the story takes place years later and truly begins to unfold.
Overall, the illustrations and colors were marvelous. I appreciated the care given to the small details in their facial expressions; it brought the characters to life and it made me wonder who said that graphic novels and comic books are not literature? Shequeta Smith gives us a well written graphic novel that breaks away from the comic book superhero stereotype to which many have grown accustomed. Here is a story that has espionage, tragedy, drama, and a well developed main character. Smith produces one of the fiercest female characters ever created, and she doesn’t need a leather spandex suit or a cape! As the plot thickened, I found myself engrossed, I became deeply invested in Rayven and her life. I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of this series.
