Meet graphic novelist Basi Affia, who has the first Black-owned comic book company in Iowa

Basi Affia can take you to another world, a universe set 300 years in the future, where Earth is known as Alkebulan, the Kupaa Initiative is expanding humanity and Astral Knights battle a villain in outer space. And all of the main characters are Black.

Affia created Universe 528, his world of sci-fi graphic novels and web-based motion comics, through his company, Sensi’il Studios, which he calls Iowa’s first Black-owned comic book company. In his studio on Keo Way in Des Moines in the same building as Northern Vessel, he escapes into a futuristic universe with graphic novels that follow complex storylines involving space exploration, religious themes, and character development.

On Feb. 1, he releases his newest graphic novel, “Aaru En Duat: Ascension,” with an author appearance at Beaverdale Books on Feb. 3, where he’ll sign copies and sell his collection of books.

"Did you know that about one-third of anime's fanbase is the Pan-African community?" he wrote on his website. "Yet only 5% of the characters reflect that. As Iowa and Nebraska's first Black comic book publisher, Sensi'il Studios aspires to bring authentic representation to the science fiction and fantasy genres. ...Sensi'il Studios is a space where Pan-African people can see themselves in the future, and see that they have a future, by producing stories with Black lead characters."

Getting to this point in his career — with the graphic novels in the Universe 528 collection as well as another graphic novel written in a joint project with NASCAR driver Colin Garrett's 11/11 Veteran Project called "Regicide: Havoc" — is giving Affia, 27, a chance to help other Black graphic novelists get their works published.

Right now, he's working with an author on the East Coast to publish a book. That's in between working with creative groups such as GenieMixedIt in the music industry, acting with the Pyramid Theatre Group, and modeling. He's also married to Carol Wachuka White, who shares studio space with him for her permanent makeup company, MainBrows, and two children, Azriel, 5, and Elijah, 2, who both appear as characters in his books.

His 2025 agenda includes plans to pen more chapters of his Universe 528 series and attend Comic Con events, including the show in Des Moines in late May, and the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market, where he sells his novels. He's working feverishly on a webtoon that he is entering in a competition in March.

Basi, whose legal name is Aniekanabasi White, was born in Des Moines, attended Lincoln High School and participated in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. After he graduated, he entered the National Guard, serving for three years as a religious affairs specialist.

“I've been blessed to have experiences and relationships with people from a lot of different paths of life,” he said from his studio while putting the finishing touches on his new novel. “I was just very well-traveled. There was a lot of diversity growing up for me.”

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Friends stayed at his home, becoming like family. His blended family — two siblings who are six and eight years older than him as well as half-siblings — are like friends. His father, who flips houses, taught him the ins and outs of business.

“The benefit of having an entrepreneurial family is that there's all these lessons and mindsets and things that I picked up on very early on,” he said. “My dad had us reading books and listening to audiobooks on our trips when I was 9, 10, 11 years old, teaching us assets, liabilities, different types of business.”

He said the turning point for his writing career as a graphic novelist came four years ago at a Comic Con event in Omaha, where he met Fabrice Sapolsky, who created the Spider Noir character for Marvel. He asked him to critique his first book, “Lost With All Hands.”

“Be careful if you ask somebody to do that because it hurts so good,” Affia said. “It was such good criticism, and it hurt so good.”

Affia reworked his novel, changed the lettering, redid panels. He grew.

“All the stuff that I've learned from four years ago to now has really, really paid off,” Affia said. “I learned how to separate the art from the artist. I learned to not take things personally in the professional realm. And in a way, I do take it personally, but I want to be the best version of me that I can be, and in order to do that, I can't take this personally. I just have to take it for the craft that it is.”

Now Affia is ready to release his latest book, with plans to build an entire universe with the characters he created.

“I've had probably, like 1,000 years worth of stuff established for four years now,” he said. “I've built out the galaxy, I've placed characters in that setting, and the story is just seeing what happens.”

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The graphic novelist behind Iowa's first black-owned comic company