ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Comics writer Andrew Aydin, co-author of “March,” Congressman John Lewis’ trilogy of graphic memoirs, is bringing his experience with nonfiction comic storytelling to Western North Carolina.
Founded by Aydin, the Appalachia Comics Project is a collaborative comics enterprise dedicated to telling the stories of the Appalachians who survived Tropical Storm Helene.
ACP is currently at work on “Islands in the Sky,” an anthology volume that pairs high-profile comics creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction and Gene Luen Yang with real Appalachians, exploring real experiences of enduring Helene in eight to 12 page graphic short stories. The project has been funded by community backers on Kickstarter, where over 500 people raised over $30,000 to bring the book to life.
“At its core, this is about creating a record of what happened during Hurricane Helene, written by the people who survived it and who helped everyone pull through,” said Aydin.
Drawing from real life
While there have been several books published in the aftermath of Helene, including compilations of writing and art, “Islands in the Sky” is unique in its documentation of Helene history entirely through comics.
“It was incredibly important that we preserve this history while we could, to create a record that was accessible for young people and people who are not so old, that utilized the unique benefits of the comics medium to depict a visual and emotional story,” explained Aydin.
An open call for submissions to the project was published to the Smoky Mountain News on April 9, 2025 and generated over three dozen submissions in just 24 hours.
Just a dozen were ultimately selected for the anthology.
“I would love to make all of them. It’s just a matter of being able to pay for it,” Aydin reflected. “Because the survivors are writing their stories, they’re getting paid. The comic book professionals who are co-authoring the stories are doing this as a volunteer, but then the artists are getting paid something. Oftentimes, they’re doing it at a reduced rate, but it’s just about resources and then how you can compensate people fairly, make sure that the people of the region are receiving a net benefit in addition to having their story told.”
Appalachian stories from all over
The 12 chapters come from all over storm-impacted Appalachia, from larger cities like Asheville and Hendersonville to smaller towns like Bat Cave, Maggie Valley and Swannanoa. Spotlighting smaller communities was of personal significance to Aydin, who lives under Bearwallow Mountain in Henderson County.
“I think the hard part about the way in which we talk about the region is that Asheville is such a small piece of it, geographically,” Aydin said. “That was the fun part about having so many stories from different parts of the region. We’ve got people who are in Buncombe, who are in Asheville, but at the same time, you’ve got Swannanoa, Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, Edneyville and these different places, showing how they all work together.”
For Aydin, who spent years working in Washington, D.C., “Islands in the Sky” is also a rebuttal of negative stereotypes about rural communities oft-repeated on the national stage.
“The people who lived through Helene, and who live in these rural areas, are more capable, and talented, and gifted and creative than anyone understands, but we get force-fed these media narratives through these large companies that benefit from the division, and the hate and controlling of the narrative of the region,” Aydin said.
“Islands in the Sky” is just the beginning. If the anthology is successful, ACP wants to produce more comics that tell Appalachian stories directly from Appalachian storytellers.
“How many more people are there out there who want to make a comic about their lives, or about an experience, or about something that they dreamed of that’s about their region?” Aydin asked. “I mean, I think there’s this tremendous opportunity to do something like that, and I think we start by doing some sort of anthology series.”
Aydin already has a name for the prospective series: “Bearwallow.”
“Islands in the Sky” will soon be available in bookstores and libraries around the region.
For more information about Appalachia Comics Project, visit www.appalachiacomics.org.