There are, generally, two schools of thought when a Hollywood actor turns their attention to the comic book medium as a writer or artist.
Some can roll their eyes and ask about experience, privilege and cynical cross-marketing opportunities.
Hey, I get it. Those eye rolls can be legit.
But there are those (and you can count me in this group) who get excited about the possibilities. Look at the recent storytelling successes of Keanu Reeves with his BRZRKR franchise of stories from publisher Boom! Studios and David Dastmalchian with his Count Crowley series from publisher Dark Horse Comics.
The creation of comic books needs many top ingredients. Writers and illustrators are among the most important. I’ve known a few actors in my time and they’ve all been good-to-great writers with plenty of creative ideas and opinions. They’ve also been ardent readers of various forms of fiction and non-fiction, including comic books and graphic novels and I’ve historically been able to have wonderful conversations with them about everyone’s favourite four-colour, pop-culture medium.
So when I see a young, influential and up-and-coming actor like Iman Vellani, famous for her turn as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel in The Marvels (2023) of the renown Marvel Cinematic Universe and her more recent role as Kat in the acclaimed Mouse (2026) take a turn at writing comics, I pay attention.
Here’s a new voice for all of us to experience – and comic books constantly need new voices to move forward as a culturally important medium.
Chachu #1
Written by: Iman Vellani
Illustrated by: Marianna Ignazzi
Published by: Image Comics
In today’s release of the first issue of Chachu, a five-part monthly miniseries, Iman Vallani, the twenty-three-year-old Canadian actress with Pakastani background becomes Iman Vellani, the creative writer of a neo-noir mystery that weaves familial relations, burgeoning adulthood and the underbelly of Hollywood into a riveting, turn-the-page thriller.
Joining Vellani (in her first solo comic book writing series) is accomplished artist, Marianna Ignazzi (Exquisite Corpses, Self Help) and the extraordinary work of colourist Jordie Bellaire (who has done everything in the industry and is a modern fave of this particular writer). It’s a great support cast for such a new voice.
Chachu takes place in 1979 and stars Leila, a nineteen-year-old Pakastani-Canadian girl who loves pulp novels and harbours a Hollywood dream, journeying to California to meet up with her estranged, semi-retired private eye, uncle, her “Chachu”. This man, meanwhile, has a fascinating and somewhat dark, Hollywood history. He married the Tinseltown starlet he was once hired to find. And now his wife is missing once again.
On a road trip investigation to track down the missing woman, Leila will be forced to learn what adulthood really means with an even deeper exploration into her own regrets.
And mortality.
Make the run to your local comic book shop today, pick up the first issue of Chachu and experience a new, important young voice making waves in the comic book industry.
