By Katie Chicklinski-Cahill, Durango Herald Arts & Entertainment editor

Kayla Shaggy, one of the artists featured in a new exhibit on Indigenous comic book art in Durango, said she sees the genre becoming more and more popular – and there may be a practical side to it.

“I think mostly because it’s accessibility, because I know some craft-based work can be very expensive, or you need a mentor who’s very experienced in it,” said Shaggy, who noted that more and more graphic novels “are being adapted and pointed to the work of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

“So, I think comics are returning, along with rise of zines, like self-published printed material. People like physical media,” Shaggy said. “So yeah, but I think it’s still a growing thing.”

The Durango Creative District’s exhibit, “Super-Powered Sovereignty: Indigenous Comic Book Art,” kicked off with an opening reception last Friday at the gallery.

It’s “a collaborative exhibition highlighting unique Indigenous stories told through the medium of comic book art,” according to a news release from the gallery. “This exhibition will feature American Indigenous artists working in the vibrant world of comic book illustration, exploring themes rooted to sovereignty, identity and cultural empowerment through visual storytelling. Original paintings, prints and comic books depicting Indigenous superheroes, protectors and villains will all be on view.”

Participating artists aren’t just from Durango – they include people from New Jersey, Phoenix and the Four Corners and the work of Shaun Beyale, Shamus Beyale, Keith Jim, Rod Velarde and Durangoan Christian Kee.

The artists “have worked with behemoths like Marvel, Scholastic Inc., and have had work in museum exhibitions, video games and film,” according to the gallery.

The exhibit’s guest curator, Andrea Rose Descheenie, a senior at Fort Lewis College, is a contemporary Indigenous artist and curator from the Navajo Nation of Chinle, Arizona. She is majoring in communication design with a certificate in museum management.

Shaggy and her art had been featured on an episode of the Netflix reboot of “Unsolved Mysteries.” Since then, she continues her prolific pace of releasing comic series, paintings, zines and whatever else she comes up with.

“I started a new comic series called ‘Death Becomes Her.’ It’s about lesbian vampires, and I’m working on the sixth issue right now, and it’s been very popular and well-received,” she said. “I actually completed a successful crowdfund campaign to print issues one through four. I’ve been working on comics and making comics and attending zine fests and comic fests in the Southwest. I just finished doing a conference in Albuquerque where they used my art for their program.”

She said she was asked to participate in the comic book show and thought it would be a great way to get back to town.

“(Durango is) where I went to school, and a lot of my friends are still there,” Shaggy said. “I know I have the fanbase there, because Maria’s sells my work, and they’ve been selling my work for years. So, it’s kind of like – how does my dad put it? Like stomping grounds, old stomping grounds, plus it’s close to where my parents live. So, I would say it’s a little bit of like a homecoming.”

The exhibit at the Durango Creative District accompanies a citywide Native American Heritage Month Celebration coordinated by Durango School District 9R Title VI Indigenous Liaisons, including events throughout November that honor the cultures, contributions and living traditions of Indigenous peoples in the Four Corners region, the release said.

And for Shaggy, she said she hopes her art will encourage other people to get their own stories out to the public.

“I want people to be inspired,” she said. “I think the best thing I can hear from people, especially with my series ‘Death Becomes Her,’ is it makes people feel seen. It makes people feel heard, and most of all, it makes them want to draw their own story, whether it’s their story or a story that’s been inside of them and they’re worried about sharing it. But then they see me chugging along, and they’re like, ‘Wow, I want to do that, too.’ You could do that. It’s OK to do that.”

Katie Chicklinski-Cahill can be reached at katie@durangoherald.com.