JUPITER INVINCIBLE is an augmented reality comic book series about an African-American enslaved person, Jupiter, who is suddenly given the power of immortality. The story takes place on a Southern plantation near Baltimore before the U.S. Civil War.
Jupiter is a horse-breaker and coach driver, and was born into slavery. During a freak electrical storm, he is struck by lighting which gives him the power of immortality, and makes his scars translucent. Jupiter escapes to the North and finds the abolitionist and former slave, Harriet Tubman. Together, they plot to smuggle run-away slave through the underground railroad. Jupiter continually puts his life on the line to help others knowing he cannot be killed. Eventually, Jupiter outlives everyone and experiences dramatic changes in America from the Civil War to modern times. Can Jupiter use his powers and wisdom to change the course of history to rectify racial injustice and inequality?
The project is a mixture of pop-culture, history, innovative technology, and dynamic storytelling to address structural racism.
Yusef Komunyakaa (born April 29, 1947) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Komunyakaa received the 2007 Louisiana Writer Award for his enduring contribution to the poetry world.
His subject matter ranges from the black general experience through rural Southern life before the Civil Rights time period and his experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War.