Tephlon Funk! is “the Dopest”… Except for One Thing

[divider type=”thin”]If the name “Tephlon Funk” truly means both the strength to overcome obstacles and the ability to stand out from a crowd as the creators suggest, then you’d be hard pressed to find a more aptly named franchise. Like its spiritual predecessors Samurai Champloo and The Boondocks, Tephlon Funk!’s blend of hip hop culture with anime aesthetics has effortlessly captured the attention of anyone within the radius of Black and nerd intersections, and with good reason. Boasting both a strong fanbase starting from the inception of its Kickstarter and an artistic style replete with homage yet distinct all its own, you could argue that the work produced by trio Stephane Metayer, David Tako, and Nicolas Safe is well on its way to cementing itself as not only of the Blackest manga of all time, but one of the best of that list. Of course, that’s only if Tephlon Funk! can address some noticeable trends with its women characters.

As a series whose main character is a fourteen-year-old, non-white-passing biracial Black girl and whose main cast comprises three women/girls to one boy, I understand that this hardly seems like a problem that would crop up. One thing that undoubtedly sets Tephlon Funk! apart from its forerunners is its willingness to keep women and girls at the forefront of the story both from a narrative perspective and in its visuals. After releasing its first issue since the site’s pilot last week we’ve so far read a chapter from Jozlyn (with a brief appear…