Entertainment News
Singer-songwriter & actress extraordinaire Janelle Monáe debuted The ArchAndroid Graphic Novel: Chapter 1, at the 2025 BlerDCon. The momentous occasion stamped her official foray into the comic book medium, expanding her Afrofuturist tinged world of Metropolis.
BlerDCon is a three day event celebrating Black nerd culture, affectionately known as “Blerd” culture. Like any ComicCon, BleDCcon primarily centers on anime, comics, gaming, sci-fi culture, and technology. However, as a pioneering “nerd” convention, BlerDCon is created for Black people, by Black people with a focus on women, LGBTQ+ individuals, the international community, and people with disabilities.
Following the announcement at the convention, Monáe shared a video of the exclusive graphic novel release at BlerDCon along with a statement dedicated to her fans via Instagram:
“CHAPTER 1 has arrived. This has been many moons in the making and I couldn’t think of a better place to release the first 800 physical copies @blerdcon. As a world builder, it’s been blerds like you all around the world making me & @wondaland feel seen the most. Thank you to all the true fANDROIDS that have been with @wondaland & me since Metropolis, Cindi Mayweather, Jane 57821. There is no THIS without you. Thank you for your love and patience. Cindi is back from the future with a story to tell you. It’s time to lead us all back to one…”
The release was met with a rapturous reaction from BlerDCon attendees. Many “fANDROIDS” as Monáe calls them took to social media to share their excitement.
The graphic novel shares the name with Monáe’s critically acclaimed debut album, The ArchAndroid. Fans speculate that through this new format, Monáe will continue the sci-fi legacy of her personas Cindi Mayweather and Jane 57821.
First introduced in Monáe’s debut EP, Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), Cindi Mayweather is an android from the year 2719 who falls in love with a human named Anthony Greendown. Falling in love with a human is forbidden for androids, a criminal act in the dystopian city of Metropolis. As a result, Mayweather becomes a fugitive and must escape the oppressive Droid Control who seeks to disassemble her body and capture her cyber soul. She is later revealed to be the ArchAndroid, a messianic like figure whose destiny is to liberate the android community and act as a bridge between humans and androids.
The character of Cindi Mayweather embodies the marginalized “other” in a conformist society. She is the symbol of revolution, self-actualization, and love all in one. Monáe expertly uses Mayweather as an avatar in her well documented journey to liberation, which she hopes will inspire others.
“I speak about androids because the androids represents the new ‘other’. You can compare it to being a lesbian or being a gay man or being a Black woman…What I want is for people who feel oppressed or feel like the ‘other’ to connect with the music and to feel like, ‘She represents who I am’, - Janelle Monáe.
Mayweather’s arc progresses in Monáe's first two solo albums: The ArchAndroid (2010) and Electric Lady (2013). Following these projects, she introduces a new persona, Jane 57821 in the film Dirty Computer (Emotion Picture), a companion to Monáe’s third album of the same name.
The new protagonist Jane 57821 is a queer, android who fights to break free of the homophobic programming of a tyrannical government. The powers that be label her as a “dirty computer” because of her defiance to the status quo, and attempt to “clean” the rebel by deleting her memories.
It is clear that the resounding themes in both arcs of Cindi Mayweather and Jane 57821 are tied to resistance with Afrofuturism as its backdrop. The narrative Monáe signals is an ultimate fight against cis/heteronormativity, anti-Blackness, misogynoir, and the othering of free bodies.
The ArchAndroid is written by Chuck Lightning, illustrated by Chad Weatherford, and features Janelle Monáe as lead. No release date has been announced for the highly anticipated novel.
What possibilities will The ArchAndroid hold? How many chapters will there be? Will fans be treated to the complete stories of Cindi Mayweather and Jane 57821? Gayes, only time will tell!