Azie Tesfai’s You’re A Superhero Rewrites Superhero Stories for the Next Generation

Azie Tesfai’s You’re A Superhero! marks the next step in her journey as a trailblazer in superhero storytelling. Before this book, Tesfai already made history as the first Ethiopian actor to portray a superhero on television. Now, she is taking that legacy further by writing her own children’s graphic novel for DC Comics.

Tesfai is widely known for playing the Guardian on The CW’s Supergirl. However, she did more than wear the suit. During the show’s final season, she co-wrote the episode “Blind Spots,” becoming the first CW actor to write for the network.

As the daughter of Eritrean immigrants who lived in Ethiopia before moving to the United States, Tesfai understands what representation means. Growing up, she did not always see girls who looked like her in superhero stories. So instead of waiting for that to change, she decided to write the story herself.

“I wrote this book because playing a superhero on television opened me up to a world filled with imagination, power, and possibility, one I hadn’t fully experienced when I was growing up,” Tesfai shared. She explained that she wanted children to meet heroes earlier and to see themselves reflected from the start.

That idea became You’re A Superhero!, her debut DC early reader graphic novel illustrated by Penelope Rivera Gaylord and arriving November 3, 2026.

A Superhero Story Rooted in Community

The story follows six-year-old Mariam, an Ethiopian American girl who loves superheroes but feels like the ones on TV live in a different world. However, as she spends the day walking through her neighborhood with her single mother, she begins to notice something different.

The building super who keeps everyone safe. The bus driver who knows every child’s name. The electrician who brings the lights back on. Slowly, Mariam starts to understand that heroism does not only exist in capes. It exists in community.

Tesfai tells the story through an Ethiopian lens on purpose. She brings Mariam’s culture and family life into DC’s universe while still introducing young readers to familiar icons like Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batman, and The Flash. In doing so, she connects everyday life with legendary characters instead of separating them.

More importantly, the book sends a simple message. You do not have to fly to be powerful. You do not have to live in a comic panel to matter. For African and diaspora children especially, that message lands differently. It says your home, your family, and your culture already belong in the story.

And in the final pages, Mariam learns the most important lesson of all: she is a superhero, too.