The Lakota storytelling of “Thunderous” seeks to honor Indigenous traditions.

While Japanese graphic novels have been popular for decades, a new wave of comic stories from around the world, focused on a variety of cultures — India, Australia, all across South America — are coming out of small and medium-sized publishing houses. That environment has given a new Native American-centered, young-adult graphic novel called “Thunderous,” by two Montana writers, an opportunity to reach a wider audience.

“Thunderous” is about a Lakota teenager from South Dakota who yearns to fit in. The main character, Aiyana, worries that what makes her different — her Lakota heritage and connection to her previous home on a reservation — are what she needs to hide. And despite loving her family, she pushes them away to seek acceptance among her classmates. Not long into the story, Aiyana is transported into a world of talking animals and a special quest that will transform her. The characters, themes and lessons of the story are rooted in Lakota storytelling, and while Aiyana is not a hero with superpowers in the Marvel sense, her journey has a classic hero’s-origin-story flavor.

Smoker and her co-author, Natalie Peeterse, are both Helena-based poets. Smoker is a member of the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, has published a poetry collection called “Another Attempt at Rescue, ” formerly worked in the Indian Education Division of the state Office of Public Instruction, and currently works as the Indian Education Practice Expert for Portland-based Education Northwest. Between 2019 and 2021, she shared the role of Montana Poet Laureate with Melissa Kwasny. Peeterse, who co-runs Open Country Press, a Montana literary publishing company, has published two collections: “Black Birds: Blue Horse, An Elegy” and “Dreadful: Luminosity, Letters.” Neither had written a comic-style story before.

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