To Shimizu, who as a boy repeatedly encountered discrimination and “uncomfortable, unpleasant remarks” about his South Korean background, these were every bit as important as the more serious manga that taught him about politics, history, philosophy and romance. “In Japan, we receive information about everything through manga,” Shimizu says. “Manga is not just a genre, it’s a medium. So I knew the power of this storytelling vehicle.”

Now he’s harnessing that power to tell the inspiring stories of true-life heroes like civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., former South African president Nelson Mandela and Myanmar’s pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.