Three black teenagers in Bedford-Stuyvesant are shot by police officers in a case of mistaken identity. One of them, Kareem Jenkins, survives and learns a secret: Only black people have superpowers. How does the world react as the truth is exposed?

This is Black, a new comic book series about black characters by black creators.

The comic, developed by the writer Kwanza Osajyefo and the designer Tim Smith 3 after a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, was designed to tell a story that reflected their lives and helped fill a void, they said.

While there has been media attention on superheroes who break traditional molds — in recent comic series, Chalice is transgender, Faith is full-figured, the Hulk is Korean-American — the same sense of inclusion has not always been apparent behind the scenes.

Black, published by Black Mask Studios, is distinctive for the diversity of its creative staff as well as the power of its covers, which were illustrated by Khary Randolph and strikingly rendered in a palette of black, white and red.