Defiant (2025) - Civil War Monitor

Robert Smalls, an enslaved South Carolinian, stole the CSS Planter in 1862 and escaped to freedom. He served in the Union army, then became a businessman and politician, representing South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives. Smalls remained largely obscure until the 2010s, when his story gained popularity due to Barack Obama's election and the Black Lives Matter movement. The graphic novel 'Defiant' (2025) by Rob Edwards tells his story from the perspective of an elderly Smalls.