“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main” — John Donne
The idea one gets to where they are alone, is nearly an absolute and bold lie. While it’s true the most successful people work hard and continually study — if not for those who came before them, who taught them, gave them a break, or opened a door for them, would they have achieved all they have? I know, for certain, I would not. Nor would I likely even be here today.
I believe it was on New Year’s Day 2008, maybe the 2nd. I was in Vancouver, Washington helping a friend move with a difficult move when I got the call. Back home in Lewiston, Idaho the husband of a co-worker of mine had been reading a short story I gave her to show him. Ty Wakefield had recently started his own small-press publishing company and anthology zine, both called Alternate Reality Comics. He was a businessman first, but also a talented artist and was shopping around for writers to work with. His wife, knowing I was a comic geek, thanks to the many Superman and Spider-Man shirts I wore to work, approached me before I was to take off for the weekend to visit my kid, who lived a short 400 mile drive west into the heart Oregon. She told me of her husband’s endeavor and I agreed to submit a short story to him.
It wasn’t snowing that day, but damn if it wasn’t cold. We were cleaning out my friends storage unit and doing our best to make good time, as the sun was quickly setting in the early evening. My cell rang and Ty was on the other line. I’ve since forgotten his exact words, but I’ll always remember how excited he was about my little story. So much so was he, Ty apologized more than once for having had drawn a few pages before getting my permission to do so. I on the other hand was shocked, surprised really, that someone would find my writing inspiring enough to want to draw out a story I’d created!
This, was only the beginning.
Shortly thereafter, Ty and I met Adam Watson of Darkslinger Comics at the Olympia Comics Fest. It was certainly a strange moment because the three of us became best friends almost immediately. At the time we were a bizarre trio composed of a proud Democrat, an army veteran Republican, and a tattooed goth. I’m pretty sure people didn’t know what to make of us. However, we all shared a love and passion for comics, and the advent of social media would allow this friendship to thrive.
We all helped each other to better understand the craft of creating comics. Adam was, and still is an invaluable wealth of info. One of the first things he taught me was, other creators aren’t your enemy, they aren’t even your competitors. He was the first to say, “We’re all in this together.”
I took that advice and ran with it.
I’ve since built my career on the idea. First picking the brains of those generous enough to take the time to answer my questions — both pros and indie guys alike. Later, “paying it forward” if you will, by lending what I had learned of the craft, and finding myself in the role of mentor more than a few times. I’ve been lucky too. A few years back, the city in which I live, commissioned me to write and publish a comic based on the popular ghostlore of our downtown buildings.
Yes, much of my luck has come from hard work, but it has also come from the many people in my life who have taught me, who have accepted me into their community, and embraced my work. Kickstarter, especially has been an amazing experience. Nearly 200 Backers have pledged their financial support to our comic The Black Suit of Death — Twice! On top of that, the comic community on social media (shoutout to @ComicBookHour #ComicBookHour) and within crowdfunding campaigns, and comic conventions has been something out of a dream for a geek like me who is socially awkward, and battles a variety of anxieties.
I digress, less this become pages of thanks…
… … …
If we’re not all in this together, then what’s the point? What good does it do to ignore others who just want to share the dream or dream on their own? If crowdfunding has taught us anything, it’s we are better, stronger, more able as a community than we are alone. And so if I may paraphrase Donne; No comic creator is an island. I’m certainly not. If I’ve had any success at all, it’s due to you the reader, the fan. It’s due to the creators which came before me. It’s due to my mentors, my friends, my backers, my wife, my children, my mother, my father, my teachers, and even my bullies. I am what I am today because none of us are alone — even in the darkness (but that’s a whole other thing).
In short (or not so short) this is why Worthy Wednesday is important to me. It’s our opportunity to pay it forward, to share the island which is all of us. Someone once opened a door for me, now we hold it open for the next dreamer.
I’m presently distracted by my lovely children, and so can’t think of how to properly end this would be diatribe. Suffice it to move on to this month’s crowdfunding project:
Indie comics creator Kevin Powers, having tackled a short story for the super [not so] secret BSoD [unofficial] Free Comic Book Day anthology (coming the 1st Saturday, May 2018), has returned to one of his truly groovy comic series:
The Atomic Thunderbolt!
Rescued from obscurity, a once lost superhero from the golden age of comics, The Atomic Thunderbolt has been brought back to life in living color by Kevin Powers and T.J. Comics with spectacular results!
From the Kickstarter Campaign:
Our mission is to fund a print run of the 28-page, full color Atomic Thunderbolt #2 and fund production of the 28-page, full color Atomic Thunderbolt #3!
I’m IPPY Award winning writer Kevin Powers, and I’m teaming up with artist Rowel Roque and IPPY Award winning colorist Donna Gregory to continue the revival of the greatest one-hit wonder in comic book history — The Atomic Thunderbolt.
The Atomic Thunderbolt came after the height of the early-1940s superhero craze. The war was over, the Cold War had yet to begin and many superhero comics had begun to cease publication while the precursors of Marvel and DC continued to evolve. The atomic age hero made his first and only appearance in “The Atomic Thunderbolt #1” in 1946.
Featured in two stories — one detailing the character’s origin and the other in a slapstick tale with two aloof scientists — The Atomic Thunderbolt disappeared and was never seen again in mainstream comics. In the 71 years since his initial publication by the Regor Company, The Atomic Thunderbolt has achieved a cult status among Golden Age and Public Domain superhero enthusiasts. I discovered him doing research for my superhero series “ExtraOrdinary” and have been fascinated ever since.
Why is The Atomic Thunderbolt Worthy?
I’ve known Powers for a few years now, first discovering his work through Dexter Wee (Patriot-1). I’ve gotten to know him via Facebook and think he’s a swell chum. Bringing The Atomic Thunderbolt has definitely been a passion project of his, and after enjoying his graphic novel Patriot-1 (having backed it on Kickstarter) I was eager to Back the first issue of Thunderbolt, and I gotta be honest, I was not disappointed. Oh, sure it’s nearly as cheezy as the original but there is something damn fun about this book that I simply cannot resist.
After you follow the link to the project above, you’ll see this is a rebooted campaign. I’m no stranger to the reboot, as we did so with our BSoD campaign. I was excited to see the adjustments he made to the reward levels. In particular the one which allows you to pledge for both printed comics of Issue #1 & 2, plus the PDF’s, plus more…
I already own Issue #1 so I pledge a little higher. ;)
However, this reward is an Early Bird Special and as of this writing there are only 13 hours to go! I strongly suggest all my friends jump on this quickly. But if you want some time to think about it, the cost to get both print issues is only $5 (see the $15 level) more tomorrow.
I’m eager to read Issue #2, but if you haven’t read the first one yet, no worries. Powers has posted a link to the very first issue of The Atomic Thunderbolt on the campaign page, but again — this is for a limited time only so you may want to check it out today.
Now before I end this, I want to mention one last piece of awesomeness. Dexter Wee has created a special variant cover for this book which to me, takes inspiration from the great Alex Ross, but don’t take my word for it, check it out!
Visit this most Worthy Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1247701955/the-atomic-thunderbolt-2-rebooted
