Part One – The Foundations
It’s one of my earliest memories… Thumbing through the weathered pages of a How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way” trying to master composition and anatomy. Meanwhile, in my teens, I was lucky enough be witness to epic runs on the X-men, The Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Thor. But in 1986 I was heart broken when Iron Fist was killed off, and the Power Man and Iron Fist series was canceled. So I toyed with creating my own ‘Heroes for Hire’ series with Luke Cage and the other characters struggling to carry on without Danny. Here was the cover for Issue #1.
As I got older, I still loved to draw but other opportunities and career choices took my interests into music production, graphic design, filmmaking, user experience design, social media and content marketing.
Part Two – Storytelling
While I continued to read comics, I had many other creative outlets and even dabbled in screenwriting. I attended workshops lead by Robert Mckee and Syd Field, and read books like Save the Cat! to try to become a better storyteller. I was even a panelist at comic cons talking about character and story.
But every discipline I attempted to master from graphic design to social media marketing would eventually make it possible for me to build a new type of comic book company.
Part Three – The Inspiration
The idea for Sideswipe Comics came to me as I was reading an article about Marvel canceling around 30 titles because they weren’t reaching the number of copies sold to reach their profitability threshold. This was at the height of MCU mania. Infinity War and Black Panther were making a billions at the box office. I was shocked. With superhero stories dominating pop-culture, Marvel couldn’t move the source product for their storylines.
I was doing content marketing in the music industry when people transitioned away from buying physical CDs for music or blu-rays for video due to the convenience of digital delivery. So why would they still get in their car and drive to a comic book shop? On the other hand comic book websites and reader apps are clunky and don’t provide the tactile engagement of a printed book nor a satisfying interactive user experience.
That’s when the spark of inspiration hit!
What if a comic book company could take the legacy of amazing comic book storytelling and package it specifically for publication over social media platforms on mobile devices. NOT a paper comic shrunk down and squeezed into a phone screen, but comics built for smart phone screens. Larger text and illustrations, only one or two panels per page, stories designed to be swiped, liked, shared and commented on. Today, social media is the community newsstand at everyone’s fingertips.
So I set out to create a comic book company like no other. Built on four principles I’ve come to value:
Opportunity
Having been fortunate enough to volunteer with nonprofit organizations in some of the most disadvantaged parts of Africa, Asia, and Central America and witnessing how just a small opportunity can change the economic status of an entire family. We are committed to providing opportunities to creators from less advantaged areas of the world. Sideswipe is currently working with talented artists from Nigeria, Venezuela, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Community
Shared experiences turn individuals into a collective. In the past, comicbooks brought friends together at the neighborhood newsstand. Now with the ubiquity of social media we have a platform that should bring the world together. Sideswipe is committed to building community and common ground for positive conversations around entertaining, inspirational, and aspirational ideas and stories. We invite collaborative input from diverse voices.
Creativity
Freedom of expression used responsibly is rewarding, uplifting and empowering for the creator while contributing a sense of wonder, exhilaration, and insight to the participant. Our aim at Sideswipe is to give less-advantaged creators a beneficial artistic outlet that provides our readers a dose of positivity, escape and imagination in their social media feed.
Sustainability
The mission of Sideswipe is to build a better comicbook. To preserve and build upon the legacy of the classic comicbook storytellers while growing the global appreciation for the artform by creating innovative social media experiences. We strive to do this using ethical business practices while being responsible economically, socially, and environmentally. Help us advance the graphic novel, feed the starving artists, and save the trees.
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