Stranger Comics On the Rise! - An Interview With Darrell May
/Written by Neil Greenaway
Sebastian Jones & Darrell May at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018. (1)
If you have been to a major comic convention in the past 2 or 3 years, you have probably heard of Stranger Comics. With the huge banners, cosplayers dressed as their characters, and a four-sided booth packed with sleek, black hardcovers - the presentation is impressive. But there is more than visual flair at work here, and it can be seen in the way that people line up to buy the books at conventions. It can be seen in the crowdfunding campaigns that raise well over their target amounts. Stranger Comics has curated a sterling reputation among their readers. As an independent publisher with a strong lineup of fantasy titles connected by a shared universe and tight story continuity - it is easy to see what appeals to longtime comic and fantasy fans. More importantly - with a diverse roster of creators working on the books and a real push to break the racial barriers set up by traditional fantasy, they are bringing new readers to a genre that may have excluded them previously. I sat down with Darrell May (Art Director & Chief Creative Officer of Stranger Comics) at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018 to talk about what the future holds for the company.
Darrell May in front of a Niobe banner.
Neil Greenaway: Can you let us know a bit about what it is you do with Stranger?
Darrell May: Yeah, I oversee the production and development of all intellectual properties here at Stranger Comics. So that could be anything: facilitating and designing, helping other artists, or actually completing my own stuff.
NG: What is your focus with Stranger Comics? What is your drive here?
DM: Right now our main focus has been on the Asunda franchise where Niobe - a lot of people know us through the Niobe series – she is our Luke Skywalker, our Aragorn, but she also happens to be our fantasy world’s messiah. So, kind of like the offspring of a deity essentially. This is kind of like a Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones style universe. Think high fantasy.
NG: I noticed that a lot of your covers feature various characters from the other books. Is this a connected universe?
DM: Yes, it is. Very much like Marvel or DC universe with shared heroes and villains. We do have a lot of continuity. This franchise has been in development probably about 30 years. I have known Sebastian (Jones) - who created the world of Asunda and is the publisher of Stranger Comics - since I was 19. I am now 40, so we have been developing this for a very long time.
NG: Wow, more than 20 years together! Now you had told me earlier that it was important to you to have strong black female creators as well as characters. Could you speak to that a little bit?
DM: Yes. A lot of what we do is not really hero-centric stuff. And in our experience, here in the United States most media is catered to a Caucasian male demographic. I grew up being able to recognize that - hey, Luke Skywalker looks like me! I was a little blonde kid from the United States, so I could identify with that character. It’s extremely important for people to identify with heroes that look like them. I feel like there is a responsibility to do that with my company. That is why I work with people from all over the globe, from different races and nationalities, and have them as a part of the Stranger family. It was important because I can draw books, I can layout and design characters, but I can't speak to that experience. It was important for us to have a young black woman drawing Niobe, we have a young black woman cowriting Niobe. It was just important for us to expand representation in our media. I love drawing Niobe, but on the Niobe: She is Life series and Niobe: She is Death (and eventually we will be doing Niobe: She is Spirit) I am going to want to make sure and have a young artist of African heritage drawing that book every time. It’s important.
The Untamed, Niobe, and a few other Stranger Comics titles at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018.
I Am Living In Two Homes & Piñata, both from Stranger Comics.
A stack of The Untamed, Niobe, & Dusu hardcovers at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018.
NG: Now is it difficult being a white male trying to champion representation for other people at this point?
DM: No, I just go ahead and do it. I majored in Anthropology. I didn’t go to art school. I told my grandma ‘Hey grandma I don’t want to go to art school’. And she asked, ‘Why not?’ I told her ‘I don’t want to draw fruit,’ basically - and that was my bad joke at the time. But we at Stranger have a very clear vision, and I have no problem stepping aside and letting someone else handle stuff that I helped design and curate. Like my friend Ashley A. Woods (who drew Niobe) her version of Morka Moa - a villain I created that ended up being in the series - is amazing. It’s not my version, it’s her version - and her version is awesome! You know what I mean? And I take pride in seeing that. I love seeing Jim Lee draw Darkseid even though Jack Kirby created him. I love seeing artists, like Michael Turner’s version of Darkseid in the Superman/Batman series. It’s important to have variety. Variety is the spice of life. I will work with anyone who’s good at what they do, and it doesn’t matter who they are. But on certain projects with us we’re going to want certain artists, certain writers and creators - because I feel it’s important.
Sebastian Jones with a Stranger Comics banner.
NG: Now what are you guys doing for your distribution model? Are you releasing books through Diamond?
DM: Yeah, on the trade paperbacks and stuff, but our model is very different. We do heavy sales at conventions and we have an online store; all our stuff is available on Amazon and Ingram, but I am not doing the single issues monthly. It’s hard to keep up with the pace, that’s why a lot of companies tend to collapse - trying to keep that pace. So, we have to keep things lean and mean. So, our model is a little different that the traditional independent publisher because we are a new breed of independent publisher.
NG: Now, can you tell me a little bit about Dusu?
DM: Dusu is the story of a human being raised by Galemren wild elves. There are 4 different types of elves in our world, Galemren happen to be what we call wild elves. Those wild elves specifically are from the Ugoma forest which takes place in Ujoa. Ujoa is our Africa in the world of Asunda. So, humans and elves and dwarves and gnomes from Ujoa are all black.
NG: Ok. Black dwarves? That's cool.
DM: Yes, absolutely. My new series Morka Moa: Rise of the Jade Lord features mostly black dwarves. They are the heroes in the story. So, it’s important to see that kind of stuff. Dusu, though has the spirit of the cougar within him and he’s being hunted by the spirit of the wolf (which is Delgoth who is a marauding Viking and hails from a more eastern European part of our world, Russia essentially). He has the spirit of the wolf within him and he has come to devour Dusu before he manifests his power because (like in Highlander) they wipe each other out to gain their power. They get more powerful when they devour other animal totems - so the wolf would eat the cougar and take its power, or the mouse or even the whale for that matter. They are usurping god powers when they devour other totems. That’s what that series is about.
The Untamed & Niobe banners look over the comics at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018.
NG: Looking at your layout, you guys already have a base of about 5-7 titles that you are concentrating on and really pushing. Would you like to see those core titles get a bit more recognition, or expand the universe instead? Maybe both?
DM: The universe is being expanded as we speak. And those titles have sequels. The Untamed: A Sinners Prayer was the first book we ever put out - we already have a sequel to it, it’s called Killing Floor. It ties into all this universal world building as well. So, the main villain in that series is Essessa, our editor in chief Joshua Cozine and Sebastian Jones are actually working on an Essessa book right now which also ties into Morka Moa and Niobe. These different characters are all being introduced, and characters are returning into other titles, crossing titles. Niobe is going to be in the Essessa book.
NG: Also, just so our readers know, can you tell me a little bit about Erathune?
DM: Erathune is a book that I co-wrote. It’s based off a D&D adventure I ran over 10 years ago and it’s about Buxton Stonebeard who has a cursed ax of death. There is a goddess of death in our world and death (like in our world) falls on everyone, the good and the bad. So death has called him to come back to his homeland - upon pain of death - to kill his wicked brother... And you’re just going to have to read it to find out the rest. (laughs) But it is based off an actual D&D adventure I ran, so we have Pathfinder 3.5 stats for a level 17 ogre the size of Kong.
Terrance Bouldin-Johnson in his Dusu cosplay.
NG: So bring a Tank and a Healer.
DM: Yeah, it’s good times.
NG: Now going back to Dusu for just a minute: I know that when I see you guys at shows you have a guy who dresses as Dusu, and he looks just like the character!
DM: Yeah, he’s our friend Terrance Bouldin-Johnson. He’s one of our executive partners as well. Yeah, he cosplays as Dusu.
NG: Did you guys just luck into that physicality? Or is the character based on him?
DM: No, he became a fan after the book was out and he’s become a friend and one of our business partners.
NG: So, it was just luck then. That is awesome, and he looks great in costume.
DM: He’s our booth babe.
NG: Well that’s hot.
DM: Yeah.
NG: I notice that you guys are doing just a simple black hardcover for your collections. It’s very classy looking. How did you guys settle on that?
DM: Sebastian did. It’s what he wanted. We have a bit of a model for what we are doing with our oversize hardcovers, we want them to be just beautiful. Our Kickstarters usually pledge for $25 to $30 for these oversized hardcovers. Those same editions that people are buying here at the show sell for over $60. So, our Kickstarter backers get something more. We always have a new Kickstarter coming up.
NG: Your next Kickstarter is going to be for the Erathune hardcover, correct?
DM: Yeah, that's the next hardcover that we’ll be releasing. It’s that plus we will be doing Niobe: She is Death issue 2 and Essessa issue one.
The Untamed hardcover from Stranger Comics.
The Niobe: She Is Life hardcover from Stranger Comics.
The Dusu: Path of the Ancient hardcover from Stranger Comics.
The Erathune hardcover from Stranger Comics.
NG: Other than the Erathune Kickstarter are there any other upcoming projects you can tell us about?
DM: Yes, I have a book that I am on issue 5 on and it’s a six-issue series and it’s called Morka Moa: Rise of the Jade Lord where we are connecting some dots and we are learning the history of one of our main villains. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m working on finishing that up right now. There is some other really big stuff in development right now, but we can't talk about it yet.
Sebastian Jones & Darrell May at Phoenix Comic Fest 2018. (2)
NG: All right, awesome. If people wanted to follow Stranger Comics or see more of you is there a digital or online presence where they can find you?
DM: Absolutely. The website is strangercomics.com. We have a presence on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Stranger Comics, just Google it and you’ll be able to find us.
NG: Cool. I think that about wraps it up for me. Thank you for your time.
DM: No problem man. Thank you.
A short while after I spoke with Darrell, it was announced that HBO would be developing a new television series based on the world of Asunda. At SDCC 2019 it was revealed that Prentice Penny (the showrunner of HBO's Insecure) would be joining series creator Sebastian Jones with both credited as co-writers and executive producers. Mimi DiTrani (Stranger Comics VP of Film & TV) and David Levine (former SVP of HBO) are also attached as executive producers. Echoing the timeline of the comics, the first season of the show will focus on the story of The Untamed.