One piece of advice put Curtis “Specks” Thompson on his current trajectory.
“Don’t try to write for Batman. Write the next story to be the next Batman,” was the advice Thompson, an independent comic book creator, received.
That advice drove him to create his comic “Legacy of The View” featuring the Ninja-like hero with supernatural powers who his teenage protagonist becomes.
“Legacy of The View” is an action-packed comic book steeped in hip-hop culture and reminiscent of “Kick Ass” or “Shazam” but with a Black teen hero as the star. The hero has a less geeky alter ego than those heroes and hangs out with hip-hop artists.
“The items he uses and the weapons he creates (with supernatural powers) are like the Green Lantern,” Thompson said.
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His hero’s powers seem to come over him spiritually, though, and not through a ring. The supernatural powers the hero has help him forge weapons midair and fight villains and even demons in his urban neighborhood.
Thompson, who has done some work in the real world with hip-hop artists, mentioned influences for his work such as X-Men’s Gambit, the Green Lantern and even a hockey-mask-wearing hero from “Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles” for his comic book. He has published three issues so far and is working on a fourth while also releasing one chapter of a manga called “Bootz.”
While he’s been publishing his comics since 2018, he started writing them at the age of 12, taking characters from “Dragon Ball Z” and “Digimon” and making his own characters.
His works are available locally at the Augusta Book Exchange on Gordon Highway. It’s a hot spot for area comic book artists.
Being an independent comic book creator entails much more than just coming up with ideas and writing a storyline; it requires some business prowess as well. Thompson has had to do the legwork for his books’ publication and distribution.
“I do all my own footwork,” Thompson said.
In addition to the Augusta Book Exchange, he also networked with Fifth House Collective, a monthly book box company in Detroit.
“They contacted me after seeing me on social media,” said Thompson, who was the company’s artist of the month in January 2021.
My Corner of the Universe Comics in Laurel, Md., contacted him because of a Facebook tag, and he was able to network with them and have his comic books placed there as well.
Orlando Collectors Deviants, a podcast focused on comic con culture, other types of cons, and comics in Florida, featured him on one of its episodes.
Thompson also participated as a guest in Virtuous Con, an online comic con, in 2021 to promote his comic.
But networking and promotion are just part of the independent comic book creator’s equation.
Thompson has to pay Digital Print Universe out of New York to print the independent comic book.
“They just print for me, and I have to distribute and sell it,” Thompson said.
Thompson does all the story and scripting for his comics but not the art. Paying for an artist can be expensive for an independent comic book creator as well.
“I had to hire an artist. Artists can be expensive. Some overseas artists can be inexpensive, though. Money does not always equal quality, however,” Thompson said.
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Thompson mentioned some European comic book artists charge in the hundreds of dollars for their commission work, and that is even if they do not have major publishing credits with Marvel or D.C.
Thompson said he pays “about $60 a page” for artwork.
Self-publishing comic books has the creator incur a lot of upfront expense, Thompson said. Thompson paid $600 total just to release his teaser issue of “Legacy of The View.”
The first issue was funded on IndieGoGo, a crowd-funding service where Thompson was able to provide incentives such as comics for donors. His second issue had a total production cost of $1,500, and the third was funded by another crowdfunding service, Kickstarter.
Thompson also mentioned that there is sometimes expense involved in putting comics in stores.
Thompson said that Augusta Book Exchange works well with local creators. However, he said that some places charge higher consignment rates and that some places pay up front for issues put in their store and others do not until they sell.
Thompson recently set up a graphic on Facebook and Instagram where people can click on images and directly order his comic books and posters of illustrations from his work.
For more information, see facebook.com/LegacyofTheView.
Some individuals who are not in publishing or have not dealt with publishing think that creators take home most of the money of the cover price, he said. This is seldom if ever the case.
According to Thompson, his profits on each issue are a little over half of the selling price. He sells the comic books for $5, so he gets a little more than $2.50 on each one sold. Non-self-published book authors with contracts with publishers average around 30% to 40% royalties, and that is with publishers who provide good royalty rates. Therefore, a $20 book might get an author $6-$8 at best. For Thompson’s teaser issue, he would have had to sell at least 240 comic books to break even on production costs and more to make a profit.
Thompson said, “Yeah, just like in any business, the listing price doesn’t equal the take home profit.”
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Thompson hopes to expand his horizons and go beyond independent comic creation. He has applied to the Milestone Initiative of D.C. Comics, which grew out of Black creators who started the imprint, Milestone Comics, at D.C. in 1993 and wanted to give back to other creators of color.
According to https://milestone.dcuniverse.com
“Milestone didn’t just change the way our heroes looked. It built a pipeline for talent who had been excluded and marginalized for too long, and an ecosystem in which Black creativity could thrive,” the website said.
“Now, with the relaunch of Milestone Comics and the creation of The Milestone Initiative, we want to honor the creators of Milestone by continuing their mission.”
In October 2021, at DC Fandome, D.C. Comics put out the call for creators to join the Milestone Initiative according to the website. Hundreds of submissions were received from throughout the United States and Canada.
“I submitted an eight-page story. They are looking for new writers and artists,” he said.
He added that he also had to submit two to three essays about his life and work.
D.C. Comics will be picking six writers and six artists for an anthology project that will grow out of the initiative, according to Thompson. But there is so much more than that, including training/classes, mentorship and assistance with finding new opportunities in the comics industry.
According to the website, “Participants in The Milestone Initiative will be invited to a one-week summit, hosted by WarnerMedia, DC, and Ally, where they’ll make connections, create community, and begin an immersive course to help hone creative skills and better understand the comic book industry.”
The summit will be held in mid-February in Burbank, Calif.
A decision will be made this month, and Thompson said he hopes to be selected.
Ron Baxley Jr. is a correspondent for The Augusta Press.
