Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyrone Jackson.
Hi Tyrone, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
SoveReign Comics, or The SoVerse as we have come to passionately call it, was something that I didn’t see coming. I didn’t know when I started writing these stories about twin sisters traveling to the past to uncover how their heroic parents lost to a villain would create all of this.
I started writing the first story back in 2005-2006. Then, during a 15-month deployment to Iraq in 2007, I began to write many more stories about these two characters, building up their world. In building their world, I had to create a dystopian future, their present, and since they were traveling to the past, I had to make that as well.
Building their past is where the SoVerse began to explode. It was like my own personal big bang. It was humbling, creatively motivating, and in some cases, I really felt like I may not be able to own up to what it was that I was creating. You see, I’ve been a writer since 1st grade (literally, I am not over exaggerating, LOL). My first story actually got me in trouble with my teacher but, it also got me an award. It was a horror story, something a little too dark and mature for a 1st grader, but that could be blamed on the movies I used to watch (Horror and a lot of Stephen King, and sci-fi movies & tv shows).
However, all of that, and reading books well above my level as I grew older, helped me build my own writing style and format. My first universal building story came when I was in middle school. I wrote a two-part horror story about a group of friends finding a sinister old house that could cross through time-space and dimensions. Here is where I taught myself to learn to write movie scripts.
In high school, I expanded again, building something a little more in-depth with the universal building. I continued to write stories when I got out of high school (2001) and kept with it in college and even when I went into the Marines (2002). The one thing that I let go of was drawing but, I picked it back up when I started creating what is now known as the SoVerse.
Fast forward to 2007, during my 15-month deployment with the Army (went into the Army in 2006), I began the quest with the title Infinite Reign, which is what I mentioned before, about the twin sisters. In creating that title and building the world around it, the first story that branched off from it was my flagship, Cypher Team Alpha. The twins’ (Orchid and Mirage) father (Elias Reign aka Reignas) led this lethal special forces unit of superpowered individuals. I created characters to go on that team, but it wouldn’t be until 2009 that I realized that I wanted to take the path of comic book creation.
It was either that, straight to animation or novels. Since I was writing short stories already, I wanted to do something different. So, I chose comics to compliment my artistic and writing abilities. Not to mention, I really love the genre and have been reading comics just as long as I’ve been writing. But, there was still a lot to learn with comic creation as novel writing, short story, and movie scriptwriting were totally different from scriptwriting for comics. They play to different beats.
In 2010, during my third deployment, I began to fully build the SoVerse. With that, more titles began to come into view. STARS (because I thought it would be cool if the world had their own popular band that was heroes as well), TEMPLE High (because I wanted to create a school for youth with powers in this universe). As well as other titles.
The more I wrote, the more I created stories to fall into this universe. The 4th and 5th published titles, Orisha EXOS (A futuristic story about a destroyed Earth rising from the ashes and Mechs) and Ayanmo Stigmata (A space opera about a Tuskegee Airman who is slungshot to the other side of the Galaxy by two scuffling foo-fighters during WWII). All came to me later. Orisha EXOS, however, was the first book that I ever published (2016). It was my test book to learn as much as possible about comic creation. I didn’t want to start with the flagship because I wanted its first impression to be good.
Now, I have multiple ecosystems in my comic book universe. SoveReign Orange homes the mainline; Cypher Team Alpha, STARS, TEMPLE High, Ayanmo Stigmata, Bluefyre Guardians, STOP (written by William Knowles), and Hell-Cat (written by Shannon Collins and drawn by Daniel Reinert) with so many more on the way. SoveReign KUB, which is the ecosystem that houses titles for early literacy, these titles are in pre-production but, there’s dopeness on the way. SoveReign Mangaka is the new home for Orisha EXOS and the home for the title that I wrote in High School (AnimaKnights), as well as Dimension Cheat and The Unexpected Life of a Monster Hunter (written by Skye Fox). SoveReign BLAVK, a place for our darker titles.
Many are on the way, including my first horror graphic novel, The Hellfighter. Which follows an immortal Harlem Hellfighter trying to figure out why both Heaven and Hell want him dead. Finally, SoveReign ONE is the imprint that allows those who wish to publish under SoveReign Comics to do so without connecting to the central universe. I even have a sci-fi (and, in the future, horror) short-story anthology that I will be publishing under it. One of the titles I’m excited to see come out of it is “The Agent,” written by First Manning and drawn by Daniel Reinart.
Over the years, things have grown so much. So much of the growth wasn’t expected, but I’m honestly grateful for it! First, there’s the community that was built, the Chimera Kingdom. The cosplayers I’ve met along the way. @mutantglue, @sjslayscosplay, @_unicornsnowflake_, @darkdove, @anubiscosplay, @teeteereacts, @jaystothetiger, @ta_knee_va, @pastel_ocean_tea, @asunafoxx, @thylasaur, @cheygami, and many others who have brought many of my characters to life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This journey wasn’t smooth at all but, I have a personal saying “If it’s too easy, it’s not worth it.” I’ve run into many obstacles along the way, many of which were in the beginning years. When I started wanting to write comics, there wasn’t a lot of help out there. Many individuals were very tight-lipped when getting information on where to get books printed and, in general, how to start. So, I did a lot from scratch, and I did a lot of research… so much research.
There were also the obstacles of understanding business and, with that, marketing and branding. Which led me to obtain my Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Development and my MBA in Marketing. I learned from those early experiences that I would have to do this on my own. If it wasn’t folks not answering questions I had or deliberately misguiding me. Individuals were trying to take my IP through weird groupings of multiple creators under one umbrella publishing company. So, the degrees gave me the knowledge that I needed… and the lawyer that I have on retainer now, lol.
Other issues were breaking into comics in general. It’s a weird environment filled with strange people, and I love that because…I’m a weirdo; however, there is hate and disrespect, and it comes from all sides, not just one. So, I decided to build my own corner. Something that would allow me to do what I love, bring folks in, and only have to worry about making them happy instead of making the world happy. That corner is a kingdom now. I’ve also mentioned it earlier, the #chimerakingdom.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So, my work life has traveled many different corridors. The industry I’ve been in the longest is IT. I genuinely started when I was 17. I use the word genuinely because I was first put on a legitimate payroll through my college. However, I worked on all sorts of computers in High School and so forth. I still work in IT to this day so, that’s off an on the career of 21 years. Then, there’s the military. I spent 4 years in the Marines and 9 years in the Army.
SoveReign Comics LLC is my small press publishing company that I have been running since 2011; that’s when I registered it as a company. Also, I have my own marketing and branding firm (Timidly Tenacious Marketing and Branding Agency (@timidlytenaciousmba on IG).
It’s small at the moment. I work with a small press, indie comic book publishers and creators, and cosplayers to help them find their brand and learn how to market to their demographic properly to build their own inclusive communities.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson that I have learned is, it’s okay to be inviting and, not everyone is a value of my time. Being the type that invites all (no matter who the individual is) to read my comics has helped me build my community. Many of the individuals who are part of my community are similar to me in many ways. They’re typically outcasts or individuals who didn’t get help when they started their comic creating or cosplay careers.
Some are just straight-up lovers of comics and want to see what I am doing with my universe. However, the value of time is something that I have learned along the way. Many individuals who have come into my life along this journey were obstacles.
They were speed bumps that placed themselves in my way to slow me down. Everyone wants something in return but a mutual friendship…or investment, however you look at it, is just that… mutual. If I’m the only one doing the lifting, it’s not beneficial. Not to me, at least.
Pricing:
- Regular Comics are $5
- Variant covers are $7.
- Posters start at $10
- T-shirts start at $20
- Hoodies start at $40
Contact Info:
- Email: info@sovereigncomics.com
- Website: www.sovereigncomics.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sovereigncomics
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sovereigncomics
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/sovereigncomics
- Other: links.sovereigncomics.com
Image Credits
Rocio Jackson, Mark Marvida, Karl Paulson, Lineart Studios, Tyrone Jackson, and Marvin Marvida
