The Devil and the Gorgon are in the Details

Newsletter #63

I started writing DEVIL’S DOMINION over four years ago. I remember reaching out to BlackBox Comics’ publisher and founder at the time, Dimitrios Zarahakis seeking some freelance work. I knew of him and his company, a fledging small independent comic book publisher, that had already put out a few several books through the direct market — I.T., Psycho List, Militia, and Bigs & Tiny. Needless to say, I was impressed by what they had done so far and was curious if there could be any possibility of me coming on to write a series for them. At the time, I had self-published a few comics, freelanced and ghostwritten a lot through the Upwork platform, and was working as a freelance editor for Mad Cave Studios. To make a long story short, things worked out, and I was brought on to write a series titled, DEVIL’S DOMINION.

Buy Devil's Dominion HERE!

And here we are now, in the Volume 2 of the supernatural action/horror/thriller where Devlynn St. Paul is imbued by demonic powers after making a deal with the Devil only to renege on that deal and use those powers for good. It’s been an incredibly fun ride writing this series and working with the amazing art teams that BlackBox Comics has formed to bring this story to life. Dimitrios has allowed me so much room to create within his original vision and concept for this series, and it has branched out into a universe that is being revealed through other series that BlackBox publishes!

Issue #6, the first issue of Volume 2 of DEVIL’S DOMION is out in stores now and is available for order through BlackBox Comics’ website, as well as all the issues for Vol. 1 (1-5) if you have not had a chance to read the series yet.

THE GORGON

Another series that I am excited about that is returning is my black, erotic, mythical thriller, CURSE OF THE GORGON, published by Bag Bug Media.

Become a Backer of CURSE OF THE GORGON #1-2 HERE!

Issue #1-2 launched on Kickstarter a few days ago and was funded in under an hour! Right now, we are unlocking Stretch Goals.

CURSE OF THE GORGON is my first NSFW series, and it’s about a woman who’s a history professor at a community college that mysteriously recovers from a terminal illness after getting a hold of some of Medusa’s blood. Needless to say, imbibing the blood of the infamous Gorgon comes at cost — lustful provocations that lead to murderous machinations.

This is a five-issue series that takes on a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde vibe within the context of Greek mythology in a modern day purview. Bringing this story to life is Jeferson Sadzinkski (interior artist) and Antonio Wong (color artist), along with Micah Myers (letterer), a creative team that has been nothing short of amazing and magical, a true pleasure to collab and work with. CURSE OF THE GORGON as a series stands out to me in that its one-of-one: it is a NSFW series that has a black female character as its main character and is created by a black comic book writer (me). And this is on purpose. One of the things that I wanted to do as I set out to create my own studio, BlaX Trauma Productions, was to create stories about black characters, specifically horror stories, and in addition to that, I wanted to extend that storytelling into a space where neither black story or character or creator really existed — the NSFW, erotica, Adult Comics space. I say this and attempt this unabashedly.

Love, lust, sex, intimacy, all of it are a part of the human condition, and I firmly believe in writing about the human condition — as I have stated in previous newsletters, it is at the center of my writing. So, branching out into the NSFW is part of my vision as a black creator and writer, and I am looking to bring a new voice and perspective to the space. Adult Comic stories with characters that are black are very important to see and read, as much as it is for super hero comics and other more traditional kinds of comics.

Become a Backer of CURSE OF THE GORGON #1-2 HERE!

As always, thank you all for continuing to subscribe to Trauma Talk and for continuing to read what I write. I always feel indebted to you all and grateful because in order to be a writer, you must have people willing to be readers. I thank you all for being readers and continuing to support!

Talk soon —

Brian