Everything that I have ever written has been about the human condition. It doesn’t matter what genre story or who the characters have been, the human condition has been at the center of my writing forever. I trace the origins of this to my study of Shakespeare and playwriting in college, there was an awakening of understanding from both — that what made Shakespeare the G.O.A.T. was that he wrote about the human condition and did so prolifically, tapping into a variety of kinds of stories. And then and there is where I learned the why behind my love of storytelling, it was the human condition that I loved seeing on display; it was present when I watched Soap Operas with my mom, it was present when I watched Saturday morning cartoons, it was present when I read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, and it was present with every flip of a single issue comic book page… It has always been about the human condition for me.
Several months back, I knew that my comic book career as a creator and writer was changing; the change was happening inside of me. I had spent a lot of time freelance writing — I’m talking hundreds of scripts that range from individual clients to publishers, so many assignments ghostwritten even — and I was beginning to feel some kind of way about it. Not in a negative sense, but worn out, longing for something else, to find time to get my own ideas and stories out. I had been fortunate to release BLACK COTTON with Scout Comics and THE VINEYARD with AfterShock Comics as creator owned IPs but there were just so many more stories that I wanted to tell but didn’t have the time to do so. Something had to be done about that, I needed more time. So, I began redeeming my time, I made the decision to start cutting back on freelance work. This was also around the same time that I decided to go back into the classroom as an English teacher (I’d come to miss the classroom and students, sharing what I knew about literature and writing and, of course, the human condition). I knew teaching again would afford me the time and structure and security to write again for myself… It was pivotal to my plan to get back to creating. It was from those seeds that the idea for a rebranding began to form, that everything that I had done before was maturing and growing into something different, and I had to capture who I was as a creator and writer now in a brand and so…
… Was born.
BlaX Trauma Productions is the name that I gave the new phase of my creative output. It is the moniker for my comics productions studio and entertainment company, which I decided I wanted to focus on stories of horror and the dramatic, as well as emphasizing characters of color. This is what I wanted to do as a writer, these were the stories that I wanted to tell, and I wanted to do so through my own vehicle, a studio that I controlled, that I had autonomy in, and a safe place for me and my ideas.
It’s been a process rebranding. It’s taken time. I’ve been away from this newsletter even for months. Setting up comic IPs and projects, finding the right creator/collaborators, forming a team, learning better how to market (gotta get the business side of things right!), and then, most importantly, finally getting back to creating and writing.
Just a quick note: the name BlaX Trauma stems from several understandings and thoughts. Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing and/or disturbing experience, and when racial or black trauma is used as a phrase, it is capturing how the struggle for racial and/or ethnic identity, and all the societal horrors that come with that is the experience for so many groups of people. I can identify with that as a black man. It is an aspect of my experience in life that I cannot separate myself from. But also, I know that there are varying degrees of trauma, black or not, and that it is linked intimately to the human condition. I knew that the stories that I wanted to tell would all be about trauma in some form or another, and I knew that my main characters were going to look like me or at least be people of color — I wanted that representation at the forefront, I wanted that kind of pain on stage for all to see… And what better genre to lead this than my favorite one, horror, because it is actual horror to experience trauma.
But I couldn’t just leave it with pain. There had to be something more, an aspect of the name that showed strength and the mindset to go through that trauma and come out on the other side. Thus, Black Trauma couldn’t just be spelled the same way, it couldn’t look the same way that it always had. I came up with the idea to replace the ‘c’ and ‘k’ at the end of the spelling of the word black with the letter ‘X’ and capitalize it. It is an allusion to Malcolm X and others who have chosen to replace their surname with the letter ‘X’ because that name is the slave name that has been passed down. I wanted to capture that idea, the power behind that idea, and so Black Trauma became BlaX Trauma (with the pronunciation remaining the same as with the ‘ck’) and the meaning of my production studios name is conveyed in the idea of turning the painful into the powerful.
Our first title, in partnership with co-creator/artist Nathan Kelly, KARCIS #1 launched on Kickstarter a couple months back and was successfully funded. We have several more Kickstarters lined up for this 2024 year as the primary means of distribution for our titles. We have a really big partnership with a premiere independent publisher coming up in a matter of weeks for one of our titles. The title and it’s publisher will be announced soon. You can look for that title to launch on Kickstarter at the end of April. However, before that campaign, we are going to be running a short 10 Day campaign to release a first-time-print/physical copy of my WEBTOON comic, SEPARATE BUT EQUAL.
SEPARATE BUT EQUAL is about a husband and wife who divorce and are forced to continue living together because they cannot afford to sell their condo. Crystal tries to move on with her life, her career, and a new romance, but her former husband, Damascus, isn't ready to let go. The two are still together, but really they're not, and both are finding it hard to be separate but equal.
Again, this will only be a 10 Day Kickstarter that will have three (3) different covers to choose from and will also have script pages for each episode along with behind the scenes backmatter about its conception. We’re really excited to finally put this in print as a celebration of the 10 Episode arc for Season One and the bridge for what will become Season Two. Please look for the link to jump in to follow this campaign on Monday April 1, 2024. Our plan is to launch that very next day on Tuesday April 2, 2024 and we would love for all of you to join us for BlaX Trauma Productions’ second Kickstarter! Needless to say, we can’t do it without you!
For those of you who are new to this Substack and haven’t been through the archives yet, here’s a Episode One of Marco Perugini’s and my webcomic soap opera SEPARATE BUT EQUAL:
And that’s Trauma Talk, y’all. I wanted to rebrand this Substack to fit where I am at as a creative. I wanted to ‘talk’ about BlaX Trauma while also diving into what drives me as a writer… The human condition. This is what this Substack will be about moving forward — the goings-on and happenings of BlaX Trauma Productions and an examination of what drives me as a creative and writer. There will also be a section carved out in subsequent newsletters called CHARACTER + OBSTACLE = STORY, as I cannot fully retire or disuse the former name of this Substack. In this section, I will continue to talk about what makes a story a story and the craft of writing… Think of it as a my teacher-self getting a place to share my musings.
Okay, so, I hope everyone has enjoyed this newsletter, and that you all are still onboard to ride with me as part of my creative community. Please interact with comments, questions, thoughts. And thank you for still being here!
Talk soon —
Brian
Respect for watching soap opera with your mom. I watched All my Children, Port Charles, One Life to Live, and General Hospital with my mom. It's where I learned about long term storytelling.