THIS IS ME
I'm Justin. I aspired to write before I was old enough to understand that writing is a career. I started my first novel at age 7 or so, called "Murder In Manhattan" -- the protagonist was named JIM WHITE, which I stole from an issue of Superman where he gets amnesia due to Red Kryptonite exposure and so called himself by a combination of the names of his friends Jimmy Olsen and Perry White.
Despite the above, I did convince a woman to marry me.
I write escapism. I grew up in dysfunction: abuse, addiction, neglect...but also love and laughter. As a kid, I escaped into genre adventures -- as an adult, I now escape into creating them. My stories feature characters trying to find or rebuild families set against the backdrop of action and adventure. My heroes choose to sacrifice for who and what they love, as I try to do.
I've written stuff, some of which you've heard of (Avengers Assemble, a fill-in on Blue Beetle for DC, a Mr. Terrific short, Sonic Prime, Ben 10) and plenty that you've only heard of from ME. (Hunter Black, Rocket Queen and The Wrench, Planet Pantheon.)
I hate bananas.
THIS IS MY TRIBE
As much as any other part of the creative process, I love COLLABORATION. With this in mind, Will Orr (my longstanding partner in Hunter Black) and I joined with Ang Chen, Axel Ortiz, and Tony Chavira in the animation development team that we all call MASSIVE CHAOS. We tell stories in visual media. We work in cartoons, comics, and even live action...and we do it well.
Jacob Bascle is a graphic design GENIUS. Don't believe me? Look pretty much everywhere on this website...if it's something I created, then he probably did the lettering, logo design, and trade dress for it. Jacob is my first and only call whenever I need something to look amazing. He's also my and Will's partner on our geekwear site, Raygun Tea Party. Most of all, he's one of the nicest people I know. I couldn't endorse him any more heartily.
POPSKL (Pissed-Off Psychic Scary Kids of Los Angeles) is a podcast devoted to having "Big Conversations about Big Stories," and I am a founding member. We started off as a one-off, reviewing The Sandman comic for Fanbase Press, but decided we enjoyed what we were doing -- and who we were doing it with -- too much to stop. You should check us out.
The world of independent comics is a tough one. Making it in that space requires talent, perseverance, and most of all, ingenuity. Jason Reeves of 133Art has talent to spare (click through and check out his art, it's incredible), but he also went the extra mile and got his own printing presses. The man prints his own comics and trade paperbacks, and turned that into a side hustle that helps keep his whole business afloat. So yeah, he prints my comics...but also? I just love to laugh with this dude.
Fanbase Press is a labor of love brought to the geek community by (super)power couple Bryant and Barbra Dillon. Together, and with their roster of talented and like-minded contributors, they build up the pop culture landscape both as comics publishers and as commenters through their Fanbase Weekly articles and websites. If there is an organization more devoted to living the lessons taught by the heroic fiction they adore, I don't know what it is.
Simply put, I wouldn't be where I am in the entertainment industry without the fine gentlemen of Man of Action. These guys have done excellent work in comics, cartoons, books, and movies for YEARS, and I'm incredibly fortunately that they have allowed me into their circle. It's rare to find people as committed to excellence and to developing young talent as Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau, Steven Seagle, and Joe Casey.
