Last week a local writer promoted and sold his new comic book during a signing that was hosted in a comic store in Los Angeles.
Donnie Souza is 24 years old, local to Redlands California, and creator of the comic Untold. He writes, letters, and funds the production of his book, and works with artist Anna Zee S. who creates the illustrations.
This is the second signing he’s done for his new book at the store A Shop Called Quest, located in the arts district of Los Angeles. The first signing was hosted only a couple weeks before at the store’s local location in Redlands.
“Signings are a great way for me to sit down with people and just chat with them, because otherwise we don’t really get that opportunity, and since I’m just starting out and not a lot of people know about me, it’s an opportunity to spread the brand and build the hype.” said Donnie.
The first time Donnie fell in love with comics was towards the end his senior year in high school after meeting his current girlfriend Morgan. She encouraged him to read more comics, and eventually the comics became a passion for Donnie rather than a passing interest.
“At this point I was in my first year of college at Crafton hills in Yucaipa, and I went down to A Shop Called Quest, my first comic shop and picked up Uncanny X-Force, and Uncanny X-Force is truly what made me love comic books.” said Donnie.
During college, Donnie started writing stories and working towards understanding the process of creating comics himself. He said he’s been working on developing comics for almost 6 years, but just started creating pieces seriously about 2 years ago.
He produced a book titled And the Hare just last year, and while he plans to continue producing that book, he is currently focused on Untold. Untold has been in the making since his early years of college and he feels it’s his most developed story so far.
As he explained it, Untold is a fantasy set in the 1940’s which revolves around a set of characters who come from a background of war and are now dealing with issues in their present-day lives. Each of Donnie’s characters express a piece of his personality, and those who have influenced him.
Throughout the first issue, you get to know the characters backstory, their everyday lives, and towards the end, experience a shocking twist caused by an unknown character.
“No good story can be a bunch of people just hanging around, as much as we’d like it to be, so a mysterious stranger is introduced and does some pretty horrible things, and that is something that will be revealed as we develop further.” said Donnie.
As for the future of Untold, issue 2 is planned to release in late June or early July, just before San Diego’s Comic-Con.
To enjoy the issue 1 of Untold for yourself, you can find it online at https://donniesouza.wixsite.com/comic or request a copy from A Shop Called Quest, located in downtown Redlands.
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