The United States Department of Nerds Podcast

Six Fifteen Comics: Creating Black Heroes, Culture, and Community

On this episode of The USDN Podcast — Where Indie Comics Come to Life, we’re joined by Malcolm McFadden, creator and writer of Six Fifteen Comics, to talk independent comics, creative inspiration, and his latest Kickstarter project The King’s Domain #1–2.

Malcolm is a hip hop artist, writer, and audio engineer from Annapolis, Maryland, whose passion for comics began at a young age and evolved into a creator-owned comic company focused on telling dope, authentic stories centered around Black characters. Drawing inspiration from icons like Batman, Static, and Spider-Man, Malcolm blends real-life experiences with bold comic book storytelling.

In this conversation, we explore:

The creative origins of Six Fifteen Comics
The story and meaning behind the name “Six Fifteen”
How music influences comic book storytelling
Building an indie comic brand
A Kickstarter spotlight on The King’s Domain #1–2
Advice for aspiring comic creators

🚀 Kickstarter

The King’s Domain #1–2
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sixfifteencomics/the-kings-domain-1-2

🔗 Connect with Six Fifteen Comics

Instagram: @sixfifteencomics
Facebook: Sixfifteen Comics
Twitter/X: @615comics
TikTok: @yoanerd

🎙️ The USDN Podcast — Where Indie Comics Come to Life.

What is The United States Department of Nerds Podcast?

USDN Podcast is a cinematic indie comics interview series hosted by the USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds — spotlighting the creators, storytellers, and worldbuilders shaping the future of independent comics.

Each episode dives beyond headlines into the real journeys behind the books — from Kickstarter launches and creative struggles to the philosophies driving today’s indie storytelling movement.

This isn’t about rumors or recycled news.

It’s about the people creating the worlds.

Through in-depth conversations, creator spotlights, and crowdfunding discussions, USDN explores:

• The rise of indie comics
• The business of crowdfunding
• The art of worldbuilding
• The realities of independent storytelling

USDN is where indie comics come to life — for the fans, by the creators, and powered by the community.

You are listening to the USDN on the

DFPN.

Thanks for watching!

What is up, everybody?

It's the chairman here live for the first

time in twenty twenty six.

And as always.

This is the USDN Podcast where we are

for the people, by the people,

and of the people.

And tonight on the USDN Podcast,

we're spotlighting the creator whose

journey blends hip-hop, storytelling,

and independent comics from a creative

house simply known as SIS-One-Five to

building a comic universe centered on

black characters and lived experience.

This is SIS-Fifteen Comics.

And joining us tonight is creator and

writer and apparently my cat Evie,

Malcolm McFadden.

Malcolm, welcome to the show, dude.

Hey, what's good?

Thank you for having me on tonight.

So let's start off with the

congratulations.

Just before we went live about an hour

ago, I think you are fully funded.

Congrats, my dude.

Thank you.

Let's do a little round of applause.

Thank you.

And apparently my cat was doing, you know,

celebration laps as I was reading out the

intro there.

Thank you to the cat, too.

Thank you to the cat.

But thank you, man.

I'm really excited.

That was really awesome to see, too, dude.

I'm so happy for you.

yeah man thank you i was really um

that happened like about an hour ago i

was actually at work when it happened and

i was mad excited couldn't wait to like

you know rush home but uh thank you

so much it's uh being funded on day

one it's an achievement that i haven't

done yet so it was great doing it

today

Dude,

that's a testament to you and your

creativity and putting together a

phenomenal campaign.

I did get a chance to scroll through

it at lunchtime.

Very impressed.

I love the story.

And it says everything about you, dude.

You earned that.

Thank you, man.

I definitely appreciate that because I

worked a lot of late nights on the

Kickstarter and like making the graphics

and stuff, man.

And I'm not a designer.

So I'm with you on that one.

I try to do as much of my

own stuff as possible,

but yet definitely not the easiest thing

in the world to do.

But let's dive into your origin story,

man.

for people discovering you for the first

time who is malcolm mcfadden and how did

six fifteen comments come into existence

well um melvin mcfadden is a guy from

well a nerd from annapolis maryland who uh

grew up you know loving comics who my

older brothers were always in the comics

so they got me into comics at an

early age you know like dc and marvel

and then so that level comics just never

stopped

Um, so once, uh,

I started always been creating characters

in my head and everything, you know, and,

uh, making up storylines,

but never actually took the time to like

sit down and write it.

And what's actually kind of funny,

cause I took a lot of creative writing

classes and writing classes, uh,

throughout life.

It is never actually sat down to write

a comic book, but, um,

I think it was about like,

two thousand nineteen,

two thousand twenty around the pandemic.

I really kind of started taking it

seriously and I started writing down my

ideas and writing down my stories.

And I started seeing a bunch of other

creators that that were like, God,

her comics, wise, eager comics,

concrete comics like I seen them like

making doing it and then like making

comics.

And I started supporting those.

And then while reading those comics,

I thought, you know,

Hey,

these people are actually out here doing

it.

You got these ideas that you wrote down.

Why not actually try?

So, you know,

went about actually did it actually put

the foot forward to do it and haven't

stopped moving ever since.

And it's just been a great ride and

a great journey since then.

Love to hear the grind, man.

I love that.

So what were some of those early comments

that your brothers introduced you to?

I know you said there was some Marvel

and some DC in there.

What were some of those titles that really

kind of stuck with you?

You were like,

these are my guys right here.

So, of course,

they had a bunch of stuff like they

had like Captain America,

they had like Weapon X,

and they also had like the X-Men comics,

Superman, Batman.

They had a bunch of stuff.

And of course,

like Batman and Spider-Man were the ones

that kind of stuck with me.

those were the comics i was really reading

as i got older that kind of transitioned

to me like you know branching out reading

more different comics started getting into

like static i started getting to uh

superman also just uh branching out and

reading different parts of comics and then

also branching further from dc and marvel

out to more indie stuff what's some of

your favorite indie titles

Indie stuff,

and we're talking about real indie, indie,

outside of image.

I would say stuff by Godhood Comics.

Their comic, Magnus, is really good.

Concrete Comics has a comic called Deja

Vu.

There's apartment six comics.

They have a comic called Book of Dreams

that is fire.

I could go on and on about the

indie comic scene because there's a bunch

of them out there.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

And if we're talking like, you know,

more indie, more like popular indie,

of course, Rodney Barnes,

which me and you were talking about.

Yeah,

Crownsville and some of his work with Star

Wars.

Y'all don't sleep on Rodney Barnes's work.

We were just talking about that in

Crownsville, his newest title.

I think it's who's doing Crownsville.

uh i thought i had it next to

me but i think it's in another room

um which title is on oh what's on

i think it's on only press yeah yeah

but dude it's two issues deep into it

and it is a phenomenal read it is

based on a little bit of the third

one came out third third come out

yesterday yeah you're right you're

absolutely right i do have that one it's

It's in my mess somewhere.

I'm not going to go through and start

looking for it.

But, yes,

I did pick it up as well.

Don't sleep on Rodney Barnes' work, y'all.

That's what we're saying.

So let's jump into SIS-XV, man.

So this name, SIS-XV,

has real emotional weight behind it.

Can you tell us the story of the

SIS-XV house and why it became a

foundation of your brand?

Okay.

So, um, six,

fifteen was the address of one of my

friends.

He actually committed suicide.

And but his house recipe,

his house was like a hub,

but just like creativity.

Like we had his house.

We did a bunch of things we shouldn't

have done and just but a bunch of

creative stuff.

And we like whether it be people making

music, people writing music, whatever,

whatever.

And it was just a hub for creativity.

And so, like,

After that,

I kind of wanted to keep that the

essence of that and the essence of him

also alive, too.

So I named it six,

fifteen comics to kind of just keep the

memory of creativity and the spirit of

creativity alive and also show old to a

friend.

Now, I love that, dude.

And for anybody out there listening,

trust me when I say this,

somebody wants you here.

Reach out.

You are not alone out there, y'all.

Reach out.

There is somebody who wants you alive and

wants you in their lives.

So I didn't want to do an emotional

moment like that,

but that was kind of my fault for

naming it.

No, no, no.

i segued into that purposefully so we

could get that that that moment out there

because i love the fact that you're paying

homage to your friend i hate the fact

that he's no longer here with you right

because i'm pretty sure he would be right

there next to you right now in this

interview creating comic books with you so

Let's jump into a little music, man.

You're not just a comic creator.

You're a hip hop artist and audio

engineer.

How does music influence the way you write

your comics?

OK, you definitely looked into me.

Oh, of course, man.

Of course.

But that's actually a very good question.

Music influences a lot.

Just when going from like writing songs

and then writing comics, it's kind of.

It's kind of I tell people this all

the time.

It's hard for me now that I write

comics to write music as much and write

poetry as much as I used.

Like,

it feels like I use the same side

or part of my brain to do it.

Like, it's a very weird feeling,

but it's kind of like like when you

are when like as a hip hop artist,

as I've read and made beats on either

side.

let's say I make the beat.

Well, to finish the song,

I need somebody to rap on it.

And it's kind of the same with comics.

So I write the stories with comics.

So in the comic sense,

I would be the rapper.

And I need somebody to make the beat

so I can put my words over that.

And then that would be kind of like

the artist working with the artist to draw

and do the colors.

So that kind of process helped with

comics.

And just also as in hip hop,

you got sixteen bars and two verses a

song so you write that's a lot of

words so it's a it's a very expressive

dude comic books you get sixteen to thirty

two pages you gotta make the best of

it with the words right exactly so you

got is it's a very expressive uh genre

of music so when you go into comics

it kind of is you kind of still

get to express yourself the same way but

just differently you kind of get to show

it more because there's pictures involved

so you get to show it more when

you express it

And it also gives that same emotional feel

from when you hear a song that you

connect to emotionally.

You can do the same thing with comic

books and characters and stories within

comic books.

First time I read Death of Superman.

Bro, I'm not going to lie to you.

young chairman's eyes had some tears in

them oh and dude that is the perfect

comparison with hip-hop writing and comic

book writing i i love that that's freaking

an amazing comparison that's the way you

just did that so when you're creating

characters how much of your own life and

experiences are you putting into these

characters in your stories that you're

telling

so for some characters a lot for some

not as much so just so like with

the character for the kickstarter i have

right now uh character uh amari king aka

my he's a lot there's not a lot

of me in this that character there's a

lot of things that i think are cool

that inspire me that i like and things

like that but

It's not a lot of me in him.

So that also makes it fun writing him

because he's very different than I am.

He's a lot more serious.

We have similarities,

but he's a lot more serious in that

way.

And I like to joke a lot.

So it's fun writing him because I kind

of tap into a different brain writing him.

And I also have a character, Malik,

from my comic book, The Legacy,

who is basically a younger version of me.

So it's very easy to write him because

it's just,

He's you.

Ten years ago.

What I would do, you know?

So it's very,

I have a lot of different characters and

I mainly really like to do the ones

that aren't like me.

Cause it's,

it's fun tapping into like a different

brain.

It's weird at times, but it's.

Yeah, definitely.

Definitely.

So you've cited characters like Batman,

Static, Ninja K, Spider-Man,

Peter and Miles.

What did those characters represent to you

from a creative standpoint?

Ooh, these are some really good questions.

Bro, I do my research.

I will never be accused of not doing

it.

The questions is really good.

So how they influence me.

So with... And it's all different.

So Batman,

kind of like his detective style.

Like, um...

And his action,

static with more so how he's grounded,

and I can really relate to him.

Also with Spider-Man, Peter Parker,

and Miles,

Spider-Man is actually a very easy

character as a nerd to really connect

with.

So those aspects of that, and Ninja-K,

the action, the action with Ninja-K,

just how cool and there's

He would be like a character.

I guess people call him like or farming.

So like a hundred percent.

Yes.

Dude, I like that.

So your goal is to create dope stories

centered around black characters.

Why is this mission so important to you?

It's very important to me because growing

up,

it's very important because growing up,

you see a lot of heroes.

You see a lot of comic books, action,

stuff like that,

but you very rarely see black characters

and stuff,

especially when I was growing up.

That's more so changing now,

which is very good,

and I'm glad to be a part of

that.

Big time.

Yeah,

and I'm really glad to be a part

of that,

but it's very important to me just for

that nerd growing up to have something

that he...

can see that looks like him,

something that he can relate to,

and just about giving him a dope story.

Because a lot of times with...

And there's no knock on this,

but a lot of times with Black stories,

we get a lot of Black stories with

the Black trauma things,

and it's very centered around you being

Black.

And sometimes I just want a Black

character just being Black in a comic book

world.

And so that's kind of what I wanted

to bring to the table.

And I also want to say no knock

on...

um on i don't want to say no

knock on anybody that does you know like

tell the black story and tell the black

trauma because those stories still need to

be told but i think there's also stories

that need to be told that just show

us in this comic book fashion you know

so yeah i like that i do that

that's you

That's the perfect answer, man.

Jeez.

That's a real answer.

Ask deep questions, get deep answers.

That's what I'm talking about.

Out page forty four.

Yes, this is the mountain.

Fifteen comments, man, man.

Hey, shout out to Paige.

Shout out to Paige.

Me and him actually worked on a comic

together, Beer and Bullets,

that just released.

And we're actually working on another

comic called The Bear,

which is kind of like a spinoff of

Beer and Bullets in a way.

It's a very fun spinoff that we're working

on right now.

So shout out to Paige.

She has a lot of stuff cooking in

the comic book scene.

hop on instagram shoot me a message over

at the usdm podcast and we'll get you

featured as well we'll bring you and

malcolm on at the same time so we

can talk about y'all's work together bet

bet the a page hit them up i

mean it's easy dude all it needs a

message and an email and we can make

it happen so

How do you balance real-life struggles

with comic book twists so stories feel

authentic but still fun?

That's my dude, Lloyd.

What's up, Lloyd?

Hello, Lloyd.

What's good, bro?

Lloyd's going to be on here soon, man.

He's finally getting his book edited, and,

dude,

I'm excited to read his book as well.

But, Lloyd, we're looking forward to you,

man.

yeah what's good lloyd i'll definitely

check that out but um what was your

question again how do i balance uh yes

with the with the comic book twist so

your stories feel authentic but still fun

Okay.

So actually that's kind of,

that's one of the easiest parts because

I'm a nerd.

Like my whole life I've been struggling,

you know,

I've gone through struggles and I've

thought about my struggles in a comic book

way.

Like as a nerd,

I think we all have had the moments

where you're going through life and it's

like something happens and you're like,

man,

if I had the powers to do this,

I would do this.

Not even two hours ago when I was

leaving the office, bro.

So, yeah,

so that's literally so that's kind of

really easy to do because you kind of

just take your life and your struggles and

you you just put yourself in these stories

that you love to read all the time

that you're already reading all the time.

And that kind of helps you,

especially now as an adult.

And you kind of know things that you

went through and you have a different

brain and thinking about it.

You can kind of shape those into stories

and into ways that people connect with.

But it's also still in a comic book

fashion.

So just to give you an example.

sorry for the long wind answer, but no,

no, this is the perfect answer, dude.

Okay.

Thank you.

Just to give you an example, my character,

I have a character, uh,

Vorley and then she deals with anger

problems.

So she has powers,

but her emotions affect her powers.

And then when I was a kid,

I had,

I used to go to anger management and

stuff like that.

And, um,

I kind of took that and use that

with her.

Like if I had powers,

like I will really kind of have to

hone in my anger because I can literally

destroy whatever.

and i can't use my powers correctly in

how i want inefficiently if i you know

yeah use control definitely feel that one

too like literally like two and a half

hours ago when i was having to work

with some people and i'm just like come

on guys really like if i was dark

vader i would just force choke you right

now every day trust me every day i

What are you doing?

What are you doing, bro?

Don't worry about it.

Just don't worry about it.

Right now I'm force choking you in my

head.

Yeah.

Or just like using the Jedi mind tricks.

Like you don't want to bother me right

now.

Exactly.

Like, dude,

you see me knee deep into this.

Come on.

so where is sis fifteen comments right now

as a company and what projects are you

most excited about not not the one that

just come out what you have working on

in the future okay so right now of

course you know the kickstarter campaign

is going for the king's domain um but

right now with it being the top of

the year um i spent a lot of

two thousand twenty five really kind of

working behind the scenes,

working to put together projects and

finish projects up.

And all the work and stuff that I

was doing behind the scenes has really

paid off to where this year I think

I can release maybe three or four books

this year,

which will be a great achievement for me.

It'll be a huge achievement.

So I'm knock on wood.

But still like that,

where we are right now is kind of

taking –

uh the building blocks like taking the

building blocks and kind of just you know

now really expanding from that and kind of

building out the house i guess like we

laid the foundation and now it's kind of

time to build the house so that's where

we are and then projects in the future

I got a good couple of projects.

I got my project called Theme of the

Queen of War,

which is kind of my answer to missing

more like the warrior woman type of comics

and stuff like that.

So I kind of made my own,

which is something I've been wanting to do

forever.

So I made that.

And this project was kind of very

ambitious project.

I probably should not have done it.

But it worked out.

It took a risk.

Those are the best ones sometimes.

They are.

I took a risk kind of making the

project, but it worked out.

Like I said,

like last year was building and it kind

of worked out.

So that's sometimes that Nat twenty just

rolls in your favor.

Right.

It does.

It definitely does.

I got a bunch of other comics.

I got Subject Zero number two,

the Legacy number two.

Right now, we're also just building.

We started out,

got all the number ones out,

and now we're just building out a series

and trying to finish them out.

I'm hoping this year I can finish out

the first volume of Subject Zero,

one of my series.

I'm hoping I can finish out the first

volume this year and have a trade

paperback by the end of the year.

Oh, nice.

Ambitious.

I love it, dude.

Let's go with it.

Let's go.

So what lessons have you learned building

this indie comic brand that you wish you

knew at the start?

And this is a question mainly for me

because

We were talking beforehand.

You know what I'm working on.

So this is one of those double questions

where I'm like, yeah,

let's tell the people.

But also when I'm listening back later,

I'm right.

I'm making notes.

That's that's actually a very good

question.

And I actually think about that a lot.

So.

Going back to when I first started making

comics, there's a lot.

Patience would be definitely one.

Patience is one thing because, you know,

you got to wait for your artist,

wait for... After you write,

you got to wait for every level.

You got to wait for something.

And also just patience.

I think how I started releasing comics,

I think I would have done a little

things differently.

Tried to, like...

Really,

I kind of threw myself into the wolves

with how I wanted to, you know,

build out my universe.

But it was the vision I had in

my head.

And I was like a pit bull with

it.

Like, I need this.

This is how I want people to experience

it.

This is my vision.

And so far,

it's working out how I wanted it to.

But I just think...

I would have took a little bit more

caution and kind of not threw myself to

the wolves as much.

So really patience.

I've learned to work,

how to work with artists, you know,

learn to let,

sometimes let the artists be the artists,

like let the artists do their thing.

Like, you know, I write it and then,

you know, kind of let them, you know,

build on that,

let them build the vision because that's

what they do.

They're artists, you know,

that's their expertise.

That's why I'm that's why I'm paying them

to do it.

So let them be let them be them.

A lot of lessons,

but I think really just to drive it

home is really patience,

just patience and just kind of being more

efficient with my movements,

if that makes sense.

Efficient with your time, your movements.

Yes.

Trust in your artist to deliver because

nine times out of ten,

your artist is going to deliver exactly

what you're looking for.

They know what you're looking for.

And I would say, you know,

they can see things that you don't see

that you may not have.

That's it right there.

That's that's the big one right there.

And also, I will say.

For those who back Kickstarters and we're

all guilty of this to some degree,

be patient with your artists,

be patient with the guys writing this.

Trust me,

they want this done just as bad as

you want it in your hands to hold

and to read.

Exactly.

And one of my what's what's in the

box man's from last year.

one of the kickstarters that was delivered

was no start to finish from the time

i backed it to the time i held

it in my hands was a solid year

plus not all of them take a year

not all yeah that's true but for those

who like me who love to back indie

comics and support indie comments like

that be patient with your people

They want this book done.

They want it finished.

They want you to read it.

They want you to have it just as

much as you want it.

Just be patient with them, man.

That's all I'm saying out there, y'all.

Just be patient with them because trust

me,

nobody wants this book done more than the

man who wrote it.

Zach,

and could I speak to that real quick?

No, absolutely.

Because just, yeah,

I actually got into a whole argument with

somebody about this.

But like, so especially with that,

if you're back in Kickstarters, sometimes,

especially if you know,

if the creator lets you know that the

project isn't done and that the funds will

go to finishing the project, just...

like you said have patience with that

creator and also if that creator is giving

you updates on the project and showing how

it's going please just uh give them that

grace because they're where all of us

indie creators are also human and also um

this is this is a especially if that's

a first time creator i think definitely

you want to give them some grace because

it's like i said there's things i wish

i knew when i started they're learning

lessons the hard way the very first time

exactly they're they are jumping into

something they have never done before so

definitely give them the grace but also on

the creator side of things creators um be

be open with your backers because they are

giving you their money they are giving you

their money they're believing in your

dreams so make sure i will say this

you can tell the difference between a

first-time creator

And a creator who's been at it for

a while because they will give you those

updates weekly, bi-weekly.

Some people will post once a day like,

hey,

just want to give you all the heads

up.

This is where we're at with things and

things are happening.

And they're pretty good about it.

Yeah.

Yeah, patience.

Yeah, definitely have patience.

And then apply it to the rest of

your life, too.

Exactly.

Patience.

That's what my mom would tell me.

This is the one thing I learned in

the military.

Patience.

Yes.

So this is another deep one, dude.

I hope you're ready.

Okay.

What does success look like for six,

fifteen comments in the next few years?

Okay.

Next few years.

So we're saying like about like three,

four.

Let's go.

Twenty thirty.

For instance,

because I know where I would like to

see you,

but I want to know where you want

to be seen and what you want to

be and where you want to be.

twenty thirty it's just crazy that that's

an actual number yes we're closer to

twenty thirty than we are to twenty twenty

okay didn't think about it like that but

that's very true so um twenty thirty it's

about okay so twenty thirty i think where

i would with success means for six or

ten comics would be two

definitely have more of the first arcs of

my characters wrapping up i think that's

where i have plans where where my plans

had are right now uh knock on wood

is to have more so around four or

five years to have the first arcs of

my characters to be fully done fully done

yeah to the point that's pushing one issue

per comic

a year so five bullets per story or

four books per story for one arc one

arc some of my stories are four some

of my stories are five some of my

stories are three so they're all different

so they vary like i said subject zero

that would i'm trying to wrap up this

year is only three so that's why that

one is the first one to easily just

be wrapped up and finished

So I want that.

So yeah, you're about right.

Like, uh,

basically about four or five books a year.

Like I said, I can, like I said,

I worked to have that happen this year.

And if everything goes well,

that will happen again next year and the

year after that.

So that's in my plans.

So knock on wood once again, but yeah,

And that's what success looks like for me.

And also having a lot more,

a lot more, building a bigger fan base,

having more of a presence at con events

and stuff like that.

And that is real success to me.

yeah just building our fame and connecting

with uh the lot more of the indie

creators like i've done a good job in

this last year connecting with a lot of

it and i just it's been dope too

so far so i just want to continue

that so that's what success looks like for

me in the next few years that that's

that's that's one of the big ones i

was gonna recommend like i'd love to see

you at cons i'd love to walk into

my local comic shop and don't have six

fifteen sitting on the shelf you know what

i'm saying that too

I know Powerscape.

He was on here not that long ago.

He got his book one and book two

into a comic shop's

in canada local but also in a few

spots in new mexico and a few other

places stateside recently so that was huge

i was so happy to hear that he

was able to get his book into some

comic shops locally i want to say greg

the comic book greg by a nerd in

the sky also he's in a few local

comic shops dude he's you will know him

when you meet him because he'll be wearing

a bright pink suit

I liked it.

That's tough.

He's such an awesome dude.

He's he works in an animation studio as

well.

Super great dude, but bright pink seat.

That's how you know it sale.

Okay.

Yeah,

I would love to see you in comic

shops.

Hopefully we meet up at a con sometime

here soon.

We're both kind of close to each other.

So that'd be really dope to be able

to do and be able to sit down

live with you and sign some books together

or something like that.

That'd be really fun.

See, that's,

that's the stuff that I really want to,

that's what I'm saying.

Like,

like be having more presence at cons.

Cause I talked to a lot of creators

all the time online and we have great

conversations.

We're cool.

We chop it up,

but I don't get to meet them.

And you know,

I'm a face to face type person.

Like I was, you know,

I was there before we started and

everything was online.

So I'm a, I like to meet people,

feel people's energy,

give people my energy.

Like, so I definitely want to, you know,

connect with people more.

I feel you on that one, dude.

I know like the COVID thing,

I became a recluse.

I'm still pretty much basically a recluse.

And it's one of those,

the only time I really come out is

for cons and comic book events and that

kind of stuff.

So I'm definitely with you on that one.

So you mentioned being inspired by other

black indie creators.

How important has just community as a

whole been in your current journey with

CIS-Fifteen Comics?

Oh, it's been very important.

It's been very important because, like,

it's actually been dope that some of the

comic creators that I was, like,

studying and looking up to coming into

comics, like Weisinger Comics.

Weisinger Comics has been great about

Frederick.

He's been great about, you know...

giving me advice.

Uh, any,

even if I don't even be asking him

something, he gives me great advice.

Just that's the best advice.

Half the time is that unsolicited advice.

Like, Hey, I noticed this.

What about you?

Try this exact.

That's literally what he does.

Like he literally helps me out.

You feel me?

So it, it,

it's been great with the community.

Uh, just having conversations with people,

uh, bouncing ideas off of people.

Um,

Just working with them.

And it's really great because there aren't

a lot of comic book creators.

So your friend group,

you're probably the only one.

I know some people think it's a huge

community.

It's not.

It's small and they're spread out.

is exactly we're all spread out we're not

like living all in the same areas like

like i said you're probably the only comic

comic book creator in your friend group

you feel me so it's nice to like

meet people that are doing the same thing

you go through the same struggles you go

through you know so it's that community it

helps you not feel so alone in this

you get what i'm saying so it's been

very important

Definitely, man.

Definitely.

So this is one of those questions I

throw out to every creator that's kind of

been on.

What advice would you give to creators

sitting on ideas but afraid to take that

first step like you did?

Oh, leap.

Leap.

Just fucking do it.

Leap, yes.

Just fucking do it.

Do it, yes.

Like, the Shia LaBeouf joint.

Do it.

Like,

it's really you standing your own way.

Like,

I think a lot of times I see

creators, I talk to creators,

they be like, I got this whole...

That's exactly.

They be like, I got this whole Bible.

I done mapped out my whole universe for

fifty years.

The character goes through this, that,

and the third.

I done wrote it out.

Blah, blah, blah.

And I'm like, okay, so...

do it like just like you spend all

this time creating it and then you you

so in love with it like bring it

to life so you can see it i

think you people be so afraid to just

leap people be so afraid so it's like

this uh i tell it's this story all

the time this is this is what helps

me just to do things it's the same

story i tell all the time it's like

there'll be a summertime you know what

summertime you go to the pool you go

to the outdoor pool or the indoor pool

whatever summertime is hot

And then they open up the pool,

they say you can jump in.

But you always think about it because

like, oh, you'd be like, oh, that's cold.

That's going to be cold when I get

in there.

So you hesitate to jump.

But once you jump in there,

you already know that the water is going

to be warm once your body get used

to it and you're going to be good.

So just leap, just take the leap.

Just forget you.

It's going to be cold.

It's going to suck.

You won't go through things.

It's going to be, you're going to,

you're going to go through hardships,

but just take that leap because once that

water gets warm and you swim in,

you won't have a good day.

You feel me?

And so that would be my advice.

Just kind of just to leap and just

to kind of study, study too.

Also, I'm saying just leap.

I'm saying just leap,

but also study the game and stuff like

that.

Don't be afraid to ask for advice.

you would get amazed how many comic book

writers how many comic book artists

publishers who will give you advice

exactly you have to ask right just if

they if they don't say anything if they

don't give you advice okay they didn't do

it all right so just ask somebody else

exactly you would be surprised how far you

will get just by i know when i

first started doing new comic book day and

i would

I would be taking pictures of the comic

book.

I'd be like, hey,

here's what I'm reading right now.

Boom, boom, boom.

Here's the artist.

Here's the writer.

Here's this and here's that.

You would be surprised the number of

writers and artists who would hit me up

and be like, hey, man,

thanks for the shout-out, dude.

We appreciate it.

We're glad you're enjoying the book.

And I'm like, oh,

writer so-and-so just said they gave me a

shout-out.

What?

Like, dude.

I'm still working up.

I love spotlight and indie creators,

but there's that little piece of me down

inside.

I'm like, one of these days,

I'm going to reach out to some of

my favorite writers on the bigger tables

and the bigger projects and go, hey,

let me think.

Maybe I could get you on here to

talk about this one or that one.

But right now,

I'm just enjoying the indie stuff right

now,

putting the spotlight on y'all because I

think y'all deserve it a hundred percent.

I'm a hundred percent with you on that.

Hopefully one day when you're sitting at

that big table, you can go,

it's the chairman over there at the USDN.

A hundred percent.

You will be up there too giving interviews

and you're also your comic.

Yeah.

So, yeah,

I am working on two different ones.

I've got notebooks full of content right

now.

And the moment all this behind me gets

organized and I can settle in,

I'm going to start the official right.

And I got my artists picked out for

one of them.

and yeah we're gonna do it it's gonna

be an experience i'm gonna try to take

everything i've learned from all the indie

creators i've talked to and just kind of

put together something that i hope people

will enjoy so definitely hey that's that's

that's what it's all about right there

yeah but tonight is all about malcolm so

if somebody was to discover you tonight

since fifteen comments malcolm mcfadden

Where would you want them to start with

your comic books?

Oh, that's very easy.

The legacy.

It may not be my most popular.

It may not be my most praised comic.

But that is my heart and soul.

That is my comic.

It's actually dedicated to my dad.

Also, rest in peace to my dad.

It's dedicated to my dad.

It's dedicated to just me, my life,

experiences.

It's dedicated to also my son and just

leaving a legacy behind.

it's really it's that is my heart and

soul story so if somebody it mean it's

not my most popular story like people

still like it but it's not my most

popular story but it's it's my story it's

it's you know my heart and soul story

i think every writer every artist has that

one book

that they did that's kind of like that's

the one that they feel the most strongest

about that's like their baby they're the

one that they hold near and dear to

their heart and i and if somebody says

they don't have one of their own books

like that they're lying to themselves

because i think every writer every artist

has that one it may just be one

Yeah, because typically as an artist,

this is like most artists will say this

in any medium, any genre, whatever.

They'll say like their most popular thing

is not their favorite.

And then their favorite one is normally

the least popular,

like the middle bar of things.

That is true.

But let's get down to the nitty gritty,

man.

The King's Domain.

We do know you are a hundred percent

funded and I'm so happy to be sitting

here with you right now saying you are

a hundred percent funded,

but this is what we're here to talk

about is the King's domain.

We got to know you now let's get

to know the King's domain.

So it's currently live right now.

It's issue one, issue two,

which I'm about to get in on.

For those hearing about it tonight,

what is The King's Domain?

And what kind of story are readers

stepping into with The King's Domain?

Yes.

Oh, I love this question.

I'm going to drop something for you that

I don't think I've told anybody else.

There may be only actually one other

person who knows this for real.

Let's go, dude.

Let's go.

So the King's Domain,

just to start off with how I got

the name.

The name is actually so just it kind

of goes with my six fifteen,

the name of my company.

so at the there was this one night

where we were actually at the at my

friend's place uh we were chilling it was

a night before we went to king's dominion

and then me and my friend were actually

writing a song and then we just called

it the king's domain it was like yo

this our domain we kings this we that's

what we call going kings to me tomorrow

so we called it that and then so

when i went into this book and i

had the character's name i called him

amari king and i was kind of going

with names and that's why i call it

the king's domain because like it's like

him since his last name is king and

like this is like his domain and what

he's trying to protect and stuff like that

That was actually how I got the name.

And that's,

I think the first time I actually said

that to somebody, but, uh,

the King's domain is a story about my

character, Amari King, AKA my he's,

he is a protector of animals and a

fighter for the innocent.

And he's on this mission to take out

this criminal organization called the

alpha organization.

And they profit off animal cruelty and

they just profit off being evil people.

Like they're just,

they just need to be dealt with.

All right.

They they're bad for humans and animals,

just the earth period.

so he has made it his mission as

a protector of animals and a fighter of

the innocent to bring them down and then

so in this series you will follow him

try him uh uh trying to bring them

down like pursuing them and trying to stop

their whole organization

And to answer your second question,

the type of story that they're going to

get with this is, I actually,

I love that you asked this because I

just came to this realization just like

the other day.

So with this type of story, oh,

I forgot the name of it.

It's a weird name.

But there's type of stories where, like,

you have these adventure characters,

these characters of, like,

myth and legend.

So, like, characters like,

have you ever seen the movie or the

comic The Phantom?

Yeah, yeah, no, dude.

The fact that Phantom is about to get

another rerun in comic books makes that

statement even better.

exactly exactly so that so fandom like

characters like the phantoms are like

characters like that you would tell about

over a camp story uh campfire so like

um those type of characters so he is

i kind of made that i kind of

came to realization that i made that type

of character actually reading the new

phantom series that you just mentioned so

i came to that realization that i made

that type of character and not really

realizing that i did when i've been loving

that type of character forever

so that's always i remember reading him on

the newspaper you know back in the day

see i didn't i i got into him

through the movie the movie and then i

got into the comic league i didn't even

know it was a comic for years it

was a comic strip

And it's Sunday paper.

That's dope.

I did see that because I looked into

the character.

That's how I figured out what the type

of name of this type of story is,

but I can't remember it.

Yeah, just stories.

You're going to get that type of story,

like adventure type and myth type of

story.

Mythological type of story.

Nah,

that's some of the best ones to me,

man,

where you discover that you've written

something completely original,

but

It's like, it's very,

like it reminds you of this character over

here.

It's really dope that the fan,

I love that Dynamite is doing all these

old reruns of comic books like that.

And they're doing some big IPs this year.

I mean, they've done Powerpuff Girls,

Gargoyles, you name it, man.

Dynamite has been on it, dude.

Oh, they did do that new Gargoyle.

I got to get that.

Thank you for reminding me because that

was the series that I was like,

I'm going to get this when it comes

out on trade.

They did Gargoyles and they did Gargoyles

the Dark Ages,

which one of our podcast friends,

Drew Moss, did the artwork on.

What is the Dark Ages like,

taking it back?

It's the prequel, basically,

to the Gargoyles before they came to New

York or wherever it is.

Yeah.

Dude, it's really good.

I got to check that out.

Dude, it's really good.

You can probably find it on Trade

Paperback now on the Dynamite's website.

Oh, back.

Oh, yeah.

See, that makes it easy.

Because that's what I do.

Whenever I discover something like that,

I'm like,

how come I'm just now finding out about

this?

And I hop on the website.

I'm like, Trade Paperback.

Send that to the house.

Thanks.

Cause don't get me wrong.

I love singles,

but if I'm just discovering something for

the first time and it's on like issue

ten, that means in my head,

that means there's two trade paperbacks

out there.

Yep.

So let me get those two trade paperbacks

and then I'll play catch up and pick

up with the single issues on issue eleven

or whatever.

And I just like to read trade paperbacks.

I like that.

I love singles,

but when you read the whole arc at

one sitting, that's what I love.

So that's the way I am with Ghost

Machine.

I love collecting Ghost Machine comic

books.

I love their wraparound covers,

their connecting covers,

and stuff like that.

But a lot of the times,

I have all their current trade paperbacks,

and I just like to sit down and

read the first eight issues I got here,

wouldn't go.

because it's such a good story such a

good story but so what i know we

were just discussing this a little bit but

uh where does it fit within the larger

vision of cis-fitting comics for the

king's domain oh where the king's domain

fits it um

For each of my series,

the way that it is a connected universe,

but for each of my series.

That was my next question.

I'm glad you brought that up.

Right.

For each of my series,

I wanted them to stand alone so you

can read them.

Like if you were a fan of one

and not really a fan of the other,

you can just read one.

Like you don't have to read the others

to know about the other series.

Because that was when I love DCMR,

but sometimes that gets on my nerves.

So convoluted, man.

Yeah,

I'm not even reading that side of the

universe,

but I have to know about it to

know what's going on in this pocket of

the universe.

Oh, wait till people,

they drop the Secret Wars and realize

there's multiple wars going on in Secret

Wars.

like then they got extra they got like

so many like spin-offs that are part of

the main events and stuff like that where

i wanted my universe to where you where

they stuff will cross over and you know

they will have big events but you can

just stay with one storyline i didn't know

if the big event happens you can jump

onto that event and then you can jump

right back on to what you were already

reading you if you want to do the

whole universe

that's cool of course i would love for

you to but like i want to make

it so it is kind of all-inclusive to

like if you want this side and so

where the king's domain kind of fits he

kind of fits on not really like the

superhero or vigilante but he kind of fits

in like i said that adventure side of

my universe so he kind of fills that

void of things and kind of he moves

around he uh he mainly you'll see mainly

his story in africa but he kind of

still will move around like worldwide and

do things throughout the series

And it sets you up for success later

on.

That way,

if you're coming to an arc and you're

like,

how do I want to do this arc

or a I'm at a lull in this

one story.

let me tie him over here into this

other story for a couple of issues or

something,

or for arc over here while I'm trying

to figure out what I'm doing with this

guy,

but I can bring them over here and

do something and you can just move them

around.

Like,

like this one didn't really work for me.

Let me, he's okay.

He's going back to a solo issue.

It gives you a lot of leg room

to play with your characters within your

universe.

So it's always really cool when I see

people going, Hey,

I have these five stories go in.

They can all be in the same universe.

Yeah.

Right,

and then they could all be in the

same universe,

but what happens in this doesn't really

affect what happens in the other.

And if it does,

it won't be a lot for you not

to know what's going on.

You get what I'm saying?

Yep.

I like that.

And to me,

that's just – it makes sense, you know?

Right.

Because, I mean –

and I love Easter eggs.

So you can Easter egg your own character

in your own story in the background.

I love those.

They're all in the shared story.

There's nothing better than reading a

comic book.

And I can't remember the last time I

seen it,

but it was just one of their other

characters from the same writer and

walking through the background of a story.

And it was just like, wait,

is that that one character from the,

from the other book he does?

Yeah.

Exactly.

In the next comic of that character that

you've seen in the background,

you see him in his comic book,

and you see the other character in the

background of it.

So they just literally passed each other.

Two characters, same universe,

passing by on the same panel,

on the same page, two different stories.

It was really cool to see.

That's creative that day.

I might have to steal that idea and

do something like that.

Steal it.

Cause right now,

that's what's great about comic books,

right?

Everybody has stole something from

somebody.

Right.

But that's,

but that is like the Easter egg thing.

I love Easter eggs too.

So one thing I've been doing, um, in,

especially in this series that just

released the Kings domain too, there's,

uh,

character that makes an appearance that is

a character in another book but it doesn't

mess with the story at all but it

you'll see him appear uh and it was

it's dope to put those little easter eggs

i do a lot of easter eggs and

uh i'm actually been working on the

crossover between my characters and the

fact that i've dropped these easter eggs

makes writing that crossover so easy

because i can just bring things right back

into it

And I'm glad you said that, too,

because I can read a comic book in

five minutes,

but I can never do it in five

minutes.

It's going to take me twenty or thirty

minutes because I'm investigating each

page in each panel because I'm looking for

Easter as I'm looking for a little hidden

details.

I'm looking at the art.

I'm studying the art because I want to

see how they laid out panels and how

they why did they choose the gutter here

versus there and that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

It takes a unique human being to just

be like, oh,

I just read that comic book.

I'm like, you held it for two minutes.

What are you talking about?

You read it.

Right.

Did you even look at it?

Did you study it?

Did you embrace yourself in the artwork,

in the story?

Two minutes?

Yeah.

Like normally if I read a book that

fast,

it's kind of just to kind of get

the story,

but I'm always going to come back to

it.

Like I'll do that.

I'll do something like that.

If like I'm leaving a comic book store,

I'll go into my car real quick and

be like, okay,

I'm going to go through this story.

Yeah.

And then when I get home,

that's when I really like dive into it.

Because you're looking for something.

You're looking for a particular piece in

that story that you were hoping was going

to happen.

That's what you're looking for.

Because I do the same thing.

Exactly.

Let me pull this out real quick.

Okay, maybe it'll be the next issue.

But you're going to go home and you're

going to read it.

Exactly, exactly.

So let's jump back into this Kickstarter

because we could go on about that kind

of stuff for days.

Let's do it.

So why was Kickstarter the right platform

for this project,

and what does direct fan support mean to

you as an independent creator?

When I say Kickstarter,

you could have went with Indiegogo,

but I have discovered myself that I'm not

a big fan of the way Indiegogo does

the back end of their business.

Okay, yeah.

But that's just a me thing.

It was something that I recently just

learned.

I prefer Kickstarter all straight to the

means, you know?

So I don't really know too much about

Indiegogo's backend and stuff.

I did do an Indiegogo,

but I'm not even going to go into

that.

But it's really just that Kickstarter is

kind of the platform for comic books and

indie books.

So it's like there's a fan base already

there on Kickstarter.

There's like every Kickstarter I have,

there's times where I see people that have

just been people from Kickstarter that

back it.

And Kickstarter also gives you a lot of

the analytics and the numbers on the back

end for you to use.

A lot of those numbers,

I don't even know how to use them,

but they're there just in case I do

figure out how to use them.

So that's why I'd use Kickstarter because

I really do love the platform and I

love the fan base that's on there and

just how it works as even a person.

I bet it's a crate.

I think I've backed like three hundred

Kickstarters and I just realized that

looking at it.

But you get that super backer sticker on

you.

I think I do.

Yeah,

I think I forgot how many is after.

So I mean, I mean,

I forgot the number is that number because

I think I'm getting close to it myself.

yeah so like even with me you as

a fan i love how as a fan

how to use it how it makes it

real easy for you to bet for kickstarter

it makes it here's the other thing i

like too so i thought i'm following you

on kickstarter it tells me the moment you

launch yours

And then the moment I support yours,

it's going to say, hey,

congratulations for supporting Malcolm and

the King's Domain.

Here's a list of other comic books that

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