Building the Summit Comics Universe
Fine. We'll do it ourselves.
Sometimes the best ideas don’t come from boardrooms, studios, or long-term strategic plans. Sometimes they start with a casual chat on a Discord server.
Summit Comics—was born out of just that. A little more than a year ago in July, I joined a comics creators’ Discord run by Travis Gibb of Orange Cone Productions. Over time, that space became a hub of collaboration, fellowship, and constant comic-making energy.
Then one day, C.J. Hudson (creator of Granite and plenty more) tossed out a wild idea:
(Sometimes words can be grenades.)
It was simple. It was crazy. And it stuck.
Here's the CBR ARTICLE ABOUT US!!
Within hours, the chat spun into a full-on strategy session. Votes were cast (thank you, Adam Barnhardt, for insisting on democracy at every step). Roles were assigned. Before we knew it, we had an editor-in-chief (the talented Devin Arscott), a publisher (Travis himself), an art director (Marcus Jimenez), and even a production lead (our Canadian letterer-designer powerhouse, Jérôme Gagnon).
And yes—when nobody wanted to touch marketing, I raised my hand. Suddenly, I was the one building an asset library and crafting social posts. I figured, if Summit was going to work, we’d need to tell our story loudly, clearly, and often.
But what makes Summit different from just another anthology or loose collective?
(Kickstarter is full of amazing creators, their unique projects - people who produce stuff.)
Well, comics is often a cutthroat space. There are the traditional publishers, the big two are small parts of GIANT corporations. With their massive brand recognition, broad appeal and decades of back issues building deep wells of content, they are the top tier in the Comic Book space. There’s the lower tier: the Images, Dark Horses, Booms, etc - who have battled to stake out a space in direct market spaces like comic book stores. But, we sixteen founders of Summit all hale from comics’ newest form, Crowdfunding. With it’s low barrier to entry it allows the little guy with an idea to become a published author. Usually, a writer scrapes together a budget, hires an artist, and shoulders every part of publishing, crowdfunding, and fulfillment. It works, but it’s isolating. Summit is about building something together.
We’re aiming for the kind of “tentpole storytelling” you normally only see from the Big Two. Shared threats, crossovers, big universe-shaping finales. But unlike those giants, our universe is collaborative from the ground up. Every creator has a voice, every character matters, and every vote counts.
That makes us different. An editorial process. Art direction. Thoughtful marketing. We’ll be sharing resources, pitching in with our best skills and building a community that does one thing: makes great stories.
That’s what Summit is: a meeting place. A peak to climb together.
(Some older characters, some newer characters, all will be revealed. Art by Bejamin W. Morse)
For me personally, I’ll be continuing drawing Travis Gibb’s Upheaval (yes, she’s making the jump into Summit continuity), while also drawing and writing my own stories—and helping bring other people’s characters to life. It’s a lot of hats, but it feels like the right time and the right crew.
The roadmap will be spelled out in the coming weeks. We’ll drop details about the universe, the characters, and the kinds of stories we’re going to tell. It’s all very exciting, it’s the feeling of you and your friends bringing your toys from home and smashing them together in an epic narrative.
We’re still at the very beginning of this mountain climb, but already the view is something special. Summit Comics is about more than just making cool books (though we’re doing that too). It’s about proving that collaboration can rival competition, that a bunch of indie creators can dream big together.
Watch this space, I’ll be dropping details, tidbits and art as the journey continues.
Important links to follow:
I’m loving all the hype around all of this. Congrats!
Been loving the hype! Great work, Brian!