Today we’d like to introduce you to Martheus Wade.
Hi Martheus, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is Martheus Wade and I am a graphic designer and comic book creator. I started my career by attending the University of Memphis and completing my bachelors degree in fine arts concentrating in graphic design. I then worked for a number of design companies while cultivating my freelance advertising skill and contacts within the comic book world. I traveled to conventions showing my portfolio gathering little success. However, a stint with IDW Comics, got some attention on my comic book work leading to a few publishing deals. Once covid hit, I decided it was time to bet on myself and strike out on my own. That’s where I am now in my journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t been smooth at all. I think one of the unexpected problems I’ve faced doing comic books is the perception of what I’m supposed to be creating. I’m a black man who’s main character is a Japanese woman. That’s hard for some to get over. I never thought that would be a “problem”. But, the older I get, the more it becomes a problem. Being black, there is a real expectation and limit in what I’m supposed to creatively do and I’ve always wanted to break that ceiling and create what’s real to me. Sometimes thoes expectations coincide with what I choose to create. But most often it does not.
Creatively, the world is in this soup of technological “progress” infringing on creative works in a way that has damaged the importance of art and true creativity in the social space. That has been a hurdle for every creative person making a living by utilizing their art. It has been difficult to retrain the general audience about the purpose art holds in society and the importance of respecting that.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I create comic books and art with my wife and son who, together, we make up MAW Productions, LLC. It is a graphic design and comic book and animation production company. Our most popular book has been Shinobi Princess which was published by Scholastic. We are currently continuing that book while branching into the story’s future in our new graphic novel series titled, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa. I’m most proud of our work with those two books and I’m looking forward to working with my son on ideas we are cultivating for our next series. We are also about to launch the second episode of our motion comic based in the world that we created with the Jetta graphic novels. I’m really proud of how that is shaping up because it encompasses all the things I love. Comics. Animation. Music.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I love Audible and Pandora. I think I listen to those two apps more than anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://toshigawauniverse.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/toshigawauniverse
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/toshigawauniverse
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martheuswade
- Twitter: @ToshigawaUniver
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@toshigawauniverse
