“Our content is some of the most diverse that you can get from any comic book company,” said David Steward II, founder and CEO of Lion Forge Comics.
“We also employ and have on board people from a number of different ethnicities and genders, all working on that content. And with each piece of content, if it’s about a certain group, we have someone from that group working on the content.”
For example, with “Quincredible,” which chronicles an African-American superhero of that name, Lion Forge has African-American creative talent working on the project. For an upcoming project about an Hispanic superhero named “Whysper,” Lion Forge has tapped Hispanic creative talent.
“We want at all times to maintain the authenticity of the voice of whatever that character is,” Steward said. “A lot of companies disregard this, and their content comes out a little skewed.”
Steward’s company also is diversifying its content by another important demographic – age – with the launch of ROAR Comics, its new digital imprint that concentrates on comics for children and teens.
“We operate a little differently than other comic book companies in that our focus with content is making something for everybody – our moniker is ‘Comics for Everyone,’” he said.
“A lot of traditional comics publishers in the market, like Marvel and DC, are mostly focused on an older demographic, 40-year-old-plus men, and not trying necessarily to reach a younger readership. We want something for younger readers.”
That is why in February Lion Forge’s ROAR Comics imprint launched digital comic books based on the 1980s and 90s TV shows “Saved by the Bell” and “Punky Brewster.” The digital publisher acquired the licensing rights to the properties from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products in 2013.
“We’re licensing things we loved growing up,” Steward said. “We’re fans of the material, first, and would like to see it continued. A lot of it has not been in the market for quite some time. It’s time for a new generation to be exposed to it, but also to appeal to nostalgia.”
Under their all-ages ROAR imprint, Lion Forge is also producing two original comics, “Crystal Cadets” and “Mer.”
“Lion Forge has made remarkable inroads in the comics space in such a short amount of time,” said Adam Staffaroni, a veteran of DC Comics and BOOM! Studios who is managing the ROAR Comics imprint.
“The way people consume entertainment is changing every day, and I’m thrilled to join a company that’s dedicated to making comics for all the different types of readers – male and female, young and old – that can be reached through tablets and smart phones.”
Steward discussed these new products and other ventures last week at the 2014 Wizard World Convention in St. Louis; he first announced and debuted Lion Forge Comics at the 2013 conference.
The company is based in St. Louis, with seven staff members here, Steward said, though one editor is based in New York, another editor is based in Los Angeles and the company’s licensing director lives in Orlando. Steward – the son of David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, Inc., a $5 billion St. Louis-based technology systems firm – continues to live and work here.
“I do everything from looking over new licensing deals, to strategizing what we’ll bring into our content spread next, to developing new intellectual properties and going over financial stuff,” he summarized his typical business day as a comics mogul in St. Louis.
He also travels to various trade shows and to build new relationship and partnerships – all over the world.
“We hire independent contractors to do a lot of work for us across the U.S. and internationally,” Steward said. “We have teams in China, Brazil and India and other people working with us all over the place.”
Lion Forge Comics books are currently available through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore. They will be sold through additional outlets, including ComicsPlus. For more information, visit www.lionforge.com, the Lion Forge Facebook page or follow the company on Twitter @lionforge.
