Empowering The Imagination

By Matthew Jones

Creator, entrepreneur, and owner of Akachi Comics, Matthew Jones walks us through the poignant steps to turn your ideas into comic treasures. From intellectual property, and finding an artist, to where to market and print,

Empowering the Imagination: Turning Creative

Ideas Into Comic Worlds is an inspiring and engaging "how-to" for anyone with a spark for story telling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Jones
• Release date: Jul 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223041801

Book preview

Forward

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

To begin, I would like to thank you for, not only purchasing this book but deciding to further your passion for the imagination. There are multitudes of ways to tell your story, numerous ways to create, and so many tools out there to help you get your story in front of readers. This book aims to help you take your ideas, your passions, and your stories from thought to print... and beyond.

But first, you need to know a little about me. My story is untamed, with ups and downs, lessons learned, and self-growth, all leading to the culmination of a life filled with hordes of imagination and creativity. Each piece coming together from learned life experiences, hard work, and determination.

My name is Matthew Jones, owner of Akachi Comics, and the creative mind behind multiple comic book series and short stories, including Void Beast, Denise, The Extraordinary Mosiah, Souls of Chaos, Sankara, and more. But don’t be fooled, that’s not what takes up my entire existence. I’m also a dad and partner, a boxer, kickboxer, and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu, and I work a full time job as an entrepreneur. I may have my hands full, but every part of it I chose, I worked hard to achieve, and I didn’t let the stressors and ebb and flow of life stop me from capturing these things. 

I was born in Paramount California, and lived in Compton as a young child. While I have so many fond memories of Compton, it was also the place that I quickly came to understand I was not the kid growing up with the rich and famous. There were no endowments, inheritances, or spending accounts in my future. Instead, there were memories like the guy in the neighborhood that used to sit on the porch with a shotgun in his lap, making sure his house didn’t get broken into like the others on the block. My mother’s house was one of those unlucky homes to be robbed, another reason added to the list of why she wanted to move us to another place. Just like everyone else in the world, she craved a quiet and safe life to raise her children.

As a young boy, my mother applied for moving vouchers to Moreno Valley in Riverside County, California. So, we packed up our lives and moved 65 miles inland, to the second largest town in Riverside County. We were one of the first families to move out there from Compton, and though a popular transplant location for people from Los Angeles, it was a place that was completely different, and void of anyone I knew. But being new to Moreno Valley wasn’t so bad, and really opened me up to the world of comics. 

In an attempt to stave off the boredom and fill my time, I turned to reading comics and watching cartoons. These comics and cartoons began sparking ideas in me at an early age, and introduced me to characters and storylines that are still some of my favorites. My days were full of Tron, Transformers, and even SilverHawks. I was about 5 years old when SilverHawks came out, and though it was canceled after its first season, I fell in love with 65 episodes of space based, Japanese animated stories of bionic bodies and Mon*Star villainy. 

Through my younger years, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Voltron became the comics and cartoons that really grabbed me. From those stories, my creativity began to blossom, creating stories and characters in my mind. I needed a space to get that creativity out in the real world. So, my mom bought me blocks and Legos to create with. I used them to create all kinds of formations, scenes, and characters. I would make the Thunder Cats out of blocks, the castle out of blocks, and anything else I could construct. Voltron became my main focus, and I built the super robot out of Legos. I even ended up getting the original diecast Voltron Lions in the 80’s, something I wish I still had. Voltron, along with video games and comic books were not only sources of entertainment for me, but they were also fuel for my imagination.

The earliest comics books that I can remember were the X-Men stories. They always stood out to me. They had excellent storylines that really resonated with me because they followed a bunch of characters who were going through issues that all circled around their identity, who they were. That was something I felt spoke to my own real life persona, even more so with Magneto. A villain in all rights, Magneto still stood out to me from all of the rest. Whether his motivations were misguided or not, he did one thing I really respected. He always