We recently connected with Louis Southard and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Louis thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Honestly, I think comic books are one of the most interesting and unique artistic mediums in the world. The fact I get to write them is a dream come true and I only wish to write more in the future. But, my motivation for doing so isn’t really what people expect. It’s not because I’m a super fanboy of superheroes or because I hope to make a movie out of my work someday. No, it’s far too personal.

You see, when I was very young, someone whom I loved very much took their own life. It was the greatest tragedy of my childhood, and I truly didn’t have the right people nor the means to explore those difficult feelings. Obviously, I recommend to others in similar situations to speak to a support network or a counselor, but I didn’t have any of that. So, caught in this web of emotions with nowhere to turn, I found myself gravitating to a bit of comic book news I heard through the grapevine: Spider-Man has died.

With death on my mind, I managed to locate the nearest comic book store and I started reading Spider-Man every other week when it was released. There was this great solace and escapism in it. The story at the time was called “The Superior Spider-Man”, and it was about an anti-heroic Spidey trying to redeem himself to the world and to combat his own self-loathing. I saw the struggles of the character reflected in my own life as well as the turbulent sense of shifting self identity when one grows up in the world. I think reading a story like that was exactly what I needed in that point of my life and it helped me feel better. Since then, I never stopped reading comics.

So, my mission is to write stories for the children and adults seeking out that very same solace and escapism. I want my books and stories to help people feel seen. To act as a gateway to tell people that they are not alone in their pain. To say that it can get better or, if it can’t, then to provide a break from reality. At the end of the day, I think that’s the real power of the arts and the duty of the creative. To help others, in some small shape or form.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Louis Southard and I’m the creative genius of a generation *haha*! Seriously though, I’m a 24-year-old Colombian-American comic book writer. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with eight publishers working on either licensed IP comics like FLASH GORDON or my creator owned books like COMICS ARE DYING: THE COMIC, MIDNIGHT WESTERN THEATRE, THE BLACKOUT BOMBSHELL, and more!

Each project I’ve written / created, I’ve also served as essentially a creative director by selecting and managing my own creative teams from top-to-bottom. Under my leadership, I’ve worked with a range of artists, colorists, letterers, and graphic designers from industry professionals like Bill Sienkiewicz and David Hahn to aspiring new talents like Sergio Acuña and Vasco Georgiev. With licensed IP, I’m a team player when working under an editor, assigned team, and rights-holders while still trying to push the envelope and tell unique stories.

While I can say all of that now, getting myself into the comics industry was a difficult journey. When I was 18, I was shipped off to Paris, France to attend a joint university program between NYU and Sorbonne. This was all done by accident as I had checked off the wrong box on a university application *haha*. While I was there, I sunk into a deep depression concerning my life and where I thought it was heading, which was no place good. In response, I decided to risk it all. I decided to follow my dream to become a professional comic book writer. So, I dropped out, collected my tuition money, and ran away to New York City.

Living in an apartment above a drug lab and next to an at-home music teacher, I dedicated myself full-time to making comics. Within one year, I signed my first contract with comics publisher Action Lab Entertainment for my first comic VILLAINS SEEKING HERO. Since then, I no longer live in that apartment and I’ve done a helluva lot more since *haha*.

I think that’s what sets me apart from other creators though. Whether it be stubbornness, confidence, arrogance, idiocy, and/or sheer determination, I refuse to give up. I want to live out my dreams in the one life I’ve got. I love comics and I love making them. Nothing and nobody can stop me from trying or putting in the maximum effort. If I don’t fight for me and make shit happen, no one else will.

That’s what I want people to see in my work. Whether you’re a publisher or a fan, I want you to see the love and passion I have for this industry. The comics business can be cruel and it can make you feel low sometimes. But, the best bits are so worthwhile. The highs of writing a story that you feel needs to be written. The gratitude when someone wants you to sign their book. The feeling of achievement when an editor wants to work with you. There is no better feeling in the entire world.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I knew a lot more than I did when I first started out *haha*. In the first year or two of doing comics, I was an anxious, high-strung mess of a man. So, I often talked myself out of speaking or reaching out to creators who I perceived as “above my station.”

As I got older, I grew more confident and relaxed in myself. That also helped me realize the biggest secret to a lot of this: we’re all just people doing the same job. After that tremendous brain blast, I still to this day try to communicate with longtime artists and professionals to either collaborate or make something happen. As long as you treat someone with respect and professionalism, there should be no fear in trying to speak to someone.

When younger creators ask me for my biggest piece of advice, it’s always: “Just send the email.” *haha*.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

While not exactly a sales story, it is related to marketing oneself. One of my favorite work related stories was when I was a guest at Philadelphia Fan Expo selling my books. I had learned early on that the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics was going to be there and I wanted to speak to him. So, there I was at one of the convention after-parties and I saw him sat with his buddy chatting at a table.

Figuring myself too chicken to speak to him, I downed my drink and asked the bartender for another. With liquid courage running through me now, I asked this random table of people to watch my drink as I went to go approach the EIC. I introduced myself, we shook hands, and I gave him my business card. I invited him to come to my table at the show the next day, which he did. While nothing really came from that, he at least knows who I am now.

The funny bit happened when I returned to the random table to reclaim my drink. You see, the table owners were a group of Los Angeles lawyers at a business convention and they asked me if I was okay. I was more than okay, I was ecstatic! I told the lawyers the story of what just occurred and they celebrated with me! They ordered another round and nicknamed me “The Shark”! I must’ve gotten at least ten business cards that night *haha*!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.louissouthard.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louissouthard
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louissouthard
• Twitter: https://x.com/louisjsouthard