The Premiere Networks syndicated “Breakfast Club” host and “Brilliant Idiots” podcast co-host Charlamagne Tha God is making the move into publishing, via a graphic novel deal with Artists, Writers, and Artisans.
Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, plans to drop his first fantasy thriller graphic novel, “ILLuminati,” later this fall. The longtime lover of comic books worked with several creatives in the business to produce the novel, with the intent of spotlighting the many Black artists and writers in the comic and graphic novel businesses.
Having previously written hip-hop-themed comics for Marvel, Charlamagne has also brought a hip-hop sensibility to “ILLuminati,” with a story centered on the death of a young female hip-hop star and her psychic twin sister who comes to Los Angeles to uncover the story behind the story. Charlamagne plans five custom covers for “ILLuminati” that will pay tribute to classic hip-hop albums.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of comic books,” Charlamagne tells Variety. “Listen to any hip-hop record, man. I’m a huge Wu-Tang fan. They’ve always referenced so many comic books.”
Even as Charlamagne continues to wear many hats aside from co-hosting “The Breakfast Club” and running iHeartRadio’s Black Effect Podcast Network — including a scripted partnership with Kevin Hart in SBH Productions, the Black Privilege Publishing imprint in partnership with Simon & Schuster, and other ventures through his CThaGod World banner — he says he’s been very involved with the creative aspects of “ILLuminati.”
“I’ve been involved in the process every, every step of the way because the story is loosely based off the industry,” he says. “We’re playing into the whole Illuminati Secret Society of the music industry, all those rumors and things you might see on pages like Reddit or those YouTube conspiracy theory videos. This fits all of that in comic book form.”
AWA was launched in 2018 by former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, who while at Marvel boosted the presence of hip-hop in comics. “There’s a huge multicultural audience out there for comic books,” he says. “They love the characters, love the mythology, and they want to see themselves reflected in the pages.”
Charlamagne and AWA have set up a month-long Kickstarter campaign for “ILLuminati,” with the primary goal of engaging fans while financing production of the novel. “We live in an era where, with YouTube and social media and Kickstarter and all of these different platforms, you can literally build it and wait for people to come,” Charlamagne says. “Better yet, you can build it and you can just meet people where they are.”
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