Te'Shawn Dwyer is the co-founder of the From a Hat Studio artist collective with former Speech Bubble guest Paris Alleyne. Te'Shawn details the origins of the group, which was inspired by R.A.I.D. Studio -- another group of Toronto artists who pooled their resources to great success. On this episode, Te'Shawn talks about how the group was started by he and Paris as they were graduting from Max the Mutt College of Art and Design as a way to stay in touch and keep drawing on a regular basis. Soon they were joined by Matt Simas, Dylan Burnett (Interceptor, Ant-Man, Cosmic Ghost Rider, X-Force) and former Speech Bubble guests Jahnoy Lindsay (Luke Cage; Everyman, She-Hulk) and Jamal Campbell. (Naomi, Far Sector)

From a Hat had them pick a character “From a Hat” and each draw it in their own style. These pieces became super popular online and on the comic convention circuit. Soon they were pushing each other to go up to have portfolio reviews from “The Big Two”: Marvel and DC. On the podcast, Te'Shawn details how the portfolio review process works and how eventually showing his portfolio and pitching creator-owned comic series concepts to independent publishers like Image Comics became discouraging enough that he eventually decided to stop waiting around for someone to give him an opportunity and instead created his own. What that became was his current self-published comic series Desert Messiah. Hear about how it's very much inspired by Te'Shawn's childhood love of anime and manga, including the seminal work, Lone Wolf and Cub. Te'Shawn gives a sneak preview of his plans for the series on this episode and explains why after two single issues (out now) he decided to work towards a full graphic novel, rather than put out issue three right away. This episode of Speech Bubble is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula and Bam Coffee Co. where you can get 15% off your first Bam Box of fresh roasted coffee and geek swag like prints and a limited edition mug when you type SB15 at checkout. This episode of Speech Bubble is also dedicated to the memory of Toronto artist and friend Lamin Martin.

@TeShawnDwyer

@teshawndwyer

Te'Shawn's Website

Buy Desert Messiah #1 and #2

Buy the Black Comix Returns Anthology

Sponsors

Hairy Tarantula

Bam Coffee Co.