WHAT IS PAYBACK?

Payback is focused on identifying and supporting talent within the independent comic book world, functioning as an incubator and development lab for BIPOC creators and their IP.

 

Combining filmmaker Prentice Penny and comic creator Sebastian A. Jones’ expertise, Payback will be able to amplify its storytellers by offering inroads into publication, adaptation of the IP into other mediums of entertainment (i.e. television, film, animation, podcast, etc.). The pair has already begun identifying such creators and is currently developing two separate properties under the joint venture – Harriet Tubman Demon Slayer created by David Crownson and Jaycen Wise from creator Uraeus.

 

With a shared passion for championing new storytellers, Penny and Jones were inspired to launch Payback in the hopes of creating greater access for comic storytellers of color and to help raise up such voices within the medium in general. Along with cultivating new talent of color in the independent comic space, the company also plans to launch online mentorship programs as a way to inspire aspiring creatives.

 

· PRENTICE PENNY: “When Sebastian told me there’s so many independent comic creators of color that largely get ignored in the movie and television space I knew that I wanted to help foster and produce content with these amazing creators. I’m so excited with all the possibilities the joint venture can do. Having someone like Sebastian as a partner who has had amazing success in the independent comic space and someone like myself that knows tv and film, it felt like such an easy and natural fit. I can’t wait to dive in and find the next generation of BIPOC comic creators and get their work up on the screen."

 

· SEBASTIAN A. JONES: “As a comic creator, it can be a daunting prospect to have an IP leave the familiar nest of the comic industry and head off to the big wide world of TV and Film. For many, the IP is not only a creator’s idea, but also the creation that has been nurtured and cared for, often for many years, existing through comics, kid’s books, poems and song. After cowriting and developing with Prentice in a world that I’ve spent a lifetime creating, I couldn’t be happier to have found the perfect partner to team up with, especially to help guide, mentor, and amplify the voices of aspiring BIPOC creators that need to be heard.”

 

· The joint venture comes on the heels of Penny and Jones teaming to co-author the comic NIOBE & DURA: Wrath of the Ancient #1, which the pair successfully launched on Kickstarter in August 2021 through Jones’s Stranger Comics publishing house which Payback will distribute through.