Black-owned manga publisher Darkmoon Comics release new series Reign of Chaos

A few panels from the new issue out Jan. 31. // Courtesy of Brandon Calloway.

Darkmoon Comics, a Kansas City-based comics, manga, and graphic novel publisher, will launch the second issue of their original series, Reign of Chaos, on Jan. 31.

Brandon Calloway, founder of Darkmoon Comics—which launched in Nov. 2020—also authors the Reign of Chaos series, which is illustrated by Jermaine Mims. Calloway also authored the company’s flagship manga series, Black Spartans, which is available to read in both physical and digital formats.

“I always thought it was cool that you could sit down and write something and create your own world and make it be literally whatever you wanted it to be, but I always thought it was weird that there are so few worlds that are created where Blackness is normalized,” Calloway says in a previous Pitch feature about Black Spartans.

“We want to tell good, high-quality stories with authentic Black characters, without their Blackness being a necessary plot point,” says Calloway.

When asked to provide advice to young peopling hoping to go into comic book writing, creating, and/or publishing, Calloway says, “A lot of people think that it takes some special quality to be a writer, and I don’t even consider myself an author. I’m just some guy that writes some stuff sometimes. So if you’re waiting on something special, like, whatever you’re waiting on, you already have it. So dive in and do it.”

Additionally, Darkmoon Comics produces the Black Comic Creators Podcast. 22 episodes have been produced interviewing Black comics and manga creators about their lives, works, and creative processes. One of the most recent episodes features Charlie Cox of Black Astronaut Productions and Royal House Comics. Calloway says one of his favorite experiences producing the podcast was interviewing David Crownson, writer and creator of Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer.

Reign of Chaos is a manga series inspired by the Dark Souls video game franchise. Dark Souls is set in an adventure-filled universe full of unique supernatural foes. The interactive experiences are defined by punishing difficulty, expansive worldbuilding, and flexible rules around death and immortality.

The plot of Reign of Chaos is teased in a press release: “Donovan Moore gets teleported to a punishing video game world, where he is constantly dying over and over again. The only way for him to get back home is to suck it up and play through. He will have to battle all types of undead creatures and rescue Yashara, as he becomes their Champion of Chaos.”

Reign of Chaos issue number two is available now on the Darkmoon Comics website and Kickstarter.

A new 8-issue miniseries from Knights of Olympus launches alongside Reign of Chaos. Calloway says the miniseries is about evolved plant and animal life taking over and enslaving mankind.