By Jennifer Nguyen, Staff Writer
Since 2011, sophomore Shane Hernandez has always had an interest for comics, but it wasn’t until he saw the movie “Captain America: The First Avenger” that he decided to pursue a career in the comic book industry.
To Hernandez, comics were more than just words and pictures on a page. He believed that comics were a gateway into an entirely different universe that had something for everyone. With this in mind, he wanted to use his imagination to create something that people could immerse themselves in.
After nearly two years of immense planning, Birdguy was finally born. Set in Los Angeles in the year 2016, the comic revolves around Matt Malone, a man who loses his son in a tragic school shooting. As a result of this devastating event in his life, Malone is inspired from his son’s school’s mascot to become Birdguy, fighting crime where help is needed.
Despite only being a sophomore, Hernandez writes his own script. He has his artists break up his script into panels, and once the rough draft of the pages have been approved by Hernandez, his artists work to create the finished product. It is then sent to his colorist who inks each panel. After the pages are all inked and colored, Hernandez inserts dialogue from his script into word bubbles. Despite the long process, Hernandez is thrilled to finally have his comic out in the world for the public to see.
“It’s scary but also so cool to have Birdguy out now. I love it and the responses that I’ve gotten from it are great! But it still hasn’t sunken in for me yet. I still get nervous to hear what others think of it, but I try to see it as how can I improve as a writer while stay true to my gut feeling rather than try to please everyone,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez highly encourages those who are interested in creating their own comic book series to pursue their passion despite critiques.
“Don’t give up on it. It’s not really easy at all. No matter how stressful it gets, just don’t let what another person says stop you from getting your dream done because it’s not about what others think. It’s about the joy you feel of telling stories,” said Hernandez.
Even though the first edition of Birdguy only recently released, Hernandez has already written the script to the sequel. The sequel to Birdguy will be introducing two new characters and will have a darker twist. Moving forward, Hernandez plans to have eight issues for the arc of Birdguy and continue his career in the comic book industry.
For those who are interested in purchasing a copy of Birdguy, contact Hernandez through his Instagram.
