The Summit Universe is coming...

I’m not sure if you know this, but indie comics maestro Travis Gibb has a pretty active Comic Creators Hangout Discord. A few hundred indie creators are in it to help hone their craft, have peers review their work, and chit chat funnybooks.

It’s also where a group of us started talking about the lost art of shared comics universe earlier this summer. That talking turned into doing as we formed an entity called Summit Comics.

In short, I can’t tell you all too much yet since we’ve got a pretty elaborate slate of unveils. What I can tell you, however, is that I’m involved as one of the partners behind Summit and that I will be writing one (or two) characters involved in the world.

For more, here’s the press release that went out to comics press earlier today:

Summit Comics, a new comics collective featuring some of the hottest names in comics’ crowdfunding circles, is set to launch a new shared comics universe after the first of the year.

Featuring characters new and old, over a dozen creatives—who’ve collectively raised nearly half a million dollars on Kickstarter—Summit will tell tales in a single shared world, allowing characters and storylines to jump over from one creator-owned title to the next.

“Over the years, countless creators have approached me about joining their publishing companies. Many have dreams of becoming the next Image Comics. But it wasn’t until I met the team behind SUMMIT that I truly felt compelled to jump on board,” Summit Publisher Travis Gibb said. “SUMMIT is built on a love of superheroes, with the goal of creating a connected universe filled with stories that truly matter. This group of creators want to build something that lasts and tells stories in unique ways that can create the next generation of heroes.”

“Comics are a special medium, one of celebration for the arts that combine written word and visual narrative driven art together. SUMMIT is built on the love of that medium, utilizing superheroes as the vehicle for that love,” Editor-in-Chief Devin Arscott added. “Our team has come together to show everyone that you can build something special that lasts forever with talent from across the industry to tell amazing stories with a diverse cast of characters. Join us at the SUMMIT on our journey to the pinnacle of storytelling.”

At the root of it all will be Summit: Pinnacle, an annual anthology featuring short stories from all corners of the Summit Universe. Those shorts will then continue on in Summit Jump, a bi-monthly release inspired by weekly shōnen manga titles. Select characters will then receive their own limited series.

“There's a delicate balance to what we're doing with SUMMIT, one that has the reader at the forefront of our creative process. We don't want to get to a point where someone has to read through decades' worth of back issues to understand what's going on,” Adam Barnhardt, SUMMIT Chief Creative Officer, added. “Instead, we've crafted a tale that allows us to tell this story in year-long chunks without the need for reboots, renumbering, or revamping.”

The Summit Universe will then carry over into standalone titles such as Gibb’s Upheaval, and CJ Hudson’s Granite.

Summit’s launch roster of creatives includes Travis Gibb (Upheaval, Cthulhu Invades), CJ Hudson (Granite, Interstellar Dust), Devin Arscott (Noir, Magni the Mighty), Adam Barnhardt (SH*TSHOW, Moonspawn), Marcus Jimenez (Techoknights, Knight From Hell), Eric Palicki (Guardians of Infinity, Black’s Myth), Brayden Viloria (Haven), J. Michael Miller (Kid Cretaceous, The Healer's Blade), Nate Schachter (The CloakRoom), Cam Kerkau (Gilgamesh), Daniel Kalban (American Dreams, Knightwrath), Brian Wolf (Upheaval), Benjamin Morse (We Are Scarlet Twilight), Ignacio di Meglio, Pete Collins, Sebastian Piccione and letterer extraordinaire Jerome Gagnon.

Summit’s character rosters and publishing schedule will be available in the coming weeks.