Eric Dean Seaton Extends Book Tour for Hit Graphic Novel Series ‘Legend of the Mantamaji’

Book Tour Legend of the MantamajiRiding high on the release of the third book in the Legend of the Mantamaji series, episodic television director Eric Dean Seaton [NBC’s ‘Undateable,’ Disney’s ‘Austin & Ally’] has added new dates to his national book tour for the popular Legend of the Mantamaji graphic novel series. The tour takes Seaton to some of the most popular comic book and pop culture conventions:

  • Wonder Con in Anaheim, California (April 3-5)
  • Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo [C2E2] (April 24-26)
  • East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (May 15 – 16)
  • Puerto Rico ComicCon (May 21 – 24)
  • Heroes Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina (June 19-21)
  • Comic Con San Diego (July 7 – 12)
  • OnyxCon, Atlanta, Georgia (August 15 – 16)
  • Wizard World Chicago (August 20 – 23)
  • Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Canada (September 3 – 6)
  • Long Beach Comic Con in Long Beach, California (September 12-13)
  • Wizard World Columbus in Columbus, Ohio (September 18 – 20)
  • New York Comic Con (October 8-11)

“The series has been so well received that we have been able to add more cities and shoot a live action short for the series that debuts in late Spring,” Seaton said. “This entire process has been a dream come true and my favorite part is meeting and interacting with fans. I am offering several exclusives along the tour including the release of the live action short and a sneak peek of the custom Mantamaji costume from the short.”

The Legend of the Mantamaji series has been named a “Top Graphic Novel” by Examiner.com and Atlanta Black Star, sold out twice on Amazon.com and all three books made the top 10 list for Graphic Novels, Contemporary Women on Amazon.

black comic book hero, graphic novel, legend of the mantamajiAbout Legend of the Mantamaji:

Legend of the Mantamaji tells the story of Elijah Alexander, an Assistant D.A. who has learned that his childhood storybook legends are actually the true stories of his heritage and that he is the last of a race of mystical knights known as the Mantamaji. After realizing he’s only part human, Elijah struggles with the shift in his world and becomes a hunted man charged with ridding the world of an ancient evil no other Mantamaji has ever been able to defeat. The full-color, action packed series has hair-raising plot twists and smart storytelling for all superhero fans.

The books feature artwork by Brandon Palas, colorist Andrew Dalhouse who has worked with From Boom, Dark Horse, Image, Marvel and DC and lettering by Deron Bennett, who was nominated for an Eisner Award for his work on titles like Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal, Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand and Helldorado, among others.

Praise for Legend of the Mantamaji: 
“Standouts include female characters who are smart, strong warriors equal to the male characters in the book with no “a**-to-the-camera” poses, great pen work by Brandon Palas, coloring by Andrew Dalhouse of Boom!, D.C. and Marvel, and lettering by Eisner-nominated artist Deron Bennett.” —Buzzfeed Community

“Fans who bemoan the ‘big two’ for a lack of vision, or effort, to create bold new characters and franchises, should learn that innovation can often be found elsewhere. ‘Legend of the Mantamaji ‘ has all of the excitement, imagination and suspense to be a TV or film series on its own, but instead it is here as a comic to be enjoyed by the masses who crave them. ‘Legend of the Mantamaji’ volume one is a must read for those who crave all of the spectacle and action of superhero comics, yet want a comic which offers creative new ideas and a progressive storyline with real weight behind it,” Alex Widen, Brooklyn Comic Book Examiner

sirach_4fullarmor“Legend of the Mantamaji is teevee director Eric Dean Seaton’s (Sonny with a Chance, That’s So Raven, Good Luck Charlie) first shot at writing comics, but this is clearly a professional storyteller with writing chops and a lifelong love of the medium, both of which are on full display here. I am not sure what I expected when I was invited to review Legends of the Mantamaji, but I can tell you I was definitely impressed by the quality world-building and storytelling.” —GhettoManga.com

About Eric Dean Seaton:

As an episodic director, Eric Dean Seaton has directed 200 television episodes of 38 different hit TV series, including NBC/Warner Bros. comedy “Undateable,” TBS’s “Ground Floor,” BET’s “Let’s Stay Together,” Disney’s “Austin & Ally” and Nickelodeon’s “Bella and the Bulldogs.” He has also directed 18 music videos and two pilots for Nickelodeon, as well as two pilots for Disney XD. Seaton is a Cleveland, Ohio native and graduate of The Ohio State University. Eric, his wife children live in California. Legend of the Mantamaji, named a Top Graphic Novel series by Examiner.com and Atlanta Black Star, is his first graphic novel series.

For Media Interview | Book Review Requests Contact: Terreece M. Clarke, (614) 467-0361 | Press(at)Mantamaji(dot)com or TClarke(at)LifeSliceMedia(dot)com | LegendoftheMantamaji.com

8 Tips for Indie Publisher Success at Cons

indie comic con tips

Eric Dean Seaton at New York Comic Con for Legend of the Mantamaji

Independent publishers at comics conventions have a bit of a tough road ahead of them. First, you have to manage the logistics of getting to the convention. Next, decide how to set up your booth for maximum impact. Then, perfect your pitch…and that’s all before people arrive.

Once the con begins, you are competing with everyone from huge comic book publishers, to well funded film and TV studios to hundreds of indies and cosplayers for eyes and wallets. My team and I have learned a lot since we’ve begun promoting Legend of the Mantamaji and as we move into con season, I wanted to share a few tips that have helped us boost profits and fans.

1) Be aggressive – in a very nice way.

People want to see you care about your project and believe in it. Share your inspiration for the work, smile and make eye contact. Your enthusiasm should be contagious, not offensive. Don’t invade personal space (I’m looking at you close talkers), look for typical social cues to end the conversation and remember your manners!

2) Invite people to see your work, not buy your work.

You want to be seen first. Invite them to the table and interact with them first. The selling part will come, but what’s most important is making everyone feel like they are special – because they are!

3) Stand up! Don’t sit the whole day.

People are moving fast and looking right and left. If you sit the whole time they will look right past and over you.

4) Walk the floor early.

See what else is out there. Get your freebies and the collector items at the top of the day. You are not a big name item (YET), so your sales will start an hour after the convention opens.

robo chicken

Robo Chicken loves Mantamaji.

5) Talk to people in costumes, but do not try to sell to people in costumes.

They are there to be seen, not to buy. And looking at most of their costumes, there aren’t a lot of characters that carry a backpack or a bag as part of their hero look, so the cosplay people won’t either.

You will see some amazing stuff though, so engage them, encourage them to take pics in front of your table (logo showing), share it on social media and tag the con. They’ll find their pic and your work later. It took two months to make our Legend of the Mantamaji Live Action Costume so we love to hear other people’s process.

6) Have a great pitch for your project.

It’s your story, so know how to sell it. If you’re paying attention, you can tell which words work and you can also tell which words just lost them. If your pitch is strong, you will win way more battles than you lose.

7) Give a discount on your work and offer autographs.

People always want to feel like they are getting a deal. We have a three book series so, for us, we want people to get book 2 and 3 if they like book 1. We don’t over price the first one because we are trying to grow fans and move books, not milk every dollar we can with what we bring. When the convention is over, you want to walk out empty handed… well, except for the swag, collector items and freebies you got when you did #4 on this list.

indie comic con tips

Deron Bennett, Tony Puryear, Erika Alexander, Nikki Seaton and Eric Dean Seaton fun it up at New York Comic Con

8) Have a great time.

We always do! We meet new people and learn new things. Cons are fun! We spent six years creating, writing, drawing and now selling our book. It’s a dream come true, so enjoy every moment. It’s worth it.

Take a look at Legend of the Mantamaji today!

Got an indie publishing question for Eric? Ask it below!

Martin’s Theory of Relativity Great Review!

http://martinstheoryofrelativity.blogspot.com/2015/03/review-of-eric-dean-seatons-legend-of.html

Review of Eric Dean Seaton’s Legend of the Mantamaji

Lately there have been a lot of discussions regarding diversity in comics. We now see examples of diversity in comics among the Big Two (Marvel Comics and DC Comics).  Marvel Comics has characters like Ultimate Spider-Man with the bi-racial Miles Morales and a Black Captain America; DC comics even has a Black version of Superman. While they should be applauded for making steps in the right direction it has been far too long in coming. Some question whether or not these changes are done in the name of equality or recognition that with changing demographics providing more diversity in their products translates into bigger profits.
What gets lost in the debate is that there are a number of creators out there who are not waiting to see what the Big Two plan to do next when it comes to diversity. They are creating their own diverse superheroes with their own unique mythologies.  An excellent example of this is the work being done by Television Director, and former Clevelander, Eric Dean Seaton. He has written  the three-issue series of graphic novels Legend of the Mantamaji. The series is about Black Assistant Attorney Elijah Alexander who finds out that he is the last of the Mantamaji, a long-lost race of warriors from Nubia, Africa with magical powers who were protectors of humanity long ago.
Book One introduces us to Elijah Alexander. He is cocky, media-hungry and ambitious beyond words. Lately he has been winning case after case, but he wants more. We meet his girlfriend Detective Sydney Spencer who warns him that his wins have been coming too easily. She is smart and resourceful and every bit Elijah’s equal.  She has her own conspiracy theories of a mysterious group called the New World Knights who are getting rid of their criminal rivals by framing them. Her theories have led to her being ridiculed her fellow police officers. Enter Elijah’s mother Mariah and her long lost friend Noah. He finds out that Noah is a Mantamaji and that his mother is a Sanctuant. At Noah’s prodding Mariah tells Elijah about the history of the Mantamaji and his true destiny.  I like the idea that when Elijah was growing up Mariah had been telling him about his people’s history all the time, but she disguised them as children’s stories. The mythology that Eric Dean Stanton has created for the Mantamaji is well-done.
Elijah is told that the evil and powerful Mantamaji Sirach has reawakened.  He has created a new identity for himself the seemingly benevolent Brother Hope. The New World Knights are his disciples and soldiers. He has plans to reshape the world as he sees fit.  Only Elijah is equipped to stop him.  The powers he is able to manifest as he learns more about himself are pretty cool. Elijah has to decide whether to embrace his destiny or ignore it. The fate of mankind hangs in the balance.  I don’t won’t to give away too much of the story. But believe me the book is a real page turner. The characters are well-written and fresh. The art work by Brandon Palas is excellent.  I highly recommend you do yourself a favor and pick up Legend of the Mantamaji.  You won’t regret it. And be on the lookout for a future live action version which is currently in production.
diversity in comics, eric dean seaton, long beach comic expo

Legend of the Mantamaji on the Road: So much fun in the #LBC (Expo)

diversity in comics, eric dean seaton, long beach comic expo

Diversity in Comics panel with Ray A. Height, Eric Dean Seaton, and David Walker. photo credit: DeWayne Copeland

This past weekend the Legend of the Mantamaji crew and I made our second stop on the 2015 Book Tour at the Long Beach Comic Expo and had a great time. The crowd was a lot of fun, and eager to learn more about Legend of the Mantamaji which is always a plus.

LBCE was kind enough to highlight me as a special guest and invited me to join a panel on Diversity & Indie Comics with David Walker and Ray-Anthony Height. It was a great opportunity to discuss the state of the industry and what indie creators are doing to advance diversity in comics.

Stop, Look! Legend of the Mantamaji Live Short Trailer

They say it’s not nice to tease, but what about when you have a new superhero digital short?

Shooting has wrapped up on the set of the Legend of the Mantamaji digital short which brought scenes from the graphic novel series to life. The short is 7 minutes and 6 of them are pure action.  You will see all the things you see in the book: morphing, weapons, fighting, drama, danger and fun.  The only thing we didn’t do is add a lot of jokes because we wanted to show something totally different and new.  The edits are almost complete and then the special effects crew gets their chance to add the next level of movie magic. While we wait though…check out some of what is in store!

We went with live action or animation because I am a live action director and the thrill of taking something that was 2D and making it 3D seemed much more challenging which was part of the fun. So far the best part of the process has been making a dream come to life. It was so fun to do that it never felt like work and was not hard at all. The biggest challenge was the suit.  In Batman vs. Superman they had 11 Batman suits that were very expensive.  We had one suit and one guy to do everything and it had to last for 3 days! It all came together though and the whole team is really excited and proud of our work. Subscribe to our YouTube channel “And…Action! Entertainment” for more updates and sneak peeks.

Buy the books that started it all: Legend of the Mantamaji series

 

Michelle Rodriguez is Wrong, And Right

Book1_cover_flatMichelle Rodriguez is wrong…and right, in her recent comments on race switching in superhero stories. I love Michelle, I can’t wait to see Furious 7 and I believe her heart is in the right place. But, both her initial comments and her revised comments leave quite a bit of the story of the role of diversity in the world of superheroes untold.

 “It’s not ‘stealing’ when creative minds look at a well known story and ask, “what if?” or even better, “why not?” If a group of astronauts can venture into space and get blasted by an anomalous force which turns them into people who can stretch beyond belief, become invisible, burst into flames, or become the equivalent of living rock, certainly that weirdness can happen to Black people. Especially when racial identity is not key to the story.

Stealing would be systematically casting white actors to play Egyptians without ever thinking about offering the parts to equally brilliant actors of color. Then, only casting actors of color when there is need for a terrorist, a servant, or ironically, a thief. That part Michelle, admittedly, got wrong.

What she got right was that the time is long overdue for superheroes who look like half of the population (women) and the ever growing number of people of color in this country to have the opportunity to tell their stories.

 What I wish Michelle had said is that for decades people of color, women and creators from the GLBTQI community have created, contributed and fought for outstanding heroes that look a little more like them.

Heroes that have a different perspective, fantastic backstories and complex villains. Heroes with awesome powers and trials to overcome and of course, that overwhelming call of duty to save, defend, unite etc. Maybe she didn’t know – and that’s okay. But not knowing actually illustrates the problem – these characters and stories ARE out there and doing well, but their creators simply don’t have access to the platforms and power to push them into the mainstream.

ART_BK2_Ch8_1000NEWNow, let’s be clear. It IS lazy, to simply gender or race swap in lieu of creating a new hero or focusing on the thousands of characters out there that already exist around which a new franchise can be launched. It means looking at the characters and the thousands of indie titles that are creator owned which have been filling in the gaps for multicultural audiences for YEARS.

Since last summer, while directing episodic TV episodes, I have been traveling the country on a book tour for my graphic novel series, Legend of the Mantamaji. I have seen people of all races and ages excited to see a well-drawn, thrilling story with multicultural characters. At the 2014 New York Comic Con, librarians exclaimed their ‘kids’ (library patrons) would go crazy over my novels. That’s not to brag by any means – it’s to show that the need is real, the audience is willing and a multitude of creators and fantastic stories are out there. The only people playing catch up are those who actually green light the shows and films.

It sounds silly right? All of this angst over comic books? But think of it this way – comic books and superheroes represent wish fulfillment for people of all ages and backgrounds. We all want to be the hero or the person that makes a difference. When a kid throws a sheet on her shoulders, slides her brown curly hair into a helmet and pretends to save the world, does she see herself defeating the bad guys or does she imagine that she’s a white male to accomplish the deed? What does it mean to all kids and kids at heart when the only toys you can find at Christmas are of the white male characters in your favorite movies? That the women characters aren’t important? That the characters of color don’t matter?

nhunitybankhallwaysplashv2Beyond altruistic reasoning is what really lies at the heart of the matter – money. It’s a fact that films with diverse casting do better than films that lack diversity. It’s a fact that women now make up close to half of the comic convention attendees and that women account for $7 trillion in consumer spending (and those are 2012 Nielson numbers). African Americans are projected to have $1 trillion in their buying power bank in 2015. The same goes for Hispanics and Asian Americans are inching toward $1 trillion. Native Americans have seen their buying power increase 149 percent since 2000.

The money is there and smart money says that if the full resources of a studio are put behind a great film with a great story and diverse casting that it will be a hit. It just makes sense – and maybe with more Hollywood creators joining the voices of indie creators and fans, we will be able to position ourselves to green light these projects – because it really is time.