interview Creator Spotlight - Mark Bernal

This month we shine our spotlight on a creator who owns a company called Lesser Known Comics, but we want his work to be otherwise, because he writes great comics!

Q: A Brief background about yourself and how you got into comics?

A: My name is Mark Bernal and I founded Lesser Known Comics in November of 2020. It had initially started as me trying to make a graphic novel. In the process of finding illustrators, I decided that I wanted to work with multiple indie comic book creators and form a company that helps give aspiring comic book creators a place to launch their careers.

In the few years, Lesser Known Comics has worked over 20 illustrators, writers, graphic designers, and other team members. We have created over 26 comic books, and graphic novels to date and are currently working on dozens more books for 2022 and beyond

A: I’m X-Men all day! Always been a fan of anything X-Men related. My favorites were Magneto and Apocalypse. 

A: I like villains that have redeeming qualities and cause the heroes to reexamine their beliefs and challenge them to become better than they already are. I enjoy seeing that weird kinship that can arise from rivalries. 

A: I rely on the “Marvel method” and give maximum creative freedom to the illustrators I work with. The stories are always first and foremost visually compelling. My favorite comic book making motto is “come for the art, stay for the writing”.

My good friend works at a comic book store and sold me a copy of Watchmen. So I’m re-reading for the third time.

“Either Them or Us” is samurais versus witches in 1980s Japan. The story takes place in a fictional city called Kijo City, which is basically “what if Tokyo was run by witches”. The story is themed around a rivalry that spans generations and explores the consequences of revenge. It has a lot of witchcraft and alternative history as well as awesome action scenes.

I have a series of books that explore a pretty expansive universe. And because I give so much creative freedom to my illustrators, the lead illustrator on this book, Franco Luna, kept gravitating to the story elements taking place in Japan. It was a part of the overarching plot that I hadn’t expected to devote a full book to yet. But I felt that its always best to let illustrators draw what excites them.

We’re collaborating with two additional variant cover artists (Reece Jenkins and Erick Carrizales). Additionally, the book will be lettered by Amal Desai. 

This team is wonderful. Everyone is so professional and courteous of each other as creators. It’s an international team with people in Argentina, Mexico, and the US. 

Lesser Known Comics has about 15 completed books that are yet to be released. They all take place in the same “Lesser Known Universe”. They be released throughout 2023. 

Kickstarter is the best place to get the books that are just being released. All the information on our current Kickstarter campaigns as well as the online shop for our past books can be found at LesserKnownComics.com

We’re here to support all indie creators any way we can. Even if they don’t publish with us, we still try to use our presence on social media and access to industry resources to help good people make great comics. So never hesitate to reach out to us!

Do checkout their work on their website, buy it support it because they have to known more!