Oak Cliff native Eric July is a writer, content creator, and musician best known for his YouTube channel with over 490,000 followers. He posts regular videos on various topics from economics to social justice to gaming. July recently added comic book creator to his long list of titles.
Last month, July officially launched his first comic book, Isom #1, through publishing company Rippaverse, and it immediately became a smashing success. July’s book brought in more than $1.7 million in pre-orders in the first four days and nearly $3.4 million in total pre-orders.
Isom #1’s success caught the attention of Fox News, the New York Post, and BlazeTV, who all reported on the comic book’s successful launch, labeling it “non-woke.”
July thanks “perfect timing” for his comic’s success, citing a void that the major U.S. comic book publishers have created recently by infusing politics and activism into their stories.
“Seeing mainstream comic books go in the crapper felt like the perfect time to do it,” July told The Dallas Express in an interview. “So, I jumped, took a big-time risk, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that, and thank the Lord it paid off, the supporters showed that this was absolutely something that was worth doing.”
July had issues with comics before politics began to seep into the stories. For example, he cited continuity issues, such as 15 different versions of one character, as a major complaint.
However, he says around the 2016 election is when a shift began in the comic book industry.
“They started leading with their politics to the point to where like with Marvel, they did a line where the actual villain MODOK was depicted as Trump,” July said. “Why in the world would I want to read that nonsense? I don’t read comic books to have to be reminded of real-world current situations.”
July acknowledges it would be different if some balances were provided whenever politics were brought into the story.
“When you don’t even depict half of the voting population in a positive light, then maybe there’s something fundamentally wrong,” July said. “If you, let’s say, had a conservative or libertarian in a positive light and be open about that, then you have far less issues. But that’s not what you get.”
“It’s one acceptable social position, one acceptable political position, and they’re just beating the audience over the head,” July continued. “So that turns a lot of people off, including, certainly, myself.”
Not everyone supports July’s comic book, however, particularly on Reddit. Promotional videos for Isom #1 were banned from certain subreddits for “supporting comics from hate groups.”
July spoke on the matter on social media, writing on Twitter that “leftist comic book fans” on Reddit were “in full-blown meltdown mode over the success of the Rippaverse.”
Leftist comic book "fans" on reddit are in full-blown meltdown mode over the success of the Rippaverse. These people reveal who they are by making every disingenuous excuse they can come up with, and they STILL won't stop us. #rippaverse #isom #WeWillWin #comicbooks pic.twitter.com/urTfjS67I6
— Eric July (@EricDJuly) July 15, 2022
Despite the pushback on his comic book from one side of the political spectrum, July said he did not write it to be antagonistic. He stated that his comic book is apolitical, and he is not trying to use his politics to promote it and he rejects the idea of his comic being labeled “anti-woke.”
“I see a problem, mainstream comics maybe focusing or hyper emphasizing the social justice stuff, [but] I’m not interested in writing the opposite of that,” July said. “Now, I’m not interested in doing that either, so I would think if you said hey, the books are not that, are not woke, whatever terms you want to use, that would be accurate, far more than like anti because anti puts the connotation as if I’m writing it with the intention to be opposite of them and I’m not doing that.”
July acknowledged that because of how he is portrayed and his political positions, there is inherently some politics surrounding himself and his writing.
“I’m a Liberty-minded person, and just because of who I am [it] may show itself, but if it shows itself, it’s subtle,” said July. “I’m not interested in beating my audience over the head with that; I just want to tell stories that acknowledge the kind of universal truths of human beings, and that be my vehicle for the story that I want to tell, not looking outside or turning on CNN, or Fox or whatever, and saying, hey, whatever everybody’s talking about, I’m just going to adapt that.”
“I’m not interested in doing that at all,” July added.
July said it is important that there be mediums for people to escape real-world politics, and he hopes his comic book will serve that purpose to many.
“A comic book or even in certain films that is not like a documentary that’s for entertainment, that stuff is generally for escapism, not for me to be reminded of the real-world politics,” said July.
“If I want to do that, I’d just go watch CNN; if I just wanted to be beat over the head with that, I don’t go read a comic book or go watch, let’s say, a movie that I’m trying to get entertainment from to beat me over the head with like political stuff,” added July.
Despite the orders for Isom #1 not yet being shipped out, July is already 25 pages in on Isom #2. He hopes to expand the Rippaverse into other forms of media in the future, such as video games.
“We want to keep this momentum up, you know, we’re at almost 3.4 million; I want to keep that momentum up as far as getting the stuff out to people because they’re interested,” said July.
“I want to take this as far as the customers are willing to take it, and I want to give them material that they can enjoy that is actually good, that is worth their while, and of course worth their money, and that’s my focus” he added. “So we’re already writing new stories, developing new characters, even though the first book technically hasn’t even been shipped yet, so it’s non-stop work.”
