Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez // Building A Comic Book Company With Run DMC & Activism Through Art

Edgardo embodies the word creator.  He’s a writer at Marvel Entertainment, Editor-in-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics working with the legendary hip-hop icon: DMC from RUN DMC, Art Director & founder at Somos Arte production studio, and the creator of La Borinqueña, an original comic book character that has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a nationally recognized symbol of Puerto Rican patriotism, social justice, and equality for all. His work has been featured on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.     Full show notes and time stamps: https://www.creatorlab.fm/edgardo-miranda-rodriguez-activism-art       SHOW NOTES:     Five things to listen out for:    

1. Growing up as a Puerto Rican in NYC – what life was like growing up poor in the Bronx, memories from being a young activist, poet, and creator.
2.  Comic Books – how he got into creating comic books, writing for Marvel + creating his own publication: La Borinqueña.
3.  Teaming up with DMC from RUN DMC – how they met, their creative process and how they split up responsibilities.
4.  Direct-to-Consumer – publishing directly to people and spreading his creative work to fans.
5.  Generating Buzz + Press – Edgardo has been featured on CNN, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and more – how did he approach this and get his work out there?

TIME STAMPS 

• 2:38 … who is Edgardo and what does he do?
• 4:14 … Edgardo describing pictures Bilal shows from growing up
• 9:50 … power of the arts, reflecting on what’s going on in society
• 10:09 … challenge of being viewed as a second class citizen
• 11:10 … hypocrisy within Latin American communities and media
• 12:05 … “I’m not a race, I’m an ethnicity”
• 13:31 … stories as a form of evolution
• 15:00 … self-awareness from an early age + growing up
• 17:03 … learning about Mandela + apartheid
• 17:57 … college + local activism
• 23:30 … comic book has become a  symbol for people + the women’s march reaching out to him
• 27:19 … being proud of his heritage
• 28:40 … distributing book directly to the people + direct to consumer trend
• 30:37 … comic book world / who’s buying books
• 35:36 … working alongside DMC from legendary hip-hop group: RUN DMC
• 40:12 … our heritage and culture is the true superpower
• 40:38 … approaching press and social media to promote his book
• 42:13 … people want to know who you are and “why” you create … not “what” you create
• 49:51 … an ask for the people who are listening