Meet Jared Bailey | Writer and Comic Book Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jared Bailey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jared, how do you think about risk?
I experience taking risks as creating an opportunity for myself to grow. If it all happens to work out, whether in life or for work, then I’ll find myself in a new situation that I was hoping for, and for that I’m grateful. And if it doesn’t work out, then I think taking the risk in and of itself can be rewarding in knowing I did something that I was uncertain or afraid of. It also makes me grateful to then be able to learn from what didn’t work, and try again.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I write comics and graphic novels and became in love with the medium of comics after watching the 90s Spider-Man animated series, Tobey Maguire Live Action Spidey films and reading the “Ultimate Spider-Man” graphic novels.
I had started writing fan fiction stories and comics about Marvel characters as well as some of my own original characters in elementary school and onward until I realized that I wanted to become a writer for films and tv.
After majoring in film in college, I revisited some of my old stories from over the years and brought them to my friends Kevin and Trevor, and for years we theorized on what it would be like to turn our ideas into our own shared universe.
During the pandemic, we had even more time on our hands to contemplate ideas, and I was inspired and motivated by several experiences, real world events and a friend, John to just take a try at making one of my comics and see how it’d go.
It was challenging in the beginning to think of something that was mostly used for escapism and something I always kept so close to the vest in a way that would be meant to be brought to life, but switching perspectives into realizing that it couldn’t be done alone or without help made it easier to see being possible.
I went onto a facebook networking community of independent comic writers and creators and realized that I wasn’t alone, and that there were other people looking to do the same thing I was. I was a writer in search of an artist, and there were artists in search of creators and writers. The first connection I made was a young artist named Juwon Omoboriowo, and the first drawing he made for me instantly got me hooked into realizing that creating comics was what I had been wanting to do all along.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take my friend to the South Bay as our home base for staying. It’s close enough to Los Angeles to be able to access everything that would appeal someone visiting there, but it’s also far enough away to just enjoy a chill and relaxed atmosphere for the most part. The weather is great because it’s still close to the beach, and the beaches themselves are all enjoyable with lots to see and do without it ever feeling overcrowded.
For food options we’d have Aloha Pizza and shaved ice in Gardena, the taco truck on Lincoln in Venice, the kettle in Manhattan Beach, Beelmans in Downtown LA, Lucy’s on La Brea, Dirt Dog in Gardena, Tacos 1986 in Downtown LA, Archie’s Deli in North Hollywood, Purgatory Pizza, Yuko Cafe, Au Lac for my plant-based or plant-forward folks, Yunomi for sushi in the arts district, Mr. Fries Man, We Dats in Gardena, Little Ethiopia, gotta try a street dog or two in Downtown LA, the Tams on Rosecrans for the Kendrick fans, and any given In-N-Out, Everytable, Raising Canes or Norms.
For drinks, my fellow nerds will love Scum and Villainy in Hollywood, we’d probably go on a trivia night or on the weekend, both vibes are cool (and the taco stand around the corner is also a good one for food). Brickyard, NoBar and PlayerOne in NorthHollywood, Dollys in Gardena, Brooklyn Bar in Hawthorne, The Savoy in Inglewood, 82, Slipperklutch, verdugo bar in Los Angeles, the wayfarer, seven grand, the continental club and the library bar in downtown LA, mama shelter in Hollywood, and for my queer friends, precinct in downtown LA, akbar or the eagle in silver lake, and stopping by weho can be fun!
For fun, del amo mall in Torrance is fun, the grove, universal city walk in mid-city, the beaches on Malibu, hermosa beach, Manhattan beach, and redondo beach in the South Bay also have fun options to explore.
The Broad in Downtown LA is also a fun and free art museum to walk through. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA, and California science center are fun spots to check out as well!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow, hopefully there’s enough character space here. I’d love to shoutout John Wallace and Lino Perez, two entrepreneur mentors and friends who have always seen potential in me to push myself to be more punctual and making my dreams into something tangible.
Feon Cooper and Kareem Burton, two dope blerd entrepreneurs who always supported my creative endeavors while growing and building their own platform, and who have inspired me to do the same for others with mine.
Sebastian Jones, Quincy Everidge, and the whole crew from Stranger Comics who are amazing human beings and mentors and creatives who inspire me to continue improving and doing the work with laughs.
Walla Elsheikh, Milan Wiley, Keisha Browne Amuri and Jidenna for taking a risk on me and connecting me with Birthright Africa, the Black Highway found-family, and a perspective to work towards something bigger than myself.
Kevin Mandujano and Trevor Roe, my bros who I could not see myself getting this far in any sense without their love, support and community since we were yungins.
Darika Brown, whose nonprofit and hard work shows and inspires me to always strive to improve with the intention of helping my community.
Jamaal Harley and Royal Oak Comics, The Comic Bug Crew, BlackStar Collectibles Crew, We Can Be Heroes Crew, Geoffrey’s Comics and Golden Apple for being such a warm support in the comics community.
Peter Pamanes, Crissy Felix, Joshua Matthews, Omar Shariff, Ayal Perera, Philip Goens, Javier Juanillo, Alineh Garbellini-Ghazarian, Elizabeth Gaspar, Janise Williams, Sameer Narain, Jake Kamahele, John LaRoche, Mary Boldish, Kevin Hughley for leading by example in taking risks, overcoming life’s struggles and being amazing friends (if I’m missing anyone please charge it to my head, and not my heart, there’s many more I wish to add but this would go on forever, which I wish it could!)
And gotta say thanks to my mom, dad, Jonathan, Granny, Chloe, Courtney, Tracey, Cathy, Allan, James, Joan, Kim, Kelly, Chip, Marc, Bubba, who have seen me at my worst and loved me unconditionally through all stages of my life. Y’all the best.

Website: https://Geekwality.com

Instagram: @baileysnotirish62 @geekwalitycomix

Image Credits
Personal photo by Sameer Narain
Art work by Winston Gambro, Matteo Gennai, Juwon Omoboriowo