Top Black creators Phillip Campbell and Emezie Okorafor join PopJoy, helping shape the future of comics

For Phillip Campbell, comics have always been more than drawings on a page.

They are a way to tell stories, connect with audiences and bring his creative vision to life.

Now, the Bridgeport, Connecticut artist known as ImPJComics is bringing that vision to a new digital space as one of the featured creators joining PopJoy, a San Francisco Bay Area technology company that officially launched October 6, with a new approach to webcomics.

Campbell is the creator of the popular ‘Life of PJ’ comics series, which has helped him build a following through his distinctive storytelling and illustration style.

His participation in PopJoy’s launch places his work at the intersection of traditional comic art and emerging digital technology, giving readers another way to experience his stories.

Campbell chose to participate in PopJoy’s national launch, which is timed during National Arts & Humanities Month, observed each October to celebrate artists, creators and the role the arts play in culture.

PopJoy is designed around creators and their work, allowing artists to publish webcomics, build communities, understand how readers engage with their stories and monetize their content.

“Webcomic creators have mostly had to chase income through sponsors, merch, and donations, while video creators get paid for the attention they already earn. PopJoy brings that YouTube-style ad revenue model to comics, so a creator can earn from the work itself. It also supports motion comics, which fits how I work as an animator. I can bring panels to life instead of choosing between a comic and an animation. Together, that gives comic creators a way to make a living and a format that matches how readers consume stories now.”

One of the platform’s defining features is its proprietary animation technology, which allows artists to add motion effects to traditional comic artwork.

Instead of a completely static page, creators can transform individual panels into immersive digital experiences known as “pops.”

For Campbell, that provides another tool for presenting his work while preserving the art and storytelling at the heart of his comics.

Watch Phillip Campbell discuss his PopJoy work and his story, Life of PJ:

Campbell is known online as @ImPJComics and shares his work across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Life of PJ is also available on PopJoy.

The story follows PJ, a student who has lived with amnesia for two years and built a new life for himself at an academy alongside his friends and a girl he has quietly loved. Phillip’s work is part of a broader evolution in Black comic culture.

“My own book also covers a boy fighting not to be erased, so preservation is personal to me.” 

 For decades, Black artists, writers and fans have contributed to comics, animation, science fiction and gaming while creating their own spaces and communities.

Today, that culture is increasingly visible through Blerd culture, the intersection of Black identity with comics, gaming, technology, animation, science fiction and other forms of  so called “nerd culture”.

While Campbell is not a self-proclaimed Blerd, he represents a generation of creators building their own characters, audiences and creative businesses.

That creator ownership is central to PopJoy’s model.

The platform says creators retain 100 percent control of their intellectual property rights while using its monetization channels.

Artists can also earn from their audiences from the moment they publish and access analytics showing how readers interact with their stories at the panel and chapter level.

For independent creators, that information can offer a closer look at what resonates with audiences and how readers experience their work.

PopJoy Co-Founder and CEO Pete Ragias said the company was created specifically with independent artists and storytellers in mind.

“PopJoy was built with and for real artists and storytellers from the beginning,” Ragias said.

“We imagined a home for webcomic creators where they are appreciated, supported, and celebrated.”

Dayo Gomih, PopJoy’s Chief of Staff and Operations, brings a solid career with Fortune 100 and 500 technology companies to their leadership team, along with a focus on the intersection of diversity, art, technology and the webcomic industry.

His point of view reflects PopJoy’s effort to create a platform where different voices and creative styles can find an audience.

As one of only a few Black executives in comics-related industries, he has a unique perspective.

“PopJoy is about creating space for artists and storytellers to bring their ideas to life on their own terms,” Gomih said. “It’s a place where stories can be elevated, where creators can connect directly with their audiences, and technology can support the art rather than get in the way of it.”

The platform also features a built-in community called the PopSquad, bringing creators and fans together around visual storytelling and human-created art.

Considering that many of the established PopJoy creators on the platform have millions of followers in their fan base, the PopSquad is a strong collective.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape creative industries, PopJoy is positioning technology as a tool to enhance artists’ work rather than replace the people behind it.

Also joining PopJoy is acclaimed Black creator Emezie Okorafor, creator of the comic and popular YouTube series Porkchop ‘n Flatscreen.

Watch Emezie Okorafor’s PopJoy Launch Shout Out video:

https://youtu.be/JC7sJiyy_3E_g

Okorafor sees PopJoy as addressing a long-standing need for independent webcomic creators.

“I had few of my comics published in my university newspaper at MIT (“The MIT Tech”) around 2002, so that might have been my first publicly distributed content ever. And I became a “content creator” in terms of the internet and modern social media on my youtube channel that was created in 2006, with my very first video upload was in 2007. We’ve seen how platforms like Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube Shorts have exploded in popularity over the past decade. And comics and manga have always been popular media, only growing with the strength of comic book movies and anime. I think a platform like PopJoy, that combines the appeal of short, vertical, moving content, with the charm and storytelling of traditional comics, could be powerful in the modern social media landscape.”

 Okorafor brings experience across comics and digital content, building an audience through social media while developing stories and characters that extend beyond a single medium.

 “Diversity has always been an underlying theme in my content, though I try not to beat people over the head with it, since people tend to be more receptive to ideas when they are shown, not lectured. I grew up with black, white, Korean, Indian, Jewish and Christian friends. When I went to college, that diversity only increased. And as a result, my characters tend to come in all shapes, sizes, and color. Not because of any agenda, but because that is a reflection of the world we live in. Over the years, I’ve received comments from fans about how ‘seeing a chubby female character like Ayane as a main character makes me feel better about myself’ or ‘seeing a Nigerian name like Emezie creating animations is inspiring for me’. Representation really does matter. Both inside and outside the pages of a comic.”

Emezie Okorafor can be found by his name on all social platforms and on YouTube where he has 2.5 Million subscribers.

He is excited to be building his new personal PopSquad on PopJoy.

Another creator on the platform is Sophie Feher, known online as SoapTears and creator of Color Aftermath. Feher, who won the Grand Prix for Best Animated Short Film at ANMTN!, described PopJoy as “a celebration of human art” and praised the diversity of styles and stories represented on the platform.

That diversity Feher embraces is more than diversity in content or racial and ethnic diversity of the creators from across the U.S. or around the world, but she represents the growing number of female webcomics creators.

On PopJoy, the male-to-female artist ratio is approximately 48% female to 52% male. In contrast, historically tracked statistics from traditional U.S. comics publishers reveals female creators’ industry involvement at only 16% to 17%. The lower barriers to entry in self-publishing has allowed women to create a significant presence in the industry online. In the case of Feher, she has achieved awards and widespread recognition, and she has chosen to continue her success with PopJoy.

The evolution of comics has expanded storytelling beyond the printed page into digital publishing, animation, interactive experiences and creator-driven communities. For Black creators such as Campbell and Okorafor, that expansion offers new ways to develop characters, reach audiences and build communities outside traditional comic book spaces.

Black comic culture now extends across social media, animation, gaming, conventions, fashion, collectibles and digital communities. Campbell and Okorafor are part of that movement, using their individual creative voices to demonstrate what is possible when creators take greater ownership of their stories and how those stories are experienced.

Now, with PopJoy, they have a new digital canvas.

As comics continue evolving from printed pages into animated and interactive experiences, Phillip Campbell and Emezie Okorafor are among numerous other creators, who are helping to determine what the future of comics, which is PopJoy’s tagline, will actually look like.

Readers and creators can explore PopJoy and join the PopSquad at https://popjoy.app/