Make This Happen! Nigerian Hero Returns for Book 2 In “E.X.O”

E.X.O: The Legend of Wale Williams was a hit Kickstarter that began last year, launching a Nigerian superhero that caught a lot of fans’ attention. For me, it began with an animated book trailer that made me hype enough to offer play-by-play reactions, and it resonated with countless others as well who were looking for a great comic outside of the mainstream. On the heels of its initial success, E.X.O: The Legend of Wale Williams is crowdfunding the next chapter in its saga. With only a few days left in its Kickstarter, I spoke with series creator Roye Okupe again about his experience writing, promoting, and selling his second book. Black Nerd Problems: Remind us about your first Kickstarter and why you decided to use the platform again for book 2 of E.X.O. Roye Okupe: To be quite frank, what drew me to crowdfunding and more specifically Kickstarter was desperation. Before Kickstarter I tried so hard to raise money for my company and superhero project, E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale Williams.

E.X.O. is a superhero story about redemption, set in a futuristic 2025 Nigeria. It’s a unique take on the whole superhero explosion going on right now, given that there aren’t that many Nigerian/African superhero stories being told. So initially, I thought raising money for the idea (at the time, to produce an animated movie of E.X.O.) would be pretty straightforward. Boy was I wrong. For years I went from one rejection to another from investors, producers, TV networks, and distributors. Af…