Our latest creator interview is with Marcus H. Roberts, COO and Publishing Manager at Second Sight Publishing. In addition to wearing many hats on the business side, Marcus is also a creator and has worked on a number of their books available on GlobalComix.
His most recent work is Shook! A Black Horror Anthology, published by Dark Horse and released on January 31, 2024. You can pick up the print copy at your local comic shop now.
GlobalComix: How did you come to work with Second Sight as a Publishing Manager and Submissions
director?
Marcus H. Roberts: I worked for the website World of Black Heroes, wherein I contributed content by way of articles and interviews and also did character research and added characters to the database. I routinely talked with up-and-coming creators and met Bradley in 2018 when his titled, Leave on the Light, came out. He first asked if I was interested in contributing a story to the Mississippi Zombie anthology he was putting together, and as we continued to talk, he offered the positions to me in his budding company and I accepted.
GlobalComix: What does a typical day look like for you?
Marcus H. Roberts: My focus is mainly on our anthology books. We publish two anthologies through Caliber Comics; Mississippi Zombie and Harvest of Horrors, and recently partnered with Dark Horse to publish SHOOK! as well as two others that will be appearing this year (fingers crossed). That means I am continually reaching out to people for stories for the book. I try (emphasis on try) to get some writing and editing in as well.
GlobalComix: Can you tell us anything about what you look for in a submission? Are there specific
things that make a submission stand out from the others?
Marcus H. Roberts: I grew up during the time of the underground comics movement and was reading books like Creepy, Eerie, and Psycho, to name a few, and was always pleased with the different sampling of art and story you would get in an anthology-styled book. True enough, I may not have liked the art for every story or may have read something that was bland, but there was still plenty in the book I liked. That “smorgasbord” of stories is my approach.
GlobalComix: Is there a type of story, or a theme that Second Sight hasn’t published yet, that you’d like to see published?
Marcus H. Roberts: I think we have covered a lot of themes in our various anthologies. We are looking for things that are different, and with that in mind, I try to put a book together that has a mixture of things.
GlobalComix: Why focus on horror? What do you find the most enjoyable about it?
Marcus H. Roberts: I gravitated into horror as a kid and was propelled forward into it once “Superhero Horror” showed up on the scene. Blade, Werewolf by Night, Man Thing, Ghost Rider, Son of Satan, and even books like The Spirit, and The Phantom Stranger all came across my collection. I focus on horror because I like telling scary stories.
GlobalComix: How did the Horror anthology come together?
Marcus H. Roberts: We (Bradley and I) were already talking about putting something together. We talked with John Jennings who expressed had also talked about doing an anthology magazine and agreed to participate. We went about the task of asking others to join in and once we assembled the team we went to work putting the book together.
GlobalComix: To anyone else out there wanting to start an anthology, what advice would you give
them?
Marcus H. Roberts: Be open to all stories as long as they fit the description of what you are looking to do. Be patient when dealing with the creators because the larger the group the more likely the chance something will go wrong. (The whole Murphy’s Law thing is true!)
GlobalComix: Your website says you aren’t taking submissions at this time, do you know when you’ll
open them again?
Marcus H. Roberts: We are pacing ourselves. We want to accomplish goals we have set out to accomplish and need to dedicate our time and energy to that, which would be unfair to anyone else we may want to bring in. We still, however, accept submissions for our anthologies.
GlobalComix: Do you think creators are better off sticking with shorter stories in the beginning? What length do you think is good for a new creator to focus on?
Marcus H. Roberts: I wouldn’t say better off, but instead say it is oftentimes the easiest way to establish yourself. Participating in anthologies is a great way for the creator/writer to get exposed to fans they may not otherwise have the opportunity to reach.
GlobalComix: Do you have any upcoming books other than what we’ve already talked about that you want to discuss?
Marcus H. Roberts: We are getting the volume 4 of both Mississippi Zombie and Harvest of Horrors together as well as working on projects for Colleen Douglas and Reggie Byars to be released in the coming months.
That's it for this week's interview! Thank you to Marcus H. Roberts for taking the time to chat with us. Use the links below to explore content from Second Sight Publishing, follow Marcus, and get his new anthology.