About MERC
MERC Publishing is the home of Miss Meow, Deathrage, and Born of Blood.
We started MERC Publishing in May of 2020. Jamie and Shawn came up with the building blocks of our universe in a parking lot between Indiana and Missouri where they had met to exchange comics. That conversation led to the creation of a universe filled with mercenaries, Spartans and a tech genius with a pink battle suit. It took only a few weeks for Murphey to put herself up to write the first issue which eventually led to the position of running MERC as a whole.
The first kickstarter campaign was wildly successful with over 1000 backers!! We knew we had something special here to build. In June of 2021, we opened the MERC warehouse in Greenwood IN and have many big plans for the year to come!
Our Team:
Shawn Hudachko is CEO and co-owner as well as the owner of Comics Elite. "He sells Comics"
After spending 24 years in the Marine Corps he retired in 2016 and continued the growth of Comics Elite which quickly became one of the largest comic retailers in the world. A thought leader the comic industry, he was the 1st to innovate live sales into his store and comic conventions. He has become a mentor to retailers, artists and many others in the industry. Shawn has now brought that insight to MERC to make even more great comics. His relationships within the industry will ensure our comics don’t just look good on the inside but will grab readers attention at the very first glance. Shawn is also owner & co-founder of Artist Elite Publishing, owner of Comics Elite Live and co-owner of Lvl-Up Gaming Lounge.
https://www.comicselitecomics.com/
Jamie Tyndall is a co-owner and principle character designer.
Jamie Tyndall graduated with an honors degree from the University of Toronto in art and history coupled with another degree from Sheridan College of Art in Toronto. He was co-creator of Absolute Comics Group in 2017. His amazing fans jump started the home of White Widow to on the indie comics charts with the release of White Widow #1. He has had the honor of working with Zenescope , IDW Entertainment, Valiant Entertainment, Coffin Comics, Contraband, and Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment. Various titles in his cover portfolio include GI JOE, Transformers, My little pony, TMNT, Archie, Grimm Fairy Tales, Red Sonja, Alice in Wonderland, Ninjak, Godzilla and Danger Girl. I have also done concept and promotional work for FOX STUDIOS on movies such as Deadpool, X-men and Logan.
Murphey is COO and Kickstarter Wizard.
Murphey grew up in the comics industry through her dad who created Head Press Publishing. Her professional management career started in 2012 as the Store Manager at Hot Topic. She left retail to join Jamie Tyndall inc. as his Convention & Web Manager. In 2018, Murphey and Jamie started Bombshell Ink LLC to make metal prints and comics. When the shut down ended convention appearances, MERC Publishing was born. Since its creation in May 2020, Murphey has spearheaded the management of all aspects of MERC. One of her biggest accomplishments is the running of nine wildly sucessful Kickstarter campaigns in only 14 months. She has raised over half a milion dollars on Kickstarrer in her four years of creating campaigns for MERC, Jamie Tyndall and Black Ops Publishing.
Aaron Sparrow is our Editor-in-Chief
Aaron Sparrow broke into the comics industry as a copy editor for Tokyopop, eventually moving on to write English adaptations of manga titles such as Devil May Cry 3, Hyper Police, the critically acclaimed Dragon Head, as well as the story “Family Values” for Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft: Legends anthology. In 2009, Aaron became the Lead Editor on Disney/Pixar/Muppets titles, developing their all-ages line and masterminding the triumphant return of Disney’s Darkwing Duck with artist James Silvani. Aaron has also worked on comic books with DreamWorks Animation and Sesame Workshop, and returned as writer to Disney's Darkwing Duck monthly comic series in 2016. His work can most recently be seen on season 4 of HBO Max's animated series, Young Justice: Phantoms.
Joe Corallo is the editor of Born of Blood and MERC Creative Consultant.
He is a freelance comics editor who has worked with ComicMix, Black Mask Studios, A Wave Blue World, ComiXology Originals, and more. The Mine! anthology he curated and co-edited garnered an Eisner nomination for Best Short Story and won the Ringo Award for Best Anthology in 2018. He also edited the GLAAD nominated Oh S#!t It's Kim & Kim and the Ringo nominated Dead Beats: A Musical Horror Anthology. In addition to being an editor, Joe has written for Vault Comics, Mad Cave Studios, TKO Studios, and contributed to multiple anthologies including the Ignatz nominated Dates Vol. 3.
metalninjastudios.com
Ryan Booher is our Warehouse Operations Manager.
Ryan began his journey into the world of shipping in 2015 working in packing photographs for Lifetouch Prestige Portraits. Seeing his aptitude for the position, he was given many opportunities to expand and grow his skill set in shipping and editing photographs. In late 2018, Ryan earned the position of official trainer in his department as well as take on beta testing in brand new processes. With his expertise in precise shipping, he was given on his own team to manage. Now, he has brought his knowledge of shipping collectibles safely to MERC! “It’s a familiar world in a new format and I’m excited to be a part of the team!”