Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, a pioneer, icon, and founding member of the legendary rap group RUN DMC, brought his love for comics full circle with the creation of his very own independent publishing house called Darryl Makes Comics. Already a hero to his millions of fans around the world, DMC’s accomplishments read like a laundry list of musical and cultural accolades: GRAMMY-nominated musician, Emmy-winning life story, multiplatinum recording artist, 2009 Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 2017 GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and rap/rock pioneer who influenced music the first time he touched a mic. But before co-founding Run-DMC, DMC grew up reading comics and developed a passion for them. “When I started with Run-DMC, I was a nervous little nerdy kid,” says DMC. “I didn’t want to get up in front of a crowd and rhyme; but what gave me confidence, out there on stage was pretending that I was the Hulk on the microphone.”
In 2014 DMC’s childhood passion came to fruition when he teamed up with some prominent fixtures in the comic book world to craft his first 48-page graphic novel; a 100% authentic, unapologetic, indie, comic book, under the imprint, Darryl Makes Comics. The graphic novel DMC #1 garnered critical praise and attention when it debuted at NYC Comic Con that same year and featured some of the comic book industry’s finest talent. The DMC #1 story was created by DMC and Damion Scott (Batman, Robin, Solo) with Ronald Wimberly (Vertigo/DC, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Prince of Cats) serving as creative consultant to develop the script. Each chapter is visualized by different teams of artists, including Chase Conley (Black Dynamite), Jeff Stokely (SixGun Gorilla, The Reason for Dragons), Felipe Smith (Peepo Choo, Ghost Rider), Mike & Mark Davis the Mad Twiinz(Black Dynamite, The Boondocks), Shawn Crystal (Arkham Manor), and colorist Chris Sotomayor, not to mention cover art from industry legends Sal Buscema and Bob Wick and graffiti pioneer MARE 139 (Style Wars). Set in hip hop’s revolutionary era of the 80s, the first comic featured DMC as a superhero fighting for justice in an alternate universe. Wild Style-inspired graffiti covers every surface of this world as the true grit of pre-Giuliani New York is captured among the pages of this graphic novel.
In his second graphic novel, released December 2, 2015, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels returned and fulfilled his promise to expand the Darryl Makes Comics universe! In it, readers meet more heroes like LAK6, Sifu Horus, and The Breaks! They are on the cusp of the b-boy hero movement but first, they must take on the status quo that has been misleading New York City. Based on a story by Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels, Greg Pak (Marvel’s Totally Awesome Hulk, DC’s Batman/Superman) and Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, written by Amy Chu (DC’s Poison Ivy, Sensation Comics’ Wonder Woman) and illustrated by an incredible roster of talent featuring Juan Doe (Marvel’s Wolverines), Sung Goo Won (Cartoon Network’s Black Dynamite), award-winning artist Afu Chan (Society of Illustrators 2012), Marcus Williams (Action Lab’s Hero Cats) and Elliot Fernandez (DC’s Harley Quinn/Powergirl), DMC #2 features color art by Christopher Sotomayor and Eisner winning colorist Gabriel Bautista. The covers are illustrated by comic book industry giant Humberto Ramos (Marvel’s Spider-Man, X-Men) and graffiti king Bio of the Tats Cru with color art by Edgardo Delgado (Marvel’s Spider-Man), DMC #2 also offers a variant cover by comic book industry legend Bill Sienkiewicz and graffiti curator and artist Alan Ket. DMC crowned the Darryl Makes Comics franchise with the imprint’s third full length graphic novel, unveiled at New York’s 2017 Comic Con in October. DMC#3 is the capstone of the imprint’s acclaimed comic book trilogy that packs the imprint’s trademark street-powered themes and a compelling storyline that finds DMC returning to his past to uncover the truth about his special powers and ultimate destiny! The company has gone on to release DMC#3.5 as well as a limited-time stand-alone comic entitled “Me and My Microphone” released at New York Comic Con in October 2022.
The comic has an accompanying single of the same name and features Chuck D, Ice-T, and Jazzy Jeff. “We’re excited that all of our heroes have grown organically through each issue,” says Darryl. “We also introduce Darryl the teacher to the world in this issue and uncover the origins of DMC the superhero. There’s even a storyline that parallels my real life with the character searching for his real parents.” An adoptee himself, Darryl’s search for his birth parents led him to become a passionate advocate for foster care and the strengthening of adoption practices. “In DMC#3 we asked DMC who are you? What’s so powerful about that narrative is it relates to anyone from 8 to 80 asking that same question of themselves, and how they can go about maintaining a positive outlook no matter their circumstances in their own lives.” Darryl Makes Comics is dedicated to the idea that every walk of life has heroes and stories worth telling. “Hip hop was always based on creativity,” DMC says, “So what we’re trying to do with this comic book is not trying to create anything new; we’re just going to show the world what’s already there… the beauty and the creativity of it.” The fourth full-length graphic novel DMC#4 was released in Fall 2023. “I like Run-DMC, but I love DMC. No one ever sounded like DMC, no one ever looked like DMC. He’s like a superhero.”- Chris Rock ( Rolling Stone Magazine)