In December, Bluewater Productions is publishing a 48-page, giant-sized comic book biography based on the life of Mark Zuckerberg: Creator of Facebook, priced at $6.99. Written by Jerome Maida and penciled by Sal Field with cover art by Michal Szyksznian, it will be available from comic book stores and online retailers.Who is the real Mark Zuckerberg: The young billionaire creator and CEO of Facebook, who recently donated a generous $100 million to public schools in Newark, or the cold-blooded businessman who walks over people to get what he wants, as he is portrayed in the critically-acclaimed movie, The Social Network? The answer, of course, lay somewhere in-between, and Bluewater Productions is filling that gap by exploring the website's founder in the comic book medium.
"This is a fascinating story," says Maida. "I enjoyed researching it, because it's extremely compelling. Think about it: Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire on the planet and [has] created something that has already had a profound impact on the world -- yet, hardly anyone knows much about him. It's amazing!"
The road to success, Maida says, was not preordained, nor was it always a smooth ride. "Mark was offered loads of money at a young age and turned all his suitors down because, deep down, he knew he had higher goals than to work for someone else.
"Bill Gates offered Mark $1 million dollars while Mark was still in highschool, and Mark turned it down. I mean, how many high school kids will ever be made an offer like that? Very few. And how many would have the confidence to turn it down and pursue their own path? Very few, if any. But that's what Mark did."
Of course, he wasn't able to do everything on his own. He received help, to various degrees and in different capacities, from others, and few of these business relationships ended well.
"Rightly or wrongly, Mark dealt harshly with some people on his way to where he is today," says Maida. "As we see, [many people believe he betrayed them]. I try my best to be fair here; no one is totally innocent in this story, [and] I try to represent each of the major players' points of view."
"Bluewater is looking to tell unique stories -- not just those of celebrities," said publisher Darren G. Davis. "The first biography one-shot we are doing is about Father Yod and The Source Family, and Mark Zuckerberg will follow the next month. These books are not only good reading... [they] are also being used in schools and libraries. ”
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
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