DopeSmack

Beyond Dark Atom: Why I’m Writing About More Than Just DopeSmack

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Batman and Spider-Man comic style split image with jagged tear down the middle, dark Gotham tones on the left and bright city skyline on the right

Why This Section Exists

I wanted to take a minute to explain why this section exists. If you’ve been following what I’m doing, you already know I’m deep in building DopeSmack and expanding the Dark Atom Universe. That’s the main focus. That’s the mission. But at the same time, there’s a whole other layer to this that I think matters just as much, and that’s what lives here in Beyond Dark Atom.


Where It All Started

The truth is, none of this started with me just deciding to create something out of nowhere. It started way earlier than that. Like most people, it started when I was a kid. I grew up watching superheroes, reading comics, getting pulled into these larger than life worlds that felt real in a way nothing else did. Those stories weren’t just entertainment, they stuck with me. The characters meant something. The struggles felt real. The wins felt earned. That kind of storytelling stays with you whether you realize it or not.


From Fan to Creator

As I got older, that fascination didn’t go away. It evolved. What started as just being a fan turned into something deeper. I started paying attention to why certain stories hit harder than others. Why certain characters stayed with me. Why some moments felt bigger than they should have. That curiosity eventually turned into the drive to create something of my own. That’s where DopeSmack and the Dark Atom Universe come from. But even now, everything I create is still connected to those early influences.


Why Beyond Dark Atom Exists

That’s why this section exists. Beyond Dark Atom is where I get to step outside of just my universe and talk about the things that helped shape it. The comics I grew up on. The characters that left an impact. The films, the moments, the ideas that still inspire me today. Not from the perspective of someone trying to critique or break things down, but from the perspective of someone who genuinely loves this world. Because at the end of the day, I’m still that same fan.


The Bigger Goal

And honestly, that’s the goal with everything I’m building. I’m not just trying to tell stories for the sake of telling them. I’m trying to create something that hits people the same way those stories hit me. Something that sticks. Something that makes someone feel like they can create too. And I’ve already started seeing that happen. People reaching out, telling me they picked up a comic again, or that they’re working on their own ideas because of what I’m doing. That means more than anything.


What This Really Is

So this isn’t me stepping away from Dark Atom. It’s the opposite. This is me showing what fuels it. What inspired it. And what continues to push it forward every single day.


— Joe Mexican

Start Reading DopeSmack

If you are new to DopeSmack, now is the time to jump in

and experience the origin story from the beginning with the first two issues.

Shop the DopeSmack Bundle →

From Idea to Reality: How DopeSmack Was Created

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DopeSmack™ character concept art showing the design and early sketches

The story behind DopeSmack did not start with a comic book. It started years ago as an idea for a film, and over time it grew into something much bigger than I originally planned, eventually becoming the foundation for what is now the Dark Atom Universe™.



The Origin of DopeSmack

Back in 2017, me and my good friend Kikala Diallo were looking for scripts to produce, and he brought me this idea for a ghetto superhero. It was funny, I will give it that, but the direction was not something I could stand behind. The character was a drughead superhero, and while it had humor, it just was not what I wanted to build. I knew I wanted something with more weight, something that felt grounded and real but had a bit of comedy, so I told him straight up that we needed to go in a different direction and create something new from scratch.



That moment right there is really where DopeSmack started, even though at the time it was only meant to live inside a film and nothing beyond that.



Early DopeSmack concept art

Creating the DopeSmack Universe

As I started developing the script, I began building out a full world around it, something that felt like it had depth and history even if you were only seeing a small part of it on screen. While writing, I started coming up with visual ideas for the character, but since I am not an illustrator, I brought in an artist to help bring those ideas to life, and that decision ended up changing everything.



The illustrations came out so strong that Kikala kept pushing me for months to turn it into a comic book. At first I kept brushing it off because that was never part of the plan, but he stayed on me about it until I finally gave in, so honestly you can thank him for that because I cannot take credit for that push.



How Alex Santos Became DopeSmack

Once I committed to it, I had no idea how difficult it was going to be, but at the same time I found myself pulling from my own life more than anything else. When I was a kid, I had a huge imagination, I used to walk around with a bag full of toy weapons, climbing trees and acting like I was a superhero, and that energy never really left me, it just evolved. That is where Alex Santos came from, from that mindset of wanting to be something more, of building a world in your head and stepping into it like it is real.



Once I was locked into that world, the ideas just kept coming from everywhere, from my own experiences to things I have seen, and it started expanding naturally into something much bigger than just one character.



The Process of Making the DopeSmack Comic

Turning that into a real comic was a whole different level though, and it took about eight months to get it done from start to finish. Finding the right artist alone took time, then adapting the script into comic format, going through illustration, coloring, and lettering, all while learning as I went because this was completely new territory for me.



After all of that, I finally had a finished digital comic ready to print, but even that process was not simple. There were multiple print attempts, proofs going back and forth, and months of figuring it out before we finally got our first shipment in hand.



DopeSmack comic con fans

Bringing DopeSmack to the People

By the time those books came in, I was already out there hitting comic conventions and promoting DopeSmack before it even physically existed, so when I finally had copies, I did not wait, I went straight to work. Some of the first people to buy it were actually other vendors who had been watching me show up consistently and talk about this project, so they already knew what it was before they even opened it.



What really stuck with me though was seeing people buy the comic, walk away, read it, and then come back just to tell me how much they loved it, because after everything it took to get there, that kind of reaction is something you cannot really describe unless you experience it.



Building the Future of DopeSmack

That response gave me the fuel to keep going, and since the plan was already to build a six issue origin story, it became about delivering more and making each part better than the last. Right now I am working on Part Three, and I can honestly say it is leveling up in a way people are going to feel immediately.



What people do not always see though is what it takes behind the scenes, because this is not just creativity, it is time, money, and sacrifice, and sometimes it really does come down to choosing between paying a bill or ordering more comics just to keep the momentum going.



DopeSmack Dark Atom Universe New Orleans

More Than a Superhero

At the end of the day, DopeSmack is more than just another superhero, it represents the heart and soul of New Orleans and everything that comes with it, and seeing people connect with that, especially when I walk into conventions and hear them call out the character, means more than I can really put into words.



So to everyone who has supported this journey so far, just know this is only the beginning.



Start Reading DopeSmack

If you are new to DopeSmack, now is the time to jump in

and experience the origin story from the beginning with the first two issues.

Shop the DopeSmack Bundle →

The Story So Far: DopeSmack Origin Part One and Two

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DopeSmack™ attacking the villain El Catracho during a rooftop battle scene from DopeSmack: Origin Part Two.

 

Before we move into the next chapter with DopeSmack: Origin Part Three, I wanted to take a step back and look at how this story began.

 

Everything that’s coming next in the Dark Atom Universe grows out of what happened in Origin Part One and Origin Part Two.

 

If you’ve already read them, you know this story doesn’t start in a lab or with some perfect superhero moment. It starts in the streets of New Orleans.

 

In Origin Part One, we meet the mysterious figure who calls himself DopeSmack. He shows up when criminals least expect it, moving through the city like a ghost and hitting hard when the moment calls for it. Early on we see that he’s not some larger than life celebrity hero. He’s something else. Someone who understands the streets and the people living in them.

 

 

The story quickly pulls back the curtain on where it all began.

Through flashbacks we meet Alex Santos, a kid growing up in New Orleans with a complicated life. His father Rafael is tied up with dangerous people and the wrong kind of money, and those choices eventually lead to tragedy. When Alex’s world collapses, he’s left to rebuild himself from the ground up.

 

That moment changes everything.

 

Years later, Alex grows into someone determined to take control of his life. He pushes himself through school, through work, and eventually into the world of science. What he creates there will ultimately become the foundation for the powers we see when DopeSmack enters the fight.

 

But the streets of New Orleans don’t forget.

 

By the time we reach Origin Part Two, the story starts colliding with the present. The world around DopeSmack is getting bigger, more dangerous, and a lot more complicated.

 

That’s when one of the most dangerous players enters the picture.

El Catracho.

 

A brutal crime boss with power, money, and a reputation that makes even criminals nervous. When DopeSmack crosses paths with him, it turns into a full blown fight that shows just how dangerous this world is becoming. The two clash hard, trading blows across rooftops and alleyways as DopeSmack pushes his abilities to their limits.

 

But El Catracho isn’t the only thing stirring beneath the surface.

 

As the story unfolds, something even stranger appears. A mysterious woman with powers of her own suddenly enters the battle, throwing everything into chaos and showing that the Dark Atom Universe is much bigger than anyone expected.

 

By the end of Origin Part Two, the pieces are starting to move.

 

New allies appear.
New enemies reveal themselves.
And the world around DopeSmack starts getting a lot more complicated.

 

Which brings us to what’s next.

 

Because DopeSmack: Origin Part Three is where the story really begins to open up. The forces working behind the scenes start stepping forward, and the criminal world that’s been building in the background begins to show its true shape.

 

If you’ve been following the story from the beginning, you already know that nothing in this universe happens by accident.

 

And what’s coming next is going to push everything further.

 

So if you haven’t read the first two issues yet, now is the perfect time to jump in and see how it all started.

 

The next chapter is coming soon.