In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency and NFTs, one creator has embarked on a journey unlike any other. This is the inspiring story of Dark Flower, the visionary writer and producer of Shiboshis: The Beginning. By infusing his passion for the Shiba Inu-generated NFTs known as Shiboshis into his work, Dark Flower’s new comic book is a testament to the limitless potential of integrating blockchain technology with creative pursuits.
In an exclusive interview with The Shib, Dark Flower shared his vision of a future where NFTs play a significant role in storytelling, making his journey one of creativity, innovation, and dedication.
@DarkFlowerNFT: The Beginning
May 2021 marked Dark Flower’s entry into the crypto space as he bought $SHIB and started to educate himself on all things cryptocurrency. Through his exploration, he stumbled upon Ryoshi’s blog and eventually became a member of the Shib Army. In October 2021, he successfully minted his first Shiboshi NFTs.
The following stages of his Shib journey were nothing short of extraordinary. After discovering and minting the Shiboshis, a watershed moment ensued. He went on to explore the NFT world, finding a treasure trove that would later become the cornerstone of his new project.
Wanting to resonate with his audience through relatable characters, he decided to craft a story featuring Shiboshi characters inspired by the 10,000 unique Shiboshis. Recognizing the power of well-developed characters in storytelling, he handpicked three main characters with diverse traits and powers, weaving their individual capabilities into thrilling battle scenes as the story unfolds.
The Shiboshi Fighting Spirit
The road to realizing great potential is often fraught with obstacles. Dark Flower faced challenges when he started writing and arranging the scenes for the comic book, as he lacked expertise in creating artwork. After tirelessly searching for artists, he eventually found one in July 2022, and together they breathed life into the characters in the comic book.
Despite the hurdles, he remained steadfast in his goal of producing a comic book. When The Shib inquired about the message he aimed to convey to his audience, Dark Flower explained his desire to demonstrate the resilience of the Shiboshis and foster a bond between the readers and characters through story arcs that promote teachable moments showing the core values of the Great Shiba as envisioned by Ryoshi. The stunning fight scenes are also a treat for the child in all of us.
Merging Digital Art and Blockchain Technology
Dark Flower shared something particularly interesting about his experience while reaching out to artists and designers—something even we were a little shocked to find out. He told us he found out most of them hated NFTs. With what he already knew about the potential of NFTs in revolutionizing the art scene everywhere, this was a curious quandary—understandably so.
“This innovation will help them protect their work… I believe they don’t understand the main purpose of NFTs, so I hope in the future they [will] get the main message of NFTs,” he said.
From an NFT Enthusiast’s POV
Dark Flower believes the comic book industry can benefit greatly from enhanced audience engagement when the readers are able to own some of the characters they love and have certain benefits from owning them. As an example—and a great one at that—he said what The Shib Magazine is doing in this regard is something publishers and artists can adopt. Every edition of the magazine typically has 3,000 unique NFT covers, allowing readers of the weekly publication to own an exclusive piece of artwork permanently imprinted on blockchain.
Gratitude for the Shib Army, Advice for Comic Creators
We asked Dark Flower about the role of community support and feedback in his creative process, and he expressed appreciation for someone in particular.
“I was sharing my thoughts about the comic book with some of the Shib community [members] and tried to find an artist to help me but I couldn’t find one in the Shib Army at that time. But for me, the support I got from Lucie after I shared with her the comic book idea was great, so thank you, Lucie,” he explained.
We also asked him what advice he would give to comic creators looking to explore opportunities within the NFT space, and he obliged.
“I advise them to read and learn about NFT before they start working on any project,” he said.
@DarkFlowerNFT: The Journey Continues
We didn’t want to end the interview without asking Dark Flower how he sees the Shiboshis comics evolving in the future and what future plans he can share with the Shib Army. He kindly let us know there’s already an idea brewing for the next book, but we’ll have to wait and see what it is. All in good time.
But he revealed that he’s currently in the planning stage of developing a game that will be available on Shibarium to help the growth of the network. Rumor has it the characters from the comic book might be in this game too. But again, we’ll know more about this in due course.
Finally, we asked Dark Flower what impact he hopes this initiative will have on the crypto and NFT communities, and we were impressed by his own “one-cent dream” in the NFT landscape. He hopes the NFT community will leverage the utility of NFTs in comic books, animations, and other forms of media to further expand the NFT audience. Above all, he wishes to see the Shiboshis becoming a household name not just within the ecosystem.
“I want the… Shiboshis [to be] known by people outside [the] cryptocurrency world,” he said.
He didn’t end the conversation without letting us in on a secret you’ll probably only read about here.
“If you read [the] comic book, there are two/three things in the story that belong to Vitalik Buterin. I hid them to see who can find them… If you find them, mention me on X.”
What a brilliant way to close out an interview. We can’t wait to find out who will find these hidden messages in the comic book. More importantly, we can’t wait to see what Dark Flower has in store for the Shib Army in the foreseeable future.
