Okupe, now 32, recalls, “One morning when I clocked into work for the day, I sat down at my computer and stared at the screen for about one hour doing nothing. Instead of working, I was daydreaming about the different stories and compelling characters that would be the genesis of what I would eventually title the ‘YouNeek YouNiverse’.
“It was then I knew that I had to take a risk. I had to bet on myself no matter how scary the path that lies ahead was. So in June 2015, I quit my full-time job and started YouNeek Studios. A company that would allow me to create comics, graphic novels and animated stories featuring characters that were inspired by my culture.”
Initially inspired by the beginnings of the movie superhero craze – this was about the time of the Spider-Man movies, starring Tobey Maguire – Okupe wanted to create his own animated series, but found it tough to get into the industry. It was then that he hit on the idea of transferring his characters to the comic-book format.
