SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento comic book creator is going viral for what he is calling "Stockton's first superhero."
Known as Giovanni Grimes, or "Blasted, the god of tattoos," the character was named after writer and creator Brent Trayce Sands' two close friends.
"Rest in peace to two of my friends, who he was named after, Giovanni Balzano and Greg Grimes," said Sands who also owns Impound Comics in Sacramento.
Impound Comics was launched during the pandemic, Sands says.
"Up was the only option for us," he said. "I would definitely say, at that time, there were more people on the internet than ever before. Our launch to the world was big in a sense of a new business."
The inspiration for the character came from Mayan culture.
"In Mayan culture, there was actually a god of tattoos named Acat," said Sands. "[Giovanni Grimes] is the son of that deity."
Blasted, the god of tattoos abilities are called Milano Kinesis, ink manipulation and he can physically pull weapons and items off of his body and use them in combat.
It took Sands about a year to come up with and create the character and when he was ready to show the world and see if people would be interested, he posted a video to TikTok. That's when things got super.
"I finally did a video just teasing him and it's now up to about 3.2 million views," said Sands.
Pre-orders for this new comic are out selling all of Impound Comics' past books.
"It's a great feeling to have something that's not even real come out of your brain. You spend time designing it and to get an instant response from the world. Millions of people, you know, that's what I'm doing it for," said Sands.
To learn more about Impound Comics and to see what else they offer, click HERE.
