A version of this article appeared in The Libertarian Opinionizer at HubPages.com.
Some activists communicate their libertarian ideas through books, novels, articles, videos, music, art, webzines and social media sites. Jaime Sherman uses his comic book superhero “The Voluntaryist” to reach freedom-loving people who otherwise might never be won over by political pundits, intellectuals or economists.
“The Voluntaryist” is a young costumed crusader for Liberty, Justice and the Voluntaryist Way, leading his band of dedicated freedom fighters in “Humanity’s Last Stand Against Government.”
Jaime Sherman has produced seven full color graphic novels since 2012 when he began his comic series, funding them primarily through the Indiegogo crowdfunding site.
Part 1 of the series’ “Origins” was released last year and is available on the volcomic.com website. At this writing the follow-up, “Origins II” is currently in the funding stage.
To truly understand the superhero one must understand his creator. Those are the dual goals of this exclusive interview.
So what should voluntaryists and other libertarians know about your superhero comic series? Who is this guy and where did he come from?
The character, Voluntaryist, came about as a derivative of my costuming for the real-life group, “The Voluntarysits,” which is basically a group of people who dressed in costumes to promote voluntaryism.
The comic character is unlike the real-life heroes in that he is partaking in an adventure foisted upon him, not simply waking people up with signage. The comic’s background is based on my research into government practices. I apply a lot of real-life effects of government with some fantasy to hit home the message.
Your latest comic book “Origins II” continues the backstory of your character. Can you give us a brief synopsis?
The origins story is rather complex. In the simplest summary I could give, the main character is affected by radiation which strikes Earth from the collision of two black holes in space. This radiation gives him special powers along with other humans and creatures who are hit and survive the initial impact.
In the background, the government was about to launch a false-flag event to bring about a new world order. The U.S. government along with several other countries (China and the U.K. among others), were in the works of creating genetically modified humans and creatures to play as “aliens” who were trying to take over the world.
So how does your main character become The Voluntaryist?
The main character’s name is Jack “Cap” Lloyd. Cap is struck by energy which radiates from a black-hole collision. Cap gains many powers which grow over time as his condition sets in. He gets an ability to heal himself quickly (think Wolverine), growing super-strength, flight, and the ability to channel cosmic radiation into energy beams.
So how does government factor into all of this?
The U.S. Government was monitoring the black hole collision and seeks to find every person/creature affected to use in either experiments or for its own power.
When Cap is found by the government, they are not sure what powers he has. They just know they want him to come willingly, so the government brings him to a secret holding facility to gather more information and run some medical tests. When the government detains and debriefs Cap, he quickly becomes disillusioned with the government’s plans for him and Cap breaks free.
That’s Voluntaryist’s backstory. The next obvious question is what’s your backstory?
I am a 29-year-old living in the Tampa area, Florida. I grew up in New York until my family moved down when my dad retired. I think my interest in comics and dressing up was fostered by my parents who both worked in the entertainment industry, often dressing up for big parties and gala’s in the 80s with the entertainment troupe, “Heart-to-Heart.”
I had always been into collecting and fiction literature, especially Godzilla movies, figurines, and comics. I had a little inspiration from my older brother, Matt Sherman, who is a James Bond collector and billiards expert. Doing media promotions and publishing has also been in my blood, as my mom has worked on TV and my dad is a published end-times author.
After high school, I studied digital media for a year-and-a-half at the University of Florida before settling on a degree in Public Relations with a business concentration. I then went on to receive my law degree at the Florida State University College of Law.
During that time, I did a lot of crazy things, including voice acting a main character for the XBOX360 video game “Monster Madness,” getting on MTV for being in my underwear, and starting a charitable undie run at FSU).
As far as costumes go, I always loved dressing up for new movies and would often go with whatever I could get my hands on. My good friend Zac Hurst is a MASTER costume maker and he provided me with a batman suit for the new Dark Night films. He also has a pretty good Iron Man Suit.
Outside of fantasy land, I enjoy sushi, kung fu movies, guns, and regular exercise.
The next obvious question is what’s your artistic backstory?
To clarify—I am not the cartoonist. I studied art in grade school up to a year-and-a-half in college. My interest was digital arts and sciences, but the program at UF went down the tubes when our major got merged with another and we got a new dean. There were no digital classes left for me to take so I decided to switch majors. I kept my artistic passions up as a hobby with photography and some digital design.
While I can do some digital artwork, I am not gifted in drawing high-end comics, so I had to make a few rough sketches to send to professionals to make the final comic art.
Voluntaryism is a libertarian philosophy that accepts the non-aggression principle but also rejects government. You identify yourself as a voluntaryist. What’s that backstory? Who or what most influenced you toward libertarianism and then voluntaryism?
My path toward voluntary living began while I was a sophomore at the University of Florida. In my modern American history class I learned about the Eugenics movement for the first time. While I had heard about Margaret Sanger from general history studies, I had no idea that the U.S. government fostered the sterilization and institutionalization of American citizens for things as mundane as low I.Q. and epilepsy. I learned about Buck v. Bell, where Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes emphatically stated “Three generations of imbeciles are enough” as he sentenced a young woman, Carrie Buck, to a compulsory salpingectomy (tube tying).
I was hit—hard. If the government, in all its modernity, having cars, planes and even electricity, could find reason to do this, what couldn’t they do? And, even worse, I discovered how little I knew about our government’s historical policies. This lead me on a two-year search where I used my university’s resources to understand what it is that government is capable of doing behind closed doors.
I came to the conclusion that government serves only one purpose—to work for those in elite echelons while making sure that the general population is economically productive and intellectually blissful. In my research, I stumbled upon many organizations which uncovered this social manipulation, including groups like the Mises Institute and the Alex Jones radio show. I was encouraged to see that I was not the only one who felt like a newborn just awakened to reality.
With these facts in hand, I came to a natural belief in voluntaryism and a disgust for modern political systems. I finally understood the government tactics used to manipulate people into co-dependency. This was further unveiled by my studies in public relations, where I examined the works of Edward Bernays and Abraham Flexner during class, the men who built our modern system of mass public manipulation.
Also, Marc Steven’s world’s smallest political quiz was a big eye-opener for me.
Where are you with your current Voluntaryist Origins II comic? Is it ready to go?
The comic book itself has not been started. It will begin being put together after the indiegogo.com fundraiser has finished and all funds from it come through. The script for the origins story has already been written though. Once completed, I plan to release the comic digitally for free on whatever reliable service I can find that will do so for free. I will continue to work on the comic series and keep fans updated on volcomic.com. Hopefully, I will be able to attend some comic conventions and do an exhibition.
Any last comments about your comic series or voluntaryism in general?
If you have any new way to promote voluntary values—run with it! The message of liberty is an attractive and beautiful means for peace.
NOTE: Visit Voluntaryist—The Comic Series to support the comic series and to keep up with the ongoing saga.
