It started as a High School art project...
The story of Hafu goes back to 1996, when writer Jordan Taylor and artist Sam Richardson were a freshmen in High School. Longtime childhood friends, Jordan and Sam had been used to working on creative projects together. As an art project that year, Sam was tasked with creating a five page comic book. Titled "Ninjetti", it followed his ideas of a female Ninja set in High School. Gore and violence so over the top that it was satirical. A couple years after graduating High School, Jordan had an idea for a graphic novel based on Sam's art project. Over the course of several months Jordan wrote a script and Sam illustrated to create their first version of Hafu (still titled Ninjetti). With 30 printed copies in hand, they attended the 2003 Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago. The plan was to hand out all the copies for free, in hopes they would receive feedback from fans. That feedback could create a buzz and eventually lead to them selling millions of copies and becoming famous!
....except that no one gave any feedback. There was no evidence that anyone even read it. It felt like a failure.
For the next few years both creators went on to other projects. Pro wrestling, movies, and early-day podcasting filled their creative void. Both continued to grow and start families. Sam became a personal trainer and Jordan a Navy Officer.
Becoming more mature adults made both of them realize there was still something missing. They had a story they never finished telling. In the spring of 2010 Sam contacted Jordan, who was still in the Navy, and discussed the idea of them giving it an actual shot (again). This time as more mature writers and artists.
After two years of writing, editing, drawing, and digital work it was finished. The story of Hafu was ready. This time they wouldn't let their experience of 2003 hinder them. Attending local shows and big comic cons, both men had a plan. Sell their story. They weren't out to create the next Spider-Man or Marvel Universe. They just wanted the world to know about Akiko Kuno and her journey. Their first show had a box printed of 50 copies. They sold out completely! Each show brought a much higher print count and kept selling out. To date over 600 copies of both books combined have made it into the hands of eager fans.
In 2016 after the release of Hafu Book II, Jordan and Sam took a break to focus on their families and careers. However, they are now ready to resume telling the world their story of Hafu.