Comic-book company has a hit with story about Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce

Comic-book author Michael Frizell has written about a variety of subjects from politicians to musicians to celebrities, but he passed on a chance to chronicle the life of singer Taylor Swift.

TidalWave Comics chose someone else to write that story, and it proved to be a smash hit for the company.

Frizell’s editor called later and noted the missed opportunity for the Springfield, Missouri author. They then discussed a potential follow-up to that Swift book.
Two subjects stood out to Frizell: Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes or teammate Travis Kelce.

“We hemmed and hawed and then he said, ‘Look, we gotta go with Kelce because it just makes sense. The Taylor book’s hot right now,’” Frizell recalled. “I’d been after him to do one on Mahomes for a couple of months. So let me do the Kelce book, and that’s where it all started. We got it done I would say about two weeks before the Super Bowl. So it was hot off the press when we released it.”

“Fame: Travis Kelce” has been another hit for TidalWave. Amazon shows it currently ranks in the top 50 of three Amazon best-selling categories. It’s currently No. 17 in Teen & Young Adult Performing Arts Biographies.

“The response has been really overwhelmingly positive. I know that it’s sold well,” Frizell said. “Several comic stores around the country can buy in and put their own variant covers on them. So I know that’s happened a few times.”

A variant cover means a different image on the front of the comic book. Artist Ryan Kincaid, who lives in Leawood and is at Planet Comicon this weekend, drew this one for the Kelce comic book.