North Carolina – Regie “Collects” Simmons, a North Carolina-based comic book publisher and social media influencer, had a big night at the 2022 Comic Book Community Awards (CBCA), taking home 6 trophies. The Comic Book Community Awards were founded in 2021 by the YouTube Channel Brian-LCS with the goal “to recognize entertaining, informational, and creative nature of our comic book community members.” Regie Collects won in the categories of: Channel of the Year, Most Entertaining Content Creator, Community Builder Award, People’s Choice Award, Best Ongoing Series (Ready, Set, Go Preview Show), and Best Unboxing Video or Series. Simmons’ six wins topped a list of well-known content creators, several of whom won in multiple categories.
“The acknowledgement that comes from the CBCA is unapparelled because it is all community driven. Channels are nominated by the community over a period of weeks and then voted on by the community—the very same people that are consuming content being created on the various social media platforms,” Simmons says. “Winning six awards is very humbling especially due to the quality of content being created across social media by some very talented people.”
Regie Collects YouTube Channel and Instagram page began almost five years ago, amassing tens of thousands of followers. Simmons became a recognizable personality in the comic community who shared his collecting journey, including lessons learned, with subscribers around the world.
Regie Simmons published a successful book, the Regie Collects Guide to SMART Comic Collecting in 2021 that sold out thousands of copies in a matter of weeks and gained critical acclaim and industry attention. He then founded Swoldier Publishing with the goal of finding, developing, and releasing premium comic book content by undiscovered industry talent. In 2022, Swoldier Publishing released its first ongoing comic book series, Isolation, and a follow up to Simmons’ SMART Comic Collecting Guide. According to the publication’s website, Isolation is an ongoing mystery series set in multiple time periods that looks at distinct eras of murder in a secretive community.
“I am extremely proud of what Doug Bratton [writer] and Delia Gunderson [artist] have created in Isolation,” Simmons said. As Swoldier Publishing’s first comic book, I felt Isolation was a bold move that represents what we want to be in the marketplace—substantive. “We want to tell interesting stories that are complex and feature compelling characters. In addition to releasing two issues of Isolation this year, Doug and I have also released the second volume of the Guide which is designed to educate new and seasoned collectors on the hobby itself,” Simmons added.
Simmons’ six Comic Book Community Award wins in 2022 bring his CBC Awards total to ten in the first two years of its existence. For information about or to purchase copies of Isolation or the Guide to SMART Comic Collecting Volume 2, please visit regiecollects.com. For information about the Comic Book Community Awards, visit cbcawards.org.
About Author
