In a quiet creative writing class at the University of Memphis, a comic book universe was born – not on the syllabus, but at the intersection of ink and imagination. Martheus Wade, sketching on sheets of bristol board, caught the attention of Janet, a fellow student whose stories carried a flare he couldn’t ignore. “After class, I asked her about joining me and my best friend, Kevin Williams, in this crazy comic book venture I was planning,” Martheus recalls. “Janet will have you thinking that I was some weird dude chasing her over railroad tracks.” Janet remembers it a bit differently, with a laugh: “Yes! He did chase me down across the U of M train tracks on the last day of class! It was weird, but he was cute, so I was kind-of flattered.”
That chase turned into a lifelong collaboration, both as creative partners and as a married couple. Over the past 25 years, Martheus and Janet Wade have built a multimedia comic book empire from the ground up – one rich with martial arts action, mystical intrigue, and heartfelt storytelling. Their work, centered around the Toshigawa Universe, has not only been published and optioned for screen but read by children across the country thanks to Scholastic.
But the journey from there was anything but easy.
Drawing a Path Forward
Martheus always knew comics were his calling. “Since I can remember, I have been drawing and putting words with those drawings. It was just my way of communicating,” he says. His early days were filled with reading Choose Your Own Adventure books and back issues of comics, feeding a lifelong obsession that would eventually blossom into Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – his senior project at the University of Memphis and the spark for everything that followed.
Janet, too, was drawn to art from an early age. Living in Okinawa as a child, she was immersed in anime, which shaped her creative style and sensibilities. “There was something about how cool and dynamic the animation was that got hold of me,” she says. When she discovered ‘90s comics in high school, it lit a fire that never went out.
Together, they’ve weathered everything from publishing woes and dry creative spells to balancing their art with parenting, day jobs, and the demands of daily life. “Not well,” Martheus laughs when asked how they balance it all. “It’s difficult. I spend a lot of time up until 3am finishing artwork. It’s always a give and take.” Janet adds, “My creative stuff typically has to wait until after dinner or for the weekends.”
Building the Toshigawa Universe
Their creative child, as it were, is the Toshigawa Universe, an ever-evolving world that began with the gritty, black-and-white Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa and later expanded into the more kid-friendly Shinobi: Ninja Princess. That shift in tone was no accident – it came after the birth of their son, Anakin. “Who we thought of as our audience changed,” Janet explains. “Suddenly we wanted kids to enjoy our stories and not just older teens and adults.”
Martheus has recently returned to the original Jetta stories, rewriting, reformatting, and breathing new life into them. “The modern take is all in color and 100 pages. I got a chance to go back and add story beats that I took out before. I’ve learned to trust myself and the audience more.” Janet adds with a wink, “Page count be damned!”
Along the way, they’ve hit some major milestones: Scholastic Book Fair distribution, award wins including the 2024 Richard Wright Literary Award for Shinobi: Ninja Princess, an option on Jetta, a short film (Turra: Gun Angel), a crossover with the legendary Shi: Way of the Warrior, and now, a fully-cast motion comic in development.
The Power of Partnership
The Wades’ creative partnership is one of balance and mutual respect – with a healthy dose of humor. “When she just started bringing clothes over to my apartment and took over a closet, I had no choice but to accept her help creatively,” Martheus jokes. “Shortly after the train track incident,” Janet adds, “he gave me pages to ink, and I had never inked before ever in my life. He told me not to worry about mistakes because I could use white out. He should’ve never told me that.”
Their working style has since evolved. Martheus now handles the drawing and inking digitally, and Janet brings the pages to life with color. “Our little system of him drawing and me coloring is all contained in our living room after dinner and on weekends,” she says. “It’s a damn near perfect little creative system! I’m still waiting to get paid though…” She also adds, “He doesn’t have to chase me down to get me to finish up projects and such,” Janet responds, “and for a lot of our personal projects, we bounce ideas for storylines and dialogue off each other.”
What’s kept them going isn’t money – but passion. “Don’t go into it thinking only of the money,” Janet advises other creative couples. “There has to be a passion there for it first for both of you. That passion will get you through the tough times.” Martheus agrees. “I would say business and who to listen to and trust were the hardest lessons. I was always taught that, if you work hard enough, you’ll achieve your goal. That’s not always true in the creative business. But if you create what you love, the readers will respond.”
Legacy in the Making
For Martheus, being a father is his greatest achievement, but being able to share his art with readers around the world is a close second. “I love getting with them and comparing and contrasting the past and present books,” he says. “I hope I have a part in helping more people make a living doing creative things again.”
Janet takes pride in being part of a world she once thought was out of reach. “When I was younger, comics seemed like such an unreachable thing. Now when I talk to aspiring artists, I can tell them that yeah, I colored ALL those books.”
Looking forward, they have big plans: an art show at Artfacts Art Gallery, a new motion comic, action figures, and a Toshigawa Universe art book. Janet is even dabbling in fashion design, creating bold graphic tees she’d want to wear herself. And Martheus still dreams of drawing Wonder Woman someday.
But perhaps the most powerful vision they share is one of legacy – of making comics not just for themselves, but for Memphis and for the next generation. “Memphis has a huge musical history,” Martheus says. “It’s time comics have a shot.”
Janet sums it up best: “We’ve been making it for 25+ years now. And we’re still making it.” Martheus adds, “I hope the Toshigawa Universe is bigger than just me and Janet. I want the stories and world to live and thrive in the imaginations of people. I would love for Memphis to embrace the universe and that it could become a creative beacon. I’d love for Memphis to be proud that this was created here.”
To learn more about Martheus and Janet Wade’s work, visit www.toshigawauniverse.com, patreon.com/mawproductions, or subscribe to the @toshigawadotcom channel on YouTube.
Or find them at conventions across the country – chances are, they’ll be right next to each other, laughing, drawing, and creating the next chapter together.
Ryan Ladner is the CEO of Thrill Comics and creator of the comic book Memphis vs. Zombies. He lives in Memphis with his wife, Maya, and their family. Visit www.thrillcomics.com to learn more about Thrill Comics.
