Daily Inspiration: Meet Jay Kalagayan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Kalagayan.

Hi Jay, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been obsessed with comic books since childhood, captivated by the power of sequential, panel-to-panel storytelling. While I love the medium, my path to becoming an independent writer and publisher built on years of championing the regional arts scene—from my early days co-founding Know Theatre of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Fringe Festival to working with local cultural non-profits in Cincinnati and Columbus.

Eventually, I needed to put my own stories onto the page. I founded the independent publishing imprint Creative Mussel to serve as a launchpad for raw, boundary-pushing graphic comic books. My flagship series, MeSseD, grew out of a fascination with the hidden worlds right beneath our feet, exploring the surreal, gritty, and vital universe of urban infrastructure and wastewater systems.

From there, my writing naturally spiraled into regional folklore, cryptids, and monster legends. Whether I’m collaborating with incredible artists to bring the Pope Lick Creek Monster to life or digging into undocumented history, my goal is always to uncover the strange, dark, and beautiful secrets of the Ohio Valley and beyond.

Today, you can find me traveling the con circuit, exhibiting everywhere from local indie expos to major Asian festivals, and creating interactive public art installations. It’s a wild, grassroots journey, but there is nothing quite like connecting directly with readers who share a love for the weird, the overlooked, and the Ohio-crafted.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but the bumps are usually where the best stories come from. Building a life in independent comic publishing means wearing every single hat—you aren’t just the writer, you’re the production manager, the marketer, the logistics coordinator, and the accountant.

One of the biggest hurdles is simply breaking through the noise. As an indie creator working outside the traditional mainstream comic industry, you have to build your audience entirely from scratch, one hand-sell and one conversation at a time. Financing a dream on a grassroots budget requires constant hustle, from securing micro-grants to managing print costs, all while balancing creative energy with a day job in non-profit development.

Then there is the physical grind of the convention circuit. Traveling, setting up vendor booths in unpredictable weather, and facing the vulnerability of putting your deeply personal work on a table for strangers to judge takes a specific kind of endurance.

Creatively, the challenge is always about translating complex, unusual concepts—like turning wastewater infrastructure, obscure regional monster legends or uncovering Filipino American history into graphic comic books —into something that resonates. Finding a long-term creative rhythm with brilliant artistic collaborators takes immense patience and trust. But every time a reader stops by the table, connects with the work, and gets excited about the weird worlds we’re building, every single roadblock becomes worth it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We’d love to learn more about your work. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I am an independent comic book writer and publisher, and through my imprint, Creative Mussel, I specialize in sequential storytelling that digs beneath the surface—literally and culturally. I am best known for my flagship series MeSseD, which explores the gritty, surreal world of urban infrastructure, and my line of graphic comic books dedicated to regional folklore and cryptids like The Goat: Pope Lick Creek Monster and Grassman: Ohio’s Favorite Cryptid.
Lately, my creative journey has evolved into a deeply personal exploration of my own ethnicity and citizenship. I am incredibly proud to use my platform to shine a spotlight on Filipino American history and identity, uncovering vital, overlooked narratives that standard history books leave out.
Two of my most meaningful recent projects embody this mission. I wrote and published Filipino Assassin: The Untold Story of Vincent Manago Hambright, a biography comic that unearths an incredible, forgotten life of a real boxer from 1920s, Cincinnati. I also created St. Malo, a work of historic horror centered on the first Asian settlement in North America—a community established by Filipino sailors that actually predates the Declaration of Independence.
What sets me apart from others is this distinct intersection: I blend raw, indie-comic grit with research, merging the fantastical elements of horror and folklore with rich, undocumented history. By weaving my heritage into these unique genres, I create stories that are both culturally urgent and deeply entertaining, giving voice to a past that deserves to be celebrated.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is that sustainability in the arts is built on community, not just individual talent. When you are independent, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to do everything alone. But true endurance comes from collaborating deeply, treating your collaborators like partners, and lifting up the creative ecosystem around you.

Creatively, I’ve learned to trust the power of the hyper-specific. When I first started writing about things like urban wastewater infrastructure or obscure Filipino American history—like the settlement of St. Malo—I worried the concepts might be too niche. But I discovered that the more specific and authentic you are with your vision, the more universally it resonates. People crave stories that are genuinely unique and deeply felt.

On a practical level, the journey has taught me the value of patience and the power of the “slow build.” Success in independent publishing doesn’t happen overnight; it is forged one conversation at a time at a convention table, one grant application, and one panel-to-panel breakthrough.

Ultimately, I’ve learned to embrace the vulnerability of putting my heritage, my curiosity, and my weirdest ideas onto the page. If you stay true to your voice and show up consistently for your community, you will find the people who are looking for exactly what you create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.messedcomics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messedcomics
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/messedcomics/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalagayan/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/messedcomics
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@messedcomics964