The legacy of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg lives on. A comic book about the social network is coming in December, two months after the launch of "The Social Network" film.
At this rate, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going to
see lunchboxes with his face on it.
Maybe not, but the reality is that a movie about the
founder of the world's leading social network is debuting Oct. 1, with a comic
book to follow in December.
"The Social Network," a Hollywood film written by West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin
and directed by Fight Club master David Fincher, chronicles Zuckerberg's controversial
creation of Facebook, which started in a Harvard University dorm and now has
500 million-plus users worldwide.
The film, based on Ben Mezrich's nonfiction novel The
Accidental Billionaires, portrays Zuckerberg as a conniving back-stabber who
did everything he could to coopt Facebook, casting aside friends and business
partners to get his way.
Now publisher
Bluewater Productions is treating the Zuckerberg's legend with a
biographical comic book called Mark Zuckerberg: Creator of Facebook.
The comic, written by Jerome Maida, penciled by Sal
Field, and with cover art by Michal Szyksznian, is a 48-page, large tome. It
will be
available in December from comic book stores and
online retailers for $6.99.
"This is a fascinating story," Maida told
Bluewater Productions. "I enjoyed researching it because it's extremely
compelling. Think about it. Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire on the
planet and created something that has already had a profound impact on the
world. Yet hardly anyone knows much about him. It's amazing."
People will know something about him from The Social Network after it opens this Friday.
Or, at least
they will know the allegations made in a lawsuit against him by Cameron and
Tyler Winkelvoss, the twins who claimed Zuckerberg stole their idea for
Facebook while they were classmates at Harvard in 2003.
Facebook
paid
the brothers $65 million to settle the suit, avoiding an admission of
guilt but raising questions about what Zuckerberg did to warrant a
hefty payout that seems small compared to the company's estimated worth
of several billion dollars.
Maida, the comic book author, will focus on that: "Rightly
or wrongly, Mark dealt harshly with some people on his way to where he is
today", says Maida. "As we see, he left many people feeling betrayed."
Maida claims he tried to be fair, representing "each
of the major players' point of view."
Maida also focuses on Zuckerberg's ambition to go it alone
despite offers from Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
"Mark was offered loads of money at a young age and
turned all his suitors down because deep down he knew he had higher goals than
to work for someone else", Maida said. "Bill Gates offered Mark a
million dollars while Mark was still in high school to work for him and Mark
turned it down."
This need for independence no doubt fueled Zuckerberg's unsavory
cutting out of business associates such as Eduardo Saverin, who informed
Mezrich's book and The Social Network.
Zuckerberg stirred more controversy Sept. 24 when he
announced he was
donating $100 million in stock to boost public education in Newark, N.J.
He was
concerned that this would be viewed as an attempt to dull the blade of
criticism he would receive from The Social Network, which premiered in New York
City that same day.
Email
Print
