For artists and creators thinking about owning their own IP: Marvel cover artist Marko Djurdjevic on building the Orken transmedia universe.
Marko produced 82 Marvel covers in his first year and ran 23 consecutive issues on Daredevil. His concept art fed the early MCU, and his studio SIXMOREVODKA held a seven-year exclusive partnership with Riot Games on League of Legends. After 30 years of client work he is funding Orken himself: novels, illustrated editions, graphic novels and a video game built with Demagog Studio. This episode was released just before the Orken Kickstarter and free Steam demo, both due on 26 February.
In this conversation:
- The viral X-Men redesign that brought Marvel calling
- Degenesis: 3,000 free downloads per release against 80 sales, and what that failure taught him
- 1,400 pages, 350 illustrations and two heart surgeries in 16 months
- Why indie storytelling depends on small, real communities rather than viral moments
Timestamps:
00:00 Building a multimedia IP from scratch
01:14 Meet Marko Djurdjevic
02:35 No books at home: drawing as survival and 80s influences
04:30 Why The Last Unicorn still hits after 40 years
05:21 What's wrong with modern storytelling?
07:15 The anatomy book that changed everything at age 11
08:41 The viral X-Men redesign that brought Marvel calling
10:15 82 covers, cancelled titles, and the art of keeping deadlines
13:10 Beyond Marvel: the MCU pipeline and building a studio
15:32 Riot and League of Legends: seven years of exclusivity
19:17 2008 was peak cinema and he never went back
20:13 Orken's visual DNA: cultures the games industry ignores
23:01 Why creator-owned work dies in large teams
25:00 Degenesis: 3,000 downloads, 80 sales, and pulling the plug
27:35 How failure shaped Orken's transmedia architecture
29:11 Novels, graphic novels, illustrated editions, and a video game
30:49 The real motivation: autonomy, mastery, and running out of time
32:54 1,400 pages, two heart surgeries, and a Kickstarter
36:39 Working with his wife while betting against her instincts
42:19 The future of indie storytelling
43:55 Closing thoughts
Host: Pete Bell
Guest: Marko Djurdjevic
This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.
Enjoying the show? Follow and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really helps other people find us.
We're also building a Purpose Made community on Discord for people who love games, film, TV and the IP behind them. Come and join us: https://discord.gg/vvtV6ZHKGK
","author_name":"Pete Bell, Purpose Made"}