Britton Todd Summers (Born March 9, 2001, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American novelist, journalist, comic book writer, critic, and musician. He is noted for his libertarian political views.
Summers was born on March 9, 2001 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he is the son of Leslie (Todd) Summers, a realtor and office manager, and Lori Summers, a former nurse at Mercy Hospital. He described having a difficult, but mostly loving, relationship with his parents. He described a childhood that was mostly good, but had its dysfunctional elements. He said that his relationship with his family inspired a lot of his writing. He attended school at Ralph Downs Elementary School, Hefner Middle School, Putnam City North High School, and Oklahoma City Community College. He currently attends the University of Central Oklahoma. He was described by his parents and teachers as being a bright and curious student, having displayed a vast knowledge of history and English.
He said that his initial interest in storytelling began with his dad, who he described as the 'damndest anecdotal storyteller that ever was.' His readings of Wikipedia were also an early influence, as he would write down stories like he would read on Wikipedia. He would write stories so much that some of his teachers would get annoyed with him and tell him to stop, with even one getting worried about him because some of the stories that he wrote had violent content in it. He also read widely as a child, reading the works of such authors as Mark Twain, HG Wells, Jules Verne, Mary Pope Osbourne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Charles Dickens, whom he described as some of the first authors who captured his imagination.
Summers began to write at an early age, having been inspired by playing video games and Wikipedia articles. His writing passion invigorated in 2014 when he was introduced to the writing site Wattpad by a friend of his. He then published his first full length novel Nightstalkers on the site and realized his love and passion for it. He wrote the sequel to Nightstalkers Safe Zone although he didn’t plan to originally make one. He then decided to try and finish it off for a trilogy. But after a while, he decided to abandon the trilogy and try something new.
Growing increasingly dissatisfied with the limited success of his prose career, he decided to dip his toes in a long time aspiration of his, comics writing. Summers, a long time fan of comic books, decided to take a shot at writing comics. His first attempt at creating a comic was a science fiction mystery series titled Lost Time, which fell through after he and the artist had a falling out over monetary issues. Summers later said of the experience ‘it was definitely a learning experience, I realized that I couldn’t just walk in and go ‘Hey, let’s make a comic!’ as much as I wish that were the case. It takes time and effort, and I had to put it in.’ After befriending comics creators Michael Gatti, Carlton Bacon, Tyler Carpenter, and Tom Guilfoyle, he decided to take some time and ’stack ammo’ as he put it. He soon came back and initially gained work as a letterer, in order to gain some money in order to fund being a comics writer. As of 2019, Summers has said that his comics career is on hold, since he hasn't seemed to get anywhere with it. That doesn't mean that he is done though.
As a writer, Summers has covered a multitude of themes in his work. He has said “I’m inspired by different themes every day. I like to challenge myself.” Themes in his work have touched upon political and social themes such as libertarianism, war, government oppression and encroachment, and individualism vs collectivism, philosophical themes such as existential loneliness and angst, knowledge, the meaning of life, morality, and the human condition as well as personal themes including depression, suicide, broken families, divorce, grief, human relationships, and self-discovery.
Summers has espoused libertarian and anarchist views, which he’s consistently stuck with over the years. He has criticized Republicans and Democrats alike. However, he has somewhat disassociated with libertarianism, but still adheres to its beliefs. He’s depicted himself as a ‘hardline libertarian.’ Despite this, he is an admirer of conservative commentators William Buckley Jr and Bill Kristol, describing them as ‘respectable men, able to listen to another side without resorting to demonization, they are who conservatives and progressives should aspire to be, and men that we do not deserve.” Although, he does remain critical of neoconservatism and the modern American conservative movement.
After growing dissatisfied with the mainstream libertarian movement due to their increasing turn into violent ideologies, Summers briefly described himself as an individualist anarchist, though he has since abandoned anarchism. As of 2022, Summers has described himself as a classical liberal.
His opinions and principles on subjects have often caused him to burn bridges with different people and organizations, such as his disenfranchisement with the mainstream right and abandoning them once they encouraged violence against people they disagreed with.
Despite taking more conservative views on political matters, such as supporting gun rights, opposing abortion, and taking a generally free market approach to economic issues, he does support more liberal causes such as animal rights, particularly supporting the Eat What You Kill movement, gay rights, as well as supporting environmental causes, which he’s promoted. However, he’s been critical of some environmental and animal rights groups.
In terms of political candidates, He's described himself as 'hopelessly jaded' when it comes to endorsing candidates, he did support Rand Paul back in 2016 and stated his disdain for candidates such as Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, while initially stating that he was mixed on President Donald Trump, he said he completely turned on him, saying 'I've noticed that Donald Trump isn't all that different from other silver tongued politicians, he got in simply because he preyed on the fears and resentment of the American people, and there's just something slimy about that. I just wish people would just wake up and notice that things haven't changed at all."
Despite having politically themed work in the past, Summers has stated that he usually tries to keep his politics and his artistry separate from each other, but he has also said that the only writes politically when he feels political and it’s the only way he knows how to communicate it.
Summers has also criticized the prison industrial complex in the United States, denouncing it as inhumane and barbaric. He has advocated for reforms in the prison system and has written on the subject.
Religiously, Summers was raised a Christian, but fell out of the faith as he grew older. He identified as an agnostic, saying that he finally gave up on religion and God after the death of a close friend. He has also stated that he identifies with the beliefs of existentialism as well. Summers has recently stated that he believes in God, and that he no longer considers himself an agnostic. When asked to describe his religious beliefs, he described them as 'a mixture between Christianity and existentialism.'
While critical of organized religion, he has also been a critic of the atheist movement and prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, amongst others, commenting that they've 'brought an obnoxiousness to their belief that's almost as unbearable as the fundamentalists that they're railing against.'
He has been a vocal critic of the Church of Scientology, citing Lawrence Wright’s book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and The Prison of Belief and watching the documentary of the same name as the reason for this stance. He claimed what really turned him against the church is the alleged abuses by their current leader David Miscavige as well as the process of 'disconnection' when it comes to Scientologist families that have non-Scientology members in it or people who are against Scientology that the Scientologist knows. Summers was reported to say "I don't believe that anyone is entitled to be separated from their families." He has also been critical of celebrities who are well known Scientologists such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
In his career as a journalist, he cited Hunter S. Thompson and David Simon as primary influences on his career, stating that the best journalism is the type that will evoke a strong emotional response out of the readers, particularly anger. He also cited Thompson, Norman Mailer, and Tom Wolfe as inspirations, particularly in how they experimented with the form of journalism as well as their storytelling ability. He also described Lawrence Wright as an influence.
Summers also cited Donald Glover and S. Craig Zahler as influences on his work, in particular he discussed how their versatility as artists influenced him in terms of taking more avenues in his artistic career.
Summers has also cited music as an influence on his writing, and often incorporates music references into his writing.
Summers has been a lifelong fan of comic books. He and childhood friend Cameron Holden have co-created the Marvel universe Earth 0-601. They created their own superhero Apathy and, after failing to pitch it to Marvel, Summers decided to re-dub him Talion.
One of his most notable comic feats was with HL Comics, which he started with friend and long time collaborator Carlton Bacon. The two started the company and took control of several sects of the company.
Regarding his views on superheroes and the comic book industry, Summers has expressed admiration for superheroes, but states that he likes to see them more from a ‘human perspective.’ He has been critical of Marvel’s recent approach to writing, deeming their storytelling convoluted and unrealistic and accusing them of ‘betraying what made them (Marvel Comics) great in the first place.' Though, despite these criticisms, he has praised writers such as Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, and Donny Cates for bringing fresh ideas into the new age of Marvel Comics.
He is known to dislike the phrase ‘graphic novel’ preferring the term ‘comic’ over it.
Summers has been vocal of his influences and his opinions and his approach regarding writing. He said “I don’t pretend to be some great writer. But I have my views on the craft.”
Most of his opinions regarding writing were recorded in his reviews.
Summers has admitted to having a slight disdain for ‘literary’ writers and for the ‘hierarchy’ in writing that he sees, claiming that genre fiction such as horror, science fiction, and fantasy have also proven to have literary merit as much as the ‘literary’ books do, citing Michael Moorcock, Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, CS Lewis, and Neil Gaiman, among others as examples of this. He’s also criticized the mainstream literary community for not accepting genre fiction among its ranks. He is, however, an admirer of some ‘literary’ authors such as William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck, Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, Flannery O’Connor, Yukio Mishima, and Haruki Murakami. Though, as of late, he's said that he has let go of this bias and only seeks to enjoy good books, as he feels that's really what matters.
He is a supporter of transgressive fiction and has endorsed the works of such transgressive authors such as Irvine Welsh, JG Ballard, Chuck Palahniuk, and William S. Burroughs, among others. He is also a supporter of the ‘Beat’ movement, having a particular admiration for Jack Kerouac, although also criticizing several Beats, mainly Allen Ginsberg, for their political beliefs.
His views on writing aren’t limited, as he also speaks on comics as well as well as prose.
Summers tends to fancy himself as being protective over his privacy, though he does share some of his hobbies and interests publicly. He's also said that he's 'very antsy' about maintaining his privacy and he doesn't often like to talk about his personal life. He has admitted though that he is single as of 2022.
Some of his other hobbies outside of writing and reading includes a passion for music, with favorite artists of his being a diverse list that includes Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Parker, Marvin Gaye, and Bob Marley and also bands such as Pink Floyd, The Doors, Maroon 5, The Beatles, and others. He is also an avid biker, as well as having an enjoyment for sailing. In keeping to his 2nd Amendment beliefs, he owns several firearms and goes shooting with them on occasion. He has stated his favorite gun is the Colt M1911.
He has also been known for being a player of chess, though he says that he's a 'casual' player and isn't really all that good at it.
He is also a player of tabletop role-playing games, having played sporadically when he was a teenager. He later became a regular player when he got older, and cited role-playing games as an inspiration on his storytelling.
He is a fan of several sports, predominately football, mixed martial arts, and boxing. He’s a long time fan of the Oklahoma Sooners, which he says he inherited from his father.
He has also endorsed Arkansas Razorbacks, whom his cousin Kamryn, previously cheerleaded for. He also has supported the Dallas Cowboys, though he has called himself a ‘long jaded fan.’
Summers has been open about his battle with depression and anxiety, and has tried to use his experiences to help others. He is a supporter of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and has made efforts to try and raise money for the organization. He's also spoken widely about his experiences with depression and anxiety and what effect that it has had on his life.
Summers has also been an advocate for autism as well as for the mentally disabled, suffering from autism himself. He’s also been critical of the way that mentally disabled are treated in society, in particular in schools.
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