To read the first few pages of the story, use the buttons at the bottom of the book to turn the pages or the arrows on the sides.  Enjoy!

In 2023, a mysterious man in a red jumpsuit begins appearing on a small-town college campus in eastern Tennessee. Sent on a mission by the Coca-Cola corporation, he quickly learns the handcrafted innovation and high technology given to him by its lead innovator, Steve. Steve designs and creates a one-of-a-kind way to advertise, a suit he calls “MIC” (Marketing Integrated Coveralls). Inspired by human space travel, Steve creates an avenue for Coca-Cola to be the first to advertise on other planets and worlds. The suit’s wearer, the “MIC operator,” must carry out a mission that parallels a former student’s mission from 1895! Former Japanese student Kin Takahashi was the first foreign exchange student to rally his peers and create over 300,000 bricks for the student-led construction of what is now known as Bartlet Hall. The building was multi-purpose as the first YMCA built by students on a school campus. Other facilities made noteworthy headlines, such as the former art center (now called “Clayton Center for the Arts”), the construction of which used innovation that made national news. The former art center was recognized in brilliant design and architecture for having steel trusses rather than plain wood in 1939. Steve upgrades the MIC over the years, revealing his latest creation to his operator, the Coca-Cola-Man, the name given to him by Maryville College students. With his instructions and technology in hand, the Coca-Cola man proceeds onward to his mission, having a massive impact on marketing technology, beginning with influencing his creative neighbor, who has an idea for an extraordinary suit of his own.

BIO

Temis Guzman is a veteran, firefighter, entrepreneur, and inventor/author. His many roles and skills are unified by a passion for slowing the spread of germs and disease in public spaces. Guzman is currently enrolled at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. His courses include Marketing, Theatre, Art, and Design. This is Guzman’s first Comic book. He hopes this project will start a conversation between himself, the Coca-Cola company, and Waffle House. Maryville College is a proud server of Coke products.

In “The Rise of Waffle Hero,” author Temis Guzman began the story of two unusual characters: The Coca-Cola Man and Waffle Hero. Now their journey continues in Maryville College’s Coca-Cola Man, a meta-comic blending of science fiction and science fact.

The year is 2033, and the space race is truly on. 333 space shuttles are launched simultaneously to reach the Red Planet with all the resources Earth’s space colonizers will need, each item in the inventory carefully scrutinized and sifted through for the monumental voyage.

Coca-Cola will never survive low- to zero-gravity conditions. With water being the obvious choice for the traveling colonizers, Coca-Cola finds itself being left out. That is until Steve, Coca-Cola’s lead innovator, and his high-tech creations step in and change the game forever.

Award-winning author Temis Guzman began this comic book by literally wearing a self-built luminous suit he calls “MIC” (Marketing Integrated Coveralls), a proof-of-concept. Guzman says, “Humans are the final frontier in ad space of the future. It’s a wearable suit with incredible technology, aimed solely at advertising Coca-Cola.”

Mr. Guzman is inspired by the real life works of foreign exchange student Kin Takahashi. Who could be the modern equivalent of Maryville’s own Kin Takahashi? Just as Kin was inspired to plead for financial assistance from wealthy aristocrats of his time (Construction of Bartlett Hall) Mr. Guzman invented and developed the “MIC” (Marketing Integrated Coveralls) specifically with the Coca-Cola Company in mind.

To read the first few pages of the story, use the buttons at the bottom of the book to turn the pages or the arrows on the sides.  Enjoy!