Charles, Bethlehem & Taylor: On The Move!

The “Shadow Within A City” Book Series originally began in 2002 as a dark comic series entitled, “ShadowKill.” ShadowKill was the brain-child of K.G. Bethlehem and Joel [yo-elle] Charles. KG, would go on to become one of the lead writers of the series, while Joel would become the lead artist. Eventually, several more artists including; Leonard “Uncle” Taylor and F. Kenneth Taylor would join the project.

Approximately four issues into the series, KG realized he would need help with the writing process, so F. Kenneth Taylor became a writer of the series as well. Unfortunately, ShadowKill would never become the success the group had hoped for, as the team slowly disbanded over time. Ultimately, Joel Charles and KG Bethlehem would complete, print, and publish the first issue–the only issue to make it to publication.

Fast forward to 2012; As Joel Charles pursued other projects, KG Bethlehem and F. Kenneth Taylor were establishing themselves as Self-Published Authors, and re-visited the 50+ issues of ShadowKill they had written a decade earlier. The duo decided to convert the comic series into a novel series and “Shadow Within A City” (S.W.A.C) was born. Book I, “Shadow Within A City: The Gangland Saga” was published in 2013.

Since publishing Book I; two short-stories; “The Forever Spring” (Bethlehem) and “Serpents & Honor” (Taylor), has been added to the series. KG Bethlehem and F. Kenneth Taylor have also expanded the S.W.A.C Universe by connecting its storyline to their own individual works. A recent display of this comes with the duo including F. Kenneth Taylor’s 2018 Sci-Fi, “P.R.O.B.E” as the official S.W.A.C. Series prequel. In November 2019, Book II, “S.W.A.C II: Ghost Squad’s Apocalypse”, as well as the series itself, was a big hit as it debuted at the 2019 Southern Maryland Comic-Con. Look for the next installment, “She Is To Be Remembered” (Bethlehem) in the very near future! In early 2021, Taylor and Bethlehem reunited with Joel Charles, who is scheduled to write the long-awaited story of SWAC’s protagonist, ‘Yosul Paul’.