Edward Snowden Will Soon Be A Comic Book Star

The story, written by Marvel Comic's "Punisher" writer Valerie D'Orazio, is focused on exploring Snowden's motivations for initiating the largest leak of classified documents in U.S. history.

Starting with his role working at a Japanese-style animation start-up as a 19-year-old, the comic traces in broad strokes Snowden's life through the current day. It also includes hints of the debate as to whether or not Snowden should actually be considered a whistleblower, or if he is actually a tool of Russian espionage.

D'Orazio, a former editor for MTV Geek, told Business Insider that working on an Edward Snowden comic was a unique opportunity.

"I've always had an interest in current events and media, and I've always wanted to write a comic book that acted as a bridge between geek culture and the mainstream," she says. "Snowden was perfect for this since he came from geek culture himself."

D'Orazio fully recognizes how divisive a figure Snowden has now become. Although originally envisioned as a straight biography, D'Orazio said that the story became more of a drama about someone's life as the controversy surrounding the intelligence leaks took form.

"I came to the conclusion that what Snowden revealed was very important for the public to know," D'Orazio said. "Having said that, I'm still unsure of his case and there's a lot of questions to answer, like what he's been doing with his time in Russia."

"Beyond: Edward Snowden" is being published by Bluewater Productions. It is set to be released in both print and digital formats on May 21.