DWAYNE McDUFFIE

Not much to say that hasn't been said already, but legendary comic writer Dwayne McDuffie passed away at the age of 49. It's always sad and unfortunate when things like this happen, but there's not a lot of people that have done what he's achieved in comics with the skintone he had.

Dwayne and I share mutual friends, and I've shared pleasantries with him, and finally meeting him face-to-face at the ECBACC show in Philly a few years back - I was a little stunned by how tall he was, and how . . . chill Dwayne seemed to be. It was that professional, mainstream polish that I hadn't seemed to have mastered - how to walk among us but be totally in your own space, clearly comfortable with yourself to the point you made others smooth down their shirts. Something that I didn't understand at the time, but that something makes people call you 'sir' to your face. Respect? Reverence. Somewhere in there.

I sometimes went to his website forum and marveled at how many people came to him just to listen to his words. But it wasn't like he was trying very hard to make people think he was interesting - he just did his thing. Like I have aspired to do my whole career.

Most importantly, Dwayne opened up doors for people who look like me in comics. He fought battles on muddy slopes for people who try to do what I'm trying to do in comics. He clicked on a flashlight and ran it over the dark corners of the bias, ignorance and head-scratchingly dense world of comics and asked questions that we all wanted answers to - and wouldn't leave until he got an answer, or until they made him leave.

That's a swagger that I'd love to wear into a room like Dwayne did. He lifted us on his shoulders and carried us, even if it wasn't his full intent. I believe he just wanted to tell a good story, by any means necessary.

Thanks for Doing Your Thing, Dwayne.

JAMAR & FSKG NOMINATED FOR GLYPH COMICS AWARDS

Pretty cool!

I'm up for a few GLYPH Comics Awards this year, along with FIST STICK KNIFE GUN in several categories.

Also the BLACK COMIX book that I was featured in won a special achievement award already! You can see me mention that here. That's a great honor!

Full list of noms below:

Story of the Year
Afrodisiac; Jim Rugg, co-writer and artist; Brian Maruca, co-writer
BB Wolf and the 3 LPs; JD Arnold, writer, Richard Koslowski, artist
Fist Stick Knife Gun; Geoffrey Canada, writer, Jamar Nicholas, artist
Unknown Soldier: Dry Season; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticello, artist
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty; G. Neri, writer, Randy DuBurke, artist

Best Writer
JD Arnold, BB Wolf and the 3 LPs
Geoffrey Canada, Fist Stick Knife Gun
Joshua Dysart, Unknown Soldier
Mat Johnson, Dark Rain
Jim Rugg & Brian Maruca, Afrodisiac

Best Artist
Denys Cowan, Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers
Christian Dibari, Pale Horse
Simone Gane, Dark Rain
Richard Koslowski, BB Wolf and the 3 LPs
Jim Rugg, Afrodisiac

Best Male Character
Afrodisiac, Afrodisiac; created by Jim Rugg, co-writer and artist, & Brian Maruca, co-writer
BB Wolf, BB Wolf and the 3 LPs; created by JD Arnold, writer, Richard Koslowski, artist
Cole, Pale Horse; created by Andrew Cosby & Michael Alan Nelson, writers, Christian Dibari, artist
Geoff, Fist Stick Knife Gun; Geoffrey Canada, writer, Jamar Nicholas, artist; based on the life of Geoffrey Canada
Moses Lwanga, Unknown Soldier; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticello, artist; inspired by the character created by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert

Best Female Character
Aloya Rose, Unknown Soldier; created by Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticello, artist
Nola Thomas, NOLA; created by Chris Gorak & Pierluigi Cothran, writers; Damian Couceiro, artist
Sarah, Dark Rain; created by Mat Johnson, writer, Simone Gane, artist
Scout Montana, Shadoweyes; created by Ross Campbell, writer and artist
Selena, 28 Days Later; Michael Alan Nelson, writer; Declan Shalvey & Marek Oleksicki, artists; based on the character created by Alex Garland for the motion picture 28 Days Later

Rising Star Award
Nicholas DaSilva, Dread & Alive
Carl Herring Jr. & Tod Smith, The Enforcers
Brandon Howard & Sean Mack; The Revolutionary Times
Jamar Nicholas, Fist Stick Knife Gun
Geoffrey Thorne & Todd Harris, Prodigal: Egg of First Light

Best Reprint Publication
Cold Space TP, BOOM! Studios
Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Deluxe HC, DC Comics
Unknown Soldier: Dry Season TP, DC/Vertigo

Best Cover
28 Days Later #6, Tim Bradstreet, illustrator
Afrodisiac, Jim Rugg, illustrator
Cold Space #1, Jeffrey Spokes, artist; Juan Maruel Tumburus, colorist
Unknown Soldier #15, Dave Johnson, illustrator
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty; Randy Duburke, illustrator

Best Comic Strip or Webcomic
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
Marty’s Diner, Dmitri Jackson, writer and artist
The Revolutionary Times, Brandon Howard, writer, Sean Mack, artist
Solomon Azua; Jake Ekiss, writer and artist
World of Hurt, Jay Potts, writer and artist

Fan Award for Best Comic
Azrael: Angel in the Dark; Fabian Nicieza, writer, Ramon Bachs & John Stanisci, artists
Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers; Reginald Hudlin, writer, Denys Cowan, artist
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural; Rick Remender, writer; Jefte Palo, Gabriel Hardman & Alessandro Vitti, artists
New Avengers: Heroic Age – Possession; Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger & Art Adams, artists
New Avengers: Luke Cage – Town Without Pity; John Arcudi, writer; Eric Canete, artist

The poll for the Fan Award will go up next month at the ECBACC website (www.ecbacc.com/wordpress). Fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite black comics from the five nominees listed, or to submit their own with a write-in choice. All write-in ballots must be sent to rich.watson@gmail.com with “Fan Award” in the subject line. IMPORTANT: The write-in ballot is ONLY for choices NOT listed on the poll. ANY WRITE-IN BALLOTS WITH ANY OF THE FIVE NOMINEES ALREADY ON THE POLL WILL BE DISCARDED AND WILL NOT COUNT.

In addition, for the first time, the GCA Committee announces the creation of the Chairman’s Award, a new award given in special recognition of a work in any media outside of comics, including but not limited to books, television, film, or the Internet, that illuminates the black comics experience in an exceptional manner, and also broadens and deepens the growing body of knowledge about black comics worldwide.

This year, the GCA Committee bestows the award to the book Black Comix: African American Independent Comics Art and Culture, by Damian Duffy & John Jennings, a reference book spotlighting over fifty different independent black comics creators from the past quarter century. The release of this book was accompanied by a gallery exhibition in New York containing artwork from some of the book’s featured artists.

The GCA ceremony will be held May 20, 2011, in the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Park Central branch, as part of ECBACC, which will take place at the Crown Plaza Hotel Center City, in Philadelphia, PA, May 21, 2011.

About the Glyph Comics Awards:
The Glyph Comics Awards recognize the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year. While it is not exclusive to black creators, it does strive to honor those who have made the greatest contributions to the comics medium in terms of both critical and commercial impact. By doing so, the goal is to encourage more diverse and high quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.

The awards were founded in 2005 by Rich Watson as a means to provide news and commentary of comics with black themes, as well as tangential topics in the fields of black science-fiction/fantasy and animation.

2011

Happy New Year!

I had a great 2010 and hope to streamline and cut and cut and trim the fat of my life, literally and figuratively this year. I'm very excited about it.

Here at the blog, because I have a bunch of avenues online (again), I'm looking to do more insightful dialogue here, something that I don't share anywhere else on the web. I've always been intrigued by the mind of creative people, and since I have The Facebook for quick hits of information, and The Twitters for witticisms and brain dumps, This can be a place for deeper things, or items you can't find in other places.


Onward and Upward.

Jamar featured in Philadelphia Daily News (Again)

                                                                                Photo by AUSTIN LEE

I'd like to go on record to say that all the times I've been in the newspaper, it's never been because I killed somebody.

Celebrate with me and read this feature covering FSKG and also some of my background and why I'm doing the work I'm currently involved in.

Happy Thanksgiving from JN and the COMIC BOOK DINER

I missed Thanksgiving - but the intent is still there!

Head over to my weekly Podcast, COMIC BOOK DINER and check out what myself and John and Rich are doing.

18 episodes are already up since I last spoke about the CBD, so get yourselves caught up - on the site, or subscribe for FREE on iTunes!

Fist Stick Knife Gun in December 2010 EBONY MAGAZINE

Look for my book in the Holiday Buyer's Guide section of this month's EBONY MAGAZINE. Buy it now! Then go buy my book! It makes a great gift for someone in your life who needs to make better choices, or for those who need to understand that life isn't as easy as they may think.

Indie Cred All-Star Redux

I have been asked to be in a group show with several of the creme de la creme of indy comics at the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia. The show will be on view until next year, so you have no excuse. Click the link to see my name with several others.

I can't wait!

PARTY CRASHERS

Comic Book Culture Invades the Art World

NOV 19, 2010 - JAN 16, 2011
Opening reception: Friday, November 19, 7 – 9 pm  Members only preview 6 - 7 pm
For a press release, click here.

PARTY CRASHERS mashes up comic art and contemporary gallery culture, and features artists who pass back and forth between the two worlds. This massive two venue show results from a crosstown collaboration between AAC Director of Exhibitions Jeffry Cudlin and Artisphere Gallery Director Cynthia Connolly. The show’s two independent halves feature different types of work: Connolly’s show presents fine artists who mimic the appearance of comic art; Cudlin’s show at AAC contains: alternative comic artists who also show their original pages and drawings in art galleries; fine and comic artists working side-by-side on a national curated project (Creative Time Comics); and fine and comic artists creating avante-garde, purely abstract sequential art without words or recognizable imagery.

This is what you must do.

Deviant Art

I've been hesitant for years to be active on Deviant Art, an online "Facebook for Artists", but after some hand-wringing I decided to give in.

At the top of my blog, you can see a slideshow with images that I currently have in my gallery on DA. It's a quick way to see some of my work without the need to fistfight through navigation here.


Hope you check me out.

JAMAR FEATURED IN COFFEE TABLE BOOK

image: John Jennings

I've had the good fortune of being featured in the new amazing coffee table book, 

BLACK COMIX: AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEPENDENT COMICS, ART AND CULTURE.

That's a mouthful, but what you see here is a snapshot of what authors John Jennings and Damian Duffy saw as a missing piece in the comic book puzzle: where the voices of African American cartoonists were and if they're being heard. 

Maybe you've never thought about where the black indy comics folk are, but now you can. I'm honored to be in such company. 

The book is on sale and available at Amazon, so scoop it up!
Also, check out some of the other fine work John and Damian are responsible for.

COMIC BOOK DINER

My good pals Rich Faber, John Gallagher and I have started a new podcast called the COMIC BOOK DINER. Find out from three guys who've been around the comics industry in different avenues for years and listen to us talk shop and go over the ins and outs of being in the comic book industry.

This isn't a "Who's stronger? Hulk or Thing?" podcast - there's none of that stuff here. No Comic Book Reviews - this is news you can use if you are trying to get into the comics industry, or already exist in it.

New episode of COMIC BOOK DINER is up live! Listen at the site or on iTunes. Let me know what you think.

Take Charge: Changing a Community One Block at a Time - Geoff Canada

JAMAR IS BACK! FSKG News and More

FIST STICK KNIFE GUN: Pre-Order it now on Amazon.com

Been away for some time and I'm slowly making my way back onto the information superhighway - I'm taking my time to merge, and checking the GPS frequently so I don't get lost this time.

My publisher, Beacon Press has released the cover for my book! It's already listed on Amazon, as well as some other places. Pre-Order a copy now! The book hits the streets in October, but I have to bang pots in the street now. No time like the present.

Check in frequently, as I update you to the progress my book is taking, and also events I'll be at. Since I've posted last, I've created a Facebook Page, since it seems that most of civilization is hanging around there - you can follow me on that thing, and I'm going to try and keep the content different from here. I honestly don't want MORE places to have to try and keep track of - that's a huge part of the reason I took the internet vacation in the first place, but I have this new book to promote, so I don't mind as much right now.

I will be appearing on the First Person Arts' WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT panel on March 9, 2010. Tickets are on sale so go see me live and on stage! I will be talking about the process of adapting a memoir into a sequential narrative format and will be using big words.

I've also had a handful of interviews in the past week, so I'll update you to those as I see them.

It's good to see you again!

AWAY NOTIFICATION

I will be away from this blog and other personal internet endeavors such as my Twitter, etc. until January, 2010. If you would like to keep up to date on what I'm doing, or follow my projects, please sign up for my newsletter, which I will keep updated during this time. I may pop up in other places, but you'll know all about that if you sign up for the newsletter.

Thanks for your support! See you in January!

Jamar

Come see Jamar on stage!

Why Am I Not Famous?!?
Come see Philadelphia’s only live comedy talk show, hosted by 2008 Philly’s Phunniest winner Kent Haines. This month, Onion writer Mike Drucker and comic book creator Jamar Nicholas join Kent for an evening of hilarity and mirth. BYOB!

Why Am I Not Famous?!?
8pm, Wednesday, March 25th
The Shubin Theatre – 407 Bainbridge Street
Tickets $5 – BYOB!

HVD!

Jamar Gets a Book Deal!

The big story of the past season is that I am proud to announce that I will be illustrating a 150+ page graphic adaption of Geoffrey Canada's FIST STICK KNIFE GUN: A Personal History of Violence in America.

You can read more about the acquisition as my publisher, Beacon Press gives some quick PR treatment.

Also here is my first blog post on the Beacon Broadside, Beacon's blog.

I will be posting there during my time creating the book and updating the readers with illustration progress reports. I'm real happy about this, and hope that while you're waiting for me to finish drawing, you snatch up the original memoirs.

I'm very proud to be attached to this project, and hope you check out what Geoff Canada is talking about. If you live in NYC, you probably already know who he is. Peep the Youtoobs. Even the president knows what's up.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Geoffrey Canada

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

T.O.N.Y.: Tapped Out on New York?

Look for my interview with my new pal Bryan Lee O'Malley in the next issue of DRAW!
You can't miss it - it's on the cover!

Hey you motor scooters!

So I have on my itinerary, a trip to the lush metropolis of NYC this weekend for the New York Comic Con, but it may not come to pass. If I do, it'll be on some secret-squirrel in/out type episode - where I exit a cab at the Javitz in slo-motion, my scarf flipping out behind me all Michael Bay style. There might even be doves. I can settle for white pigeons in a pinch.

In any rate, If you're there and you see me, then you saw me. Comic cons for me, besides work and pressing the flesh with the fans, are micro family reunions, where I see old friends for maybe the only time in a year. It's tough to not go.

One thing that's gonna be there is Bryan Lee O'Malley and his 5th Scott Pilgrim book, which I'd like to scoop up, as I love what he's doing right now in his career. I had the chance to interview him a while back for DRAW! magazine, which you may know by now, I put my thing down in from time to time. Mal was real cool and I can't wait for the issue to come out, which I think will be sometime this month. I'll let you know when it drops, but if you're at the con, go check out my pals at the Twomorrows booth, who publishes the magazine and have wonderful people working for them that love the medium of comics.

Are you following me on twitter? You need to be. That'll be the quickest way to see my moves these days - like if I'm on my way to NYC!

LEON: The Anti-Leon League

Click the image for Size Uppinmization!

Hey!

This is my latest LEON strip, for Delaware County Magazine. This one introduces a bunch of new villains, and ones you'll see a lot more of soon! I think I hit a few home runs in this strip, as I've gotten some great compliments on it.

LEON: Back to School

Click the image for biggimizing!

LEON: Protector of the Playground strip from the fall - nothing like new Back to School clothes!

This strip quickly introduces PRINCIPAL PRINCIPLE. He's got his own story that you'll see as we move ahead. Actually the first appearance of the Principal was in my first LEON story, an 8-pager that appeared in EVEN MORE FUND COMICS back in forever-ago. Try to scoop it up now for barter!