Go check out Ringos' blog

My man Mike Wieringo just dropped the nicest words about me (AND A COOL SKETCH) over at his blog today. Go check it out. He's the bestest!

DETECTIVE BOOGALOO DOT COM

We're LIVE, baby!

Man, I'm real proud of this site, and I hope you all enjoy what I got for you down the line - it's gonna be a wild ride, young nephew!

http://www.detectiveboogaloo.com

Let me know what you think!

Just a quick hit. . .

Yo.

Just to let you know, I've been a busy bee lately. Here's some quick hits for you to keep in mind.

NEW BLOG! I know, I have no sense. Go peep the BBWW: Fat Wonder Woman Blog where I post scans of my collection of what it sounds-like.

DETECTIVE BOOGALOO LAUNCHES SOON! Man, IT'S ALMOST JULY! . . .

I've been cleared for landing! I'll be a featured guest at the Baltimore Comic Con in September, so buy your tickets! Don't front! And by the time that comes around, I'll have crazy stuff for you to blow your cash on. And what better than your pal Jamar?

And here's a little somethin' to take you into the weekend. . .

Rich Watson Gets Me.

I've roundaboutly known Rich Watson since the beginning of my story in the comics 'industry', which would start in 1997 or so. I bought one of Riches' mini comics, CELEBRITY, at my first SPX and loved it. I also dug that here was another black dood, out here trying to do this comics thing. I later went on to find out there's a lot more of us in the trenches, and that's always good, not for me, but for the industry - having different outlooks and voices opens the world up to new ideas.

Speaking of such, Rich has a very cool blog called GLYPHS, where he writes about African Americans and other people of color in the entertainment (comics mostly) world. He did a review of Detective Boogaloo a year or so ago, and I think he may be the first person to legit GET Boogaloo and write about it on the internets:

". . .All of this is meant to be buildup for me explaining why I like Jamar Nicholas’ strip Detective Boogaloo. It’s an original concept, to begin with – a hip-hop Columbo, basically. But it’s also evocative of what made old-school hip hop fun, within the context of a cops-and-robbers story. Rappers old and new love boasting of their prowess on the mic, to the point where they make themselves at times seem like superheroes, so it’s no big surprise that Boogaloo and his nemesis Ice Tre have superpowers. The art is obviously heavily influenced by graffiti art, an underestimated yet integral component of the hip hop movement back in its nascent period, and I especially love seeing the clothing styles, old and new, represented in the strip (albeit with slightly altered brand names). And while there is a tongue-in-cheek element to the writing, it is impossible to not recognize the love for hip hop – true hip hop, not the artificial kind manufactured by Madison Avenue and MTV and Hollywood and corporate radio – within it as well."

You're good people, man. Go visit his blog and show him love. Also, here's the rest of that blog entry here-just scroll down, cousin.

HOW IS IT TWO WEEKS LATER?

Shee, I live in a time tunnel.

Here's some sketches: A random marker comp on the back of a art supply store bag, and a Boogaloo study, getting those oldschool macked out poses back down.

Im case you didn't know why the doods used to pose in such stiff gestures, you were trying to emulate a grafitti character come to life, thus the freezeframe poses like the B-BOY STANCE and others. Cats still mug for the cameras the same (kinda) but now insteada the peace sign, doods throw up their affiliations.

There's my hip hop moment for the day.

DETECTIVE BOOGALOO DOT COM IS UP

It's taken a long time, but it's finally almost here.

Detective Boogaloo.com is up, and will unlock next month. Please join me on what I hope will be a great, great adventure.

Go lookit the frontpage, and bookmark it. AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS! I need to get my blowup on so I can live like Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire.

www.detectiveboogaloo.com

LINKAGE: Jim Borgman Blog

Just want to get the word out that ultra-awesome cartoonist Jim Borgman has a blog and it's really worth sinking your teeth into if you're a cartoonist, process junkie or just a fan of his work. Jim is the workhorse who produces editorial cartoons for the Cincinatti Enquirer and also co-creates ZITS, in your funny pages every day.

You may recall I interviewed him in DRAW! Magazine a few issues ago, and I think it may have been the smoothest conversation I've had for the magazine. We chatted like teenaged girls for a long time, and I don't have enough words to explain how sincere and humble Jim is.

I hope I don't get slammed for posting these, but that's the internets for you. Go read!

I'll be back soon with a recap of Wizard World, the show I won't set up for, that's in my own city.

See? NOW I Gotsta Cut'cha.

Another old spot illustration for a now-dead magazine. Hope that's not a trend! Anyway, can't talk for long, it's crazy busy over here in the land of rainbows and talking mailboxes. Gotta go. Leave me some comments, and maybe I'll see you at WW Philly this weekend! Open Neck No Respect!

DITC: DJ Clueless and the perils of Freelancing

Here's some old stuff I did for a music magazine called... um... man, I don't remember what it was called. [Oh yeah, DJ MIXED Magazine. Sez so in my files] All I DO remember is this:

1) I never saw the issue of the magazine when it came out

2) It took them FOREVER + 1 day to pay me.

After I threatened to sic my 'legal representation' on them, they finally coughed up my check. Needless to say I never did more work for them, but thems, unfortunately, are the breaks. It stinks when you do good, QUICK work for clients, then they get all new up on you and forget to pay YOU! The light bill ain't gonna pay itself. I DO remember drawing this on Christmas Eve and Day, because the client NEEDED NEEDED NEEDED IT quickfast. Freelancers don't get vacations, my man. Remember that.

In any event, this was a wordless comic showing our hero going to the music seminar, trying to break into the world of professional (club and turntablism) DJs, and meeting DJ CARL COX, a pretty big fish in the DJ world.

Some of it I thought was funny - most of it has 'huh' moments from the clients script for it, and I was too young to try to help him figure out how to make it flow better. I did what I could and got out of there.

Also at the end here, I added the 'sleeping on the beach' panels from 1 page, as I took them after I did them all and digitally rearranged them. I always liked them. So if you see something repeated, that's why.

YO! STEAK WIZ WITH*

* Translated into how you're supposed to order a Cheesesteak with Cheese Wiz and Onions in a fine south philly establishment.

Steak = The sandwich you want.

Wiz = Cheese Wiz. Replace 'Wiz' with 'Provolone' if you prefer.

With, or better said 'Wit' = Onions. WITH onions, or Wit'out is NO onions. Come on, you're almost there!

This image is suspect. I believe it was shot at a reputable establishment, but the photographer must be from out of town. no one eats them from the side like that.

As a philadelphian, for what it's worth, an authentic one is supposed to be ordered from under a yellow light, from a window you walk up to. Your local Hardee's or SubWay does NOT make Philly Cheesesteaks. Don't freaking kid yourself.

World's Finest (Like Supes and Bats up here) can be found at these shows. You gotta love 'em though. And it's not that bad. Philly doesn't crawl with the costumed types because they'd be fighting FOR REAL on the Orange Line trying to get to the show in one piece. That's how we do in the 2-1-5.

OH! Also, Wiz World Philly is what me and my people call the Wizard World show that'll be in town next weekend, where you shall see yours truly. I won't be set up, but as usual, if you see me, and want a sketch, I'll do one for you by bogarting someone elses table and sitting right on their girl to do it. I'm just that nice.

Some dood made a song about cheesesteaks. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. And just in case you wanted to know, go to Tony Lukes. Pat & Geno's is for the drunk and desperate.

And don't ever forget - you order fries from the next window, Not here.

Took a coffee break . . .

Here's an old freelance gig - a spot illustration for a magazine long dead now. The colored version of this resides on mt also long dead external hard drive, may it rest in pieces.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY RAWKS!

Ayo, kid - FCBD was TEH AWESOME! I met lots of new friends and fans, and my pals over at Captain Blue Hen do a great job running an event and making the artists feel like gold.

Doing free sketches for the kids is the best part of being able to use this 'ability' that I've worked on - seeing a kid's eyes light up as they watch your magic trick - taking a piece of blank paper and making something happen out of the blue makes it all worth it (See the figure above, who was going insane over the Scarecrow I drew for him).

The kids are definately what fuels me at things like this - it's such a polar opposite of drawing for some collector who just wants to see if you're worth making an ebay auction out of. You can see it in their eyes - they don't care about the magic, it's a commodity, and that sucks. Being at this comic shop last Saturday make me wish that the industry wasn't so bass ackwards.

In any event, more bloggy goodness can be found on my pal Mike Manley's blog and my newer pal and Mike's assistant Bonaia Rosado, who's doing her own thing. (She just had an issue of TMNT just drop, putting tones down over my pal Scott Cohn's art.)

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! (Saturday the 6th)

So, for all of you out there on the internets, this Saturday, I'll be taking a part in FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, doing sketches and signing and all that silliness at my favorite comic shop in the whole wide world*Captain Blue Hen Comics** in majestic Newark, Delaware.

If you don't know already, FCBD is where comic shops attempt to get people back into the hobby by giving out comics to the masses - that are made ESPECIALLY for that day, and are yeah, F-R-E-E.

So, yunno, if you thought this was about running up in a shop and boosting an arm full of low-digit Fantastic Fours, you can't.

Well, you could, but. . . yunno, let's just not go there. And don't do it where I'm at, because I don't wanna have to come at you like that. Just behave yourself.

Anyway, come check me out. I'll be out there with some of my East Coast bretheren, doing things real big.

*They didn't pay me to say that. And it may not be my favorite, but it's in the top 3. But, yunno, I never thought about it that much. But you should go anyway, because it's a great store. DO IT! GET IN THE CHOPPA!

**Go Fighting Blue Hens! It's a UDelaware thing, U Wouldn't Understand.

2 good
2 be
--
4 gotten

Yo. Fell off the horse, but I'll be back next week. In the interim, here's my idea of Iron Man's next suit - Break Room Armor.

Cop DRAW! #12 AWWWYEAH.

So my good pal Mike Manley, the Monsignor of Mighty Meticulous Masterworks, just released to the masses the new DRAW! Magazine! #12 is here, and I was lucky enough to interview a great talent, MIKE HAWTHORNE in this issue.

Mike Hawthorne is on the blow-up, currently doing HYSTERIA over at Image Comics and making shit you'd wanna read. That says alot these days.

Anyway, go find the issue and enjoy! Mikes marks my third interview, and It's always a blast talking shop with my peers.

SWAB: Sip Water and Build

I came up with that phrase a few years ago when I was at San Diego Comic Con with my home-slice Khalid Robertson AKA BIGSTEELO. When everybody else was trying to wild out like Nick Cannon and get all drunk on 8 dollar hotel beers, Khalid asked me what I wanted to do - how I wanted to treat my evening, and I said, "Man, I'm just trying to Sip my water and build".

That's what I'm trying to do right now - just show some of the art from my drawers of sketches that I have, and give a little insight as to what goes through my crowded head. Love to hear what you think, all 10 of you who come here!

Now on with the sketches. I threw in one redline from one of my Tribune strips.

Remember to SWAB every day, young nephew.

WEEKEND POST: Oh, here it is.

Remeber I showed you that piece I did for Kurtz a while ago, here it is in color. Done with Prismacolor markers and then cut and laid out on cardstock.

Sketch Dump. Now I feel 10 lbs. lighter!

Here's just random stuff. From the minds of minolta.

DAMN! Two days in a row!

Some color for your bleary Thursday.

DITC: Boogaloo Boomin' in your Benzi Box

Here's an old image from Boogaloo, when I was still trying to find out what the cast would look like. There's a buncha people in there who changed, or who never made the cut. Notice THESAURUS JONES with no High-Top Fade. He was gonna have a hustler cut. Still has the shag, though. . .