Archive for the 'Previous Guests' Category
Comic Books in the Classroom: Learn how comic books and mythology can be used to promote creativity, critical thinking and literacy: reading writing and counting. Panelists will look at the range of uses for traditional comic books and related media in the contemporary classroom to improve the skills of young scholars through critical thinking and creative writing. Myriad subjects, from grammar and syntax, math and science, civics and ethics, etc., can be tackled using comic books as an educational resource.
Kevin Grevioux is an American actor, screenwriter, and comic book writer.
Grevioux was born in Chicago, Illinois and spent most of his childhood in Minnesota, Boston, and New Jersey. He has been seen in such films as The Mask, Steel, Congo, Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake and the 2003 vampire vs. werewolf film, Underworld, starring actress Kate Beckinsale. He has also worked as a stuntman on occasion.
Underworld was Grevioux’s first produced writing credit. He came up with the original premise and wrote the original screenplay along with director Len Wiseman, launching the Underworld franchise. He appears in the film himself as the lycan Raze and will return as the character in the Underworld prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which he will also be adapting into a comic book mini-series. He also expressed an interest in telling more Underworld stories in comic form if this proves successful.
Using Romeo and Juliet as an archetype, Grevioux, a former microbiologist with a background in genetic engineering, actually based Underworld on his experiences with interracial dating and the tension that it often causes. He also brought a scientific element to the world of vampires and werewolves by basing vampirism and lycanthropy on a viral mutagen rather than the mysticism typically associated with these two mythic creatures.
Early 2006 saw Grevioux form two comic book imprints, Astounding Studios and DarkStorm Studios. Grevioux’s Astounding Studios imprint was to focus on All-Ages titles such as Valkyries, Guardian Heroes and The Hammer Kid. The Darkstorm Studios imprint was a more mature line, including the books Alius Rex, Thanatos and Uzan, The Mighty.
Grevioux has written for Marvel Comics’ New Warriors volume 4 and working with Mat Broome on Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel. He also wrote ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction for Red 5 Comics.
Starting at the tender age of 17, Jamal Yaseem Igle has worked his way up the ranks from Intern at D.C. Comics to a successful penciling career. Over the years, Jamal has been editor, art director and animation storyboard artist for numerous companies such as Sony Animation and Scholastic Inc. He is currently an Exclusive Artist for DC Comics.
Jamal is the co-creator of the comic book series VENTURE, along with writer Jay Faerber, published by Image Comics. Jamal’s detailed pencils have graced books such as Countdown: The Search for Ray Palmer: Crime Society, Nightwing, and Firestorm The Nuclear Man. In addition Jamal is an active volunteer with the Museum of Comic and Cartoon art, as well as a guest lecturer on the subject of comics and animation. A former instructor of Comics and Sequential art at the Art Students league of New York, Jamal is working on issues of Countdown #21, Green lantern Corps #18 and Teen Titans #52, as well as the maxi-series Tangent: Superman’s Reign. His next project for DC will be announced very soon.
Jamal is married to his beautiful wife, Karine and father to a beautiful baby girl, Catherine.
Tony Isabella
Tony Isabella has been a comics fan since childhood. In 1972, that passion drew him to Marvel Comics where he began his career as an assistant to Roy Thomas.
In his 36-year career, Isabella has been an editor for both Marvel and DC. He was a pioneer in the comic book retail business as a specialty store owner and distributor. He created Black Lightning, the first black hero to star in his own DC Comics title. A Black Lightning action figure, part of the Total Justice line, is one of his most treasured possessions and much cooler than all other action figures.
Isabella’s body of work is diverse. A partial list of his comics credits would include: Captain America, Daredevil, Doc Savage, Donald Duck, Dracula, Elvira, Ghost Rider, Hawkman, Luke Cage, Mickey Mouse, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, Tarzan, Uncle Scrooge, and Young Love. With Bob Ingersoll, he’s written two prose novels: Captain America: Liberty’s Torch and Star Trek: the Case of the Colonist’s Corpse.
Isabella is a contributing editor and the lead reviewer for Comics Buyer’s Guide. His humorous and thoughtful “Tony’s Tips!” is a favorite among fans and industry professionals alike. He was CBG’s first columnist and remains one of its most popular. He’s reviewed more comics and related items than any one else writing for CBG, and he has reviewed a wider variety of comics (manga, small press, etc.) than anyone else writing for the magazine.
In June of 1997, the nigh-daily “Tony’s Online Tips” debuted on the World Famous Comics website. Isabella’s thousands of columns are believed to be an online record in the comics community.
Isabella continues to work and write for a variety of comics and non-comics clients while developing new projects. His major 2009 project is a hardcover book on comics that may well be his ultimate expression of what he’s been doing in his columns all these years.
Isabella, his wife Barbara, and children Eddie and Kelly reside in Medina, Ohio.
TONY’S ONLINE TIPS
http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony
2008 Glyph Comics Awards (GCA), Story of the Year winner
Underground hip-hop icon Percy “MF Grimm” Carey tells the true story of his life in the game – from dizzying heights to heartbreaking losses – in this raw, brutally honest graphic novel memoir.
In SENTENCES, Carey chronicles his life in the sometimes glamourous, often violent, world of hip-hop. From the first time he picked up a microphone at a bloc party to the day he lost the use of his legs to gang violence and back around to his reincarnation and rise to the top of his game as a Hip-Hop Grand Master, no questions are left unanswered and no apologies are made, resulting in a truly moving graphic novel National Public Radio called “powerful” and Time Magazine labeled as “a top 10 best graphic novel of 2007.”
Dwayne J. Ferguson (a.k.a Hunter Wolf) continues to develop a long portfolio of achievements.
In 1986, at the age of nineteen and in his sophomore year at Rutgers University, Hamster Vice, the first issue of the popular comic book series was published. The comics, about animal cops Hammy, Ben, and Wolph versus criminal roaches, went on to become Blackthorne Publishing’s top-selling book for over 16 months. The first issue, Hamster Vice: Rumble Roach sold 42 thousand copies in one month and placed Ferguson’s feet into the door of professional comics.
Taking a break from Hamster Vice, he went on to create the futuristic detective Captain Africa. Operating from the fictional city of Egyptica, Prince Najee M’witu wages a personal war on crime and, with the help of his best friend, inventor Buni Mandella, sets off to build the ultimate weapon: the Falcon Shadow armor suit.
In November 1990, Ferguson’s publishing company DIEHARD Studio Entertainment released the 120-page illustrated novel Captain Africa: The Battle for Egyptica. In 1992, the completely revised novel grew to 144 pages, with over 25 new illustrations, and a beautifully airbrush-rendered cover by the writer/artist. The book is published by Africa World Press in paperback and hardcover.
The popular character was also featured in his own 3-issue comic book series published by DIEHARD Studio Entertainment, entitled Captain Africa: Bite of the Scrab. Also during the 1990’s, Ferguson was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the US Department of Agriculture for his lecture on the importance of racial harmony in society and in literature. The enterprising creator also works in other media…1993 marked the release of his first toy line Snailiens: Supersonic Shell Fighters based on issues five and six of Hamster Vice. The Snailiens waged a never-ending war against the Lunar-Ticks in a battle to save earth. The spring of 1994 yielded the release of six 64-page Mighty Morphin Power Rangers activity books, illustrated by Ferguson, featuring characters from the #1 rated kid’s show in the country.
On September 17, 1994, Ferguson’s first animated project Mutant League premiered on Saturday and Sunday mornings across the nation in the #1 spot. The cartoon is about a sports league of mutated athletes who compete in the world’s most dangerous sports. Ferguson was the Art Director, character designer, props, background and storyboard artist for the animated series. The characters are based on the Sega Genesis games Mutant League Football and Mutant League Hockey.
In March 1997, Ferguson was hired by Sony Music to develop concept art for the super-rock band Aerosmith’s Nine Lives album. April 1997 marked the launch of his latest project, Kid Caramel Private Investigator mystery series for children. The books are entitled The Case of the Missing Ankh, The Werewolf of PS 40, Mess at Loch Ness, and Ghost Ranch: The Legend of Mad Jake.
The series is produced by the award-winning publisher Just Us Books, Inc. The fifth book in the series will be released soon. Ferguson is producing the Kid Caramel: Private Investigator animated series, which will premier in the near future. Fans can get a sneak peek of the trailer on the website www.kidcaramel.com.
Currently, he is a regular writer for 3D HDRI magazine dedicated to 3D animation. He has also written and co-authored several technology-based books for the publishers Against The Clock, such Mac OS X, FrontPage 2000, Flash MX, Dreamweaver 4 and more. Additionally, Ferguson is a Graphics Instructor for the Virtual Training Company. He develops software application tutorials such as Lightwave 3D, Animating in Flash, Combustion, Adobe Creative Suite Power Projects, iLife, Poser, and Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and more.
In 2004, Hunter created, directed and produced a 15 minute animated short film called Black Zero: Mercenary Ant. His film is shown at film festivals around the country and is receiving excellent reviews from attendees and curators of the festivals. His film was shown at the Cape May Film Festival in 2005, Cape May New Jersey and was shown at the Hollywood Black Film Festival 2006, in Beverly Hills California.
As for future projects, he knows what they are and he is not telling for now but you can bet that they will be worth the wait.
Mshindo Kuumba I. is mostly well known for his enduring attention to detail and the “Afro-centric” look to his work. “Africa being so instrumental in civilizing the world, I found it peculiar that a strong positive image of Africans is largely absent from contemporary media. Since my youth I wanted to build a career addressing this discrepancy.”
Born in 1964, Mshindo, largely a self developed talent, moved through his early years developing each aspect of his art one skill at a time. “I was fascinated by art that looked realistic and photo realism.” Studying one aspect of the process at a time allowed Mshindo to develop strong foundation skills that would become the hallmark of “The Mshindo I. look”.
Moving from pencil techniques to ink, color pencil and airbrush in that fashion allowed for lengthy study with each technique. Some of the early influences were: his Father, older brother, Mike Bonum (the after school teacher who he did his first painting with), Frank Frazetta, Amsel, Keith Pollard, Neal Adams and many others whose names were not known… just the fantastic lessons in their work.
After high school and a three year infantry medic stint, Mshindo ventured out into the world as a freelance artist selling tee shirts with a newly acquired airbrush at a flee market while living on Oahu Hawaii. It is here he met a Rastafarian named Bongo I Fareed who would change his entire life! He was the true African influence that not only taught Mshindo to be an entrepreneur, he lead him to the waters of African culture which Mshindo drank freely from. He stressed the need for self knowledge, self education and the truth of the Africans place in the world historic view.
Returning to the states in 1985 Mshindo continued to vend and grow a reputation for being a “true artist.” He began to attract clients like The Salvation Army, The NYC Fire and Police Dept., McDonalds, and the V.I.M. store chain. Celebrities and educators were also apart of this long list such as: Bobby Brown, Vertical Hold (including Angie Stone), Arrow, Mathew St. Patrick, John Henrik Clarke, Leonard Jefferies, Queen Afua and Baba Heru. Mshindo’s talents were also noticed by comic companies like; A & B, Ania, Brainstorm, Continuity, Defiant, Valiant, Broadway, Crusade, Kevlar, Amara and DC comics.
Currently Mshindo is honing his digital skills to complete yet another learning cycle in his over 20yr. experience. He is working on self publishing and reproductions of his astonishing work. Please visit www.mshindoiart.com to see more work from this bright star of the artistic universe.
Digital Technology For Liberation Artistry Pt 5:
This Is How You Do It!
Brother G and Mshindo I will show the Cinema Graphic Novel adventure “Zulu Mech 1″ and present the techniques used to create the epic series.
Brother G will explain how we used the latest ways to get paid, distribute and protect artistry using digital technology and how we used new media to level the playing field for small independent producers and publishers. Then, Mshindo will demonstrate artistic and storytelling techniques so that other artists can creat their own Cinema Graphic Novels. In addition, new information about international markets via the internet will be discussed.
Gregory L. Walker, CEO of Seker Nefer Productions, is a Chicago-based journalist, poet, historian and author. He is the author of Shades Of Memnon, a novel series about the activities of the ancient Kushites of Africa.
ECBACC, Inc. is proud to present the longest running (okay, 3 years) comics panel featuring Black women. For ECBACC 2009, the panel is titled, “Having Our Say: Black Women discuss Youth and Beauty”. Topics during earlier Having Our Say panels have included speculative fiction, love, and humor. Please see the information below about the panelists scheduled to participate on Saturday, May 16.
Cheryl Lynn Eaton
Cheryl Lynn Eaton is the founder and creator of the Ormes Society. The Ormes Society, named after the legendary pioneering cartoonist of color Jackie Ormes, is an organization dedicated to supporting black female comic creators and promoting the inclusion of black women in the comics industry as creators, characters and consumers. Cheryl Lynn maintains the Ormes Society website and also maintains Torchbearers, an online community with a specific focus on black female characters in sequential art and animation.
DigitalFemme.com
The Ormes Society
Leilani Hickerson
Leilani is a freelance illustrator by day, supreme juggling master by night. She was born in the heartland of New Jersey in the year of 1983. She climbed her way to the top of the trenches and graduated in 2006 from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. There she received her BFA in Illustration and to her surprise, attained the university’s most distinguished illustration award. With comic exhibitions travelling worldwide she still enjoys her downtime. She enjoys ice coffee, pumping iron, reading comics by firelight, and illustrating her and her sister’s upcoming children’s comic My Hafu©.
Lanitai.deviantart.com
LeilaniHickerson.blogspot.com
Arie Monroe
Arie is originally from Kansas City Missouri. She has a passion for comics, illustration, and animation. Her work is inspired by a multitude of styles from fine art to anime. Some of her favorite artists include Norman Rockwell, Josh Middleton, Dan Haskett, Bruce Timm and Chris Sanders. She specializes in drawing girls, but is always up for the challenge of drawing whatever is placed in front of her. She also enjoys drawing things geared toward kids and has some experience working with licensed product design.
Drawlikecrazy.net
Mainasha.deviantart.com
Stephanie Brandford - Facilitator
Nichelle Nichols began her professional singing and dancing career in her home town, Chicago, at the tender age of 14. As a teenager, she was discovered by the great Duke Ellington who hired her to choreograph and perform a ballet for one of his musical suites, and finished the tour as his lead singer. Nichelle has performed in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including guest artist with Lionel Hampton’s band.
Nichelle was cast by Gene Roddenberry to create Lt. Uhura in his legendary TV series, Star Trek. Subsequently, co-starred in the six blockbuster Star Trek motion pictures. She is in constant demand to appear before the millions of “Trekkers” who keep the dream alive around the world.
Here is a tribute video created by Mizanmedia honoring Nichelle Nichols for her work as Lt. (Cmdr.) Uhura in the world of Star Trek for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) in 2008.
She was twice nominated for the coveted Sarah Siddons Award for best actress for her performances in the theatre productions of Jenet’s “The Blacks” and the Oscar Brown Jr. musical “Kicks and Company.” She starred in the touring Broadway hits, “Horowitz and Mrs. Washington,” and “Nunsense II”. In her one-woman show, “REFLECTIONS,”, she ‘becomes’ twelve legendary female entertainers, utilizing her beautiful three octave vocal range to rave reviews and plans for a CD album and a OVD of “REFLECTIONS.”
Nichelle was chosen to perform as guest solo artist with the Erie Pennsylvania Philharmonic Orchestra for their 80th Anniversary Celebration. She also performed as solo artist with the Symphony Orchestra of the California State University-Northridge, where she previously was commencement speaker for their School of Arts. Her latest CD album, “NICHELLE… OUT OF THIS WORLD, contains her original composition, “Gene,” in honor of “The Great Bird”.
On January 9, 1992, Nichelle was awarded her much deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A few weeks before, she became the first African-American to place her handprints and signature in the cement walk at the famous Mann’s (Grauman’s) Chinese Theatre. Along with her other command crew members on the Starship Enterprise, Nichelle was installed in a special exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, an unprecedented accolade for the entertainment industry.
Nichelle’s autobiography, “BEYOND UHURA,” and her first sci-fi novel, “SATURN’S CHILD,” featuring and intergalactic heroine, Saturna and its sequel, “SATURA’S QUEST” received critical acclaim. Currently, she is developing a children’s Edutainment franchise, “EUREKA ROAD”. In recognition of her many accomplishments, Nichelle was conferred a Doctor of Arts, honoris causa, from Marywood College on their 80th anniversary at which she delivered the commencement address. In July 2002, she was inducted as an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
Nichelle’s public service activities have been equally outstanding. Under contract to NASA she took on the daunting task to successfully recruit the first women and minority astronauts for the Space Shuttle Program, for which she received NASA’S distinguished Public Service Award for her pioneering efforts. She continues as a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, and as a member of the Advisory Board of the International Space Camp.
In 2004 Nichelle was selected as one of the International Human Rights Consortium’s FETE d’EXCELLENCE Laureates. The commendation reads:
You have been selected for the Medaille d’Excellence 2004 in the category of ‘Edutainment.’ This is in recognition of your being a true innovator, a woman of courage and commitment to the deepest values of excellence through your artistry within the world of entertainment and also as an innovative educator and patron to learning and inspiring the budding minds and hearts of youth.”
Nichelle recently was chosen to join the cast, beginning in the second season, of the NBC blockbuster television series “HEROES”.
Read the latest news and information about Nichelle Nichols at www.uhura.com.
