J2D2

Little Guardians Guest Comic

2011-12-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

Today through Saturday check out my five page guest strip for Little Guardians, the kick arse webcomic by my friends (and yours, if you'd just give the chance internet) Ed Cho and Lee Cherolis.

Seriously though, if you've never read it, check out the archives. That's some pan seared to perfection well seasoned Good Comics right there.

HOLE REDUX

2011-12-19T23:47:00.001-08:00

Coloration of THE HOLE inks I posted.

NEW WORK

2011-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Some recent artworks that I done deed. -J.

ZAHRAH collaboration with Ashley A. Woods

2011-12-16T11:26:00.001-08:00

Intern Blue by D2

2011-12-15T21:47:00.000-08:00

Dr. Blue as an intern, along with his supervisor at Satellite Hospital, Dr. Nera Haptl. Dr. Blue is a comic I want to do someday, like most things I draw/write that are not grad school related.

Will Eisner on literacy

2011-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Had the opportunity to reread Will Eisner's books on comics and sequential art and graphic storytelling and all that. This quote inspired me (Damian) to draw this strip. I'd intended to do a more detailed background, but, meh.

Cybernavigator Stories

2011-12-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

These are some short comics stories drawn by Damian and colored by John, adapted with Professor Kate Williams from transcripts from interviews with people who work in Chicago Public Library branches, teaching digital literacy skills.

Zom--B-Boy

2011-10-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

An Urban Kreep drawing by Damian.

Vampironaut Page 4 (Breakdowns)

2010-12-30T15:16:00.000-08:00

Backgrounds and finishes by Mr. Tincher forthcoming.

Flying Abstracty

2010-12-21T14:12:00.001-08:00

Wurd Boonz

2010-12-12T13:00:00.001-08:00

Abstractish comic I drew for part of a dance/comics collaboration thing we're working on. John'll color this at some point.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Agents of S.L.E.E.P.

2010-11-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

As you've no doubt heard from the set leaks and the paparazzi, the art is just getting underway on Agents of S.L.E.E.P., the dream spy adventure comic written by me (Damian. Howdy.), with pencils by the incomparable Ashley A. Woods and colors by the irascible John I. Jennings.
Actually, John's not irascible. It takes awhile for him to get pissed off and hit you for talking about his anger management issues in an online public forum.
I just like the way that word sounds. Irascible.
And I totally walked into a door. Yep. Door.

Cage Match!

2010-11-18T01:33:00.000-08:00

Drawn via iPad app+finger, made for ghettoManga, delivered here for you with virtual asynchronous love.
Good night, internet.

Mr. Bombhead -in- Ticking Time Bomb

2010-10-02T13:25:00.001-07:00

Amorphs: An abstract comic thing

2010-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Also a cathartic torturing of an "A" for a logo I was working on.

A comic about a house gremlin takes a turn for the strange.

2010-09-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Because that's how we (Damian Duffy and Ed Cho, that is) roll at DamCho Jam Comics.

Groovy Time Bomb: an abstract webcomic

2010-08-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

4

3
2
1
0

Mr. Bombhead: Guru

2010-08-17T13:18:00.001-07:00

The Blueprint

2010-08-11T21:46:00.001-07:00

To be a doctor is to be a storyteller. To write the story of a life. To suture language and science to organs and viscera and connective tissue.

Sometimes there’s too much autobiography. A cardiologist sees only heart conditions, a neurologist only maladies of the brain.

But, when you specialize in treating galaxies, you tend to take in the bigger picture.

Fall 2010, The Doctor is Infinite

Mr. Media interviews J2D2 about Black Comix

2010-07-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mr. Media's Bob Andelman for the great interview! And thanks to Skype for the ability to watch myself talk, so I spent most of my time distracted by that piece of hair sticking out from under my hat. Me and my stylist is gonna have words.
You can also check out the video on Chat About It right now, and on the Mr. Media wesbite in about a week.
So, in a week from now, I'll be using that as an excuse to repost this video and continue the deluge of shameless self-promotion that is the life of J2D2.

The AV Club gives Black Comix an "A"!

2010-07-30T12:27:00.001-07:00

The AV Club critics give Black Comix: Independent African American Comics Arts and Culture a shiny happy "A," describing it as "a must-buy for anyone interested in the incredibly dynamic world of non-mainstream black comics" and " simply gorgeous to look at."
I said it before, and I'll say it again:

Sonic Eclectic interviews J2D2 bout Black Comix

2010-07-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Sonic Eclectic interviews authors Damian Duffy and John Jennings about their soon to be released art book Black Comix: African American Independent Comics Art and Culture. It is video, which I know you kids like nowadays on your cleverphones and your e-posts.

Poetry for the People

2010-07-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

A poster I designed for a series of community poetry events put together by the fine folks of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center and the Public I, here in the J2D2 Illinois homebase.

Kings of New York

2010-07-14T12:22:00.001-07:00

Well, ambassadors to New York, anyway. John and I will be in the NYC this weekend starting TONIGHT with an all out BLACK COMIX NYC WEEKEND (which may or may not involve a soft-shoe from Christopher Walken, or Wesley Snipes calling "Larry" Fishburne a chicken eating motherfucker. Man that was a strange movie.)
Anyway, here is the official schedule. Unfortunately I (Damian, he who blogs) will not be able to make the Meet N' Greet tonight because I'll be on the plane from Champaign. And I hope it doesn't rain, for that would be a pain, mayne.

If you can't get to any of the events, I pity you. WAIT! No I don't! You can still catch us on TV on Saturday, July 17, live from the Harlem Book Fair on C-SPAN 2. We'll be on the literacy panel at 6:45, along with other awesome black comics creators and authors. While you're at it, you should probably tune in for the Diversity in Children's & Young Adult Publishing panel and catch Mama's Boyz creator, master cartoonist, and Black Comix contributor Jerry Craft.

Below, the official word on our public appearances:

From a meet & greet and panel discussion to an all out party, Black Comix is celebrating rising artists, writers and publishers in the African American comics community.

Black Comix NYC Weekend takes place July 14-17 in advance of the upcoming book release Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture.

By Damian Duffy & John Jennings, Black Comix brings together an unprecedented collection of largely unheard of, and undeniably masterful, comics art while also framing the work of these men and women in a broader historical and cultural context.

With a foreword by Keith Knight and over 50 contributors, including Phonzie Davis, Jan-Michael Franklin, Frances Liddell, Kenjji Marshall, Lance Tooks, Rob Stull, Ashley A. Woods and more, the cross section of comics genres represented includes manga, superheroes, humor, history, science fiction and fantasy.

BLACK COMIX NYC SCHEDULE

July 14, 6 – 9 p.m.
Meet & Greet
House of Art
373 Lewis Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

July 15, 6 – 11 p.m.
Official Pre-Release Party
6p-11p
MADAME X
94 West Houston Street
New York, NY

July 17
HARLEM BOOK FAIR
Panel Discussion: From Digital Divide to Digital Inequality: Bridging the Market-driven Literacy Gap
(Live Broadcast C-Span2)
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10030

Comics Futurism

2010-06-27T10:35:00.001-07:00

Abstract-ish comic art thing remixing a panel from one of my academic comics essay things.

Black Comix Blog

2010-06-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Is the place to be.

It's Hard Out Here for a Homicidal Vampire

2010-06-21T20:04:00.001-07:00

This is John Dyson Marcula.
Nobody likes him, because he's a big jerk.
Actually, he's a little jerk, he's only 5'2", but the fact remains: Jerk.

Off Register

2010-06-05T13:56:00.001-07:00

He of the D2, self-portraitized for your enjoyment.

Billie Really Liked That T-Shirt

2010-05-26T21:54:00.001-07:00

Billie Dracula

She's dressed to get herself killed...

...if she's not careful.

Abstract Comics by Damian

2010-05-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Is called Zip Lines. Because it's made out of a Zippy the Pinhead cover image. And it's made out lines. Put that in your smoke pipe and crack it.
P.S. click to EMBIGGEN!

Dressed to Steal a Spaceship

2010-05-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Another detail from page three of the forthcoming Vampironaut comic, awaiting backgrounds by Dann Tincher.

Comix!!..and stuff...

2010-05-21T10:10:00.001-07:00

So, the summer has started and so have we! Damian and I have both finished with our arduous spring semester and are moving into comix production mode. We love that mode...so much.

So, yesterday, I discovered that I actually had TIME TO DRAW! Holy Crap! Think of that! TIME TO DRAW...it rolls from the tongue like nectar! At any rate, my good friend and partner in crime forwarded me a call for entries to an artshow based on the band DOOMTREE ( who are awesome,btw.) so, I did some art for that!...and a Pitch image...ANNND...the Octoclown..because he likes DOOMTREE as well. He would like to eat them for dinner..but, he still likes them all the same...so, enjoy and avoid calamari and circuses on the same night.

It's Alive! ...er... Undead!

2010-05-20T21:29:00.001-07:00

Back up in this blog. Drawing Vampironaut. Yeah.

Crickets Riding Tumbleweeds

2010-05-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

Dear fans, friends, and unskilled googlers looking for the Japanese pop band J2,

That echoing sound of silence here on the blog is coming from the terrifying abyss known as the end of the spring semester, here at our collective employer-by-day, known as the University.
Once the papers are graded, the finals written, and the all-too-brief naps enjoyed, we will be back in full effect with so much J2D2 Arts we might have to change our name to J2,157D2,157 Arts.

Love,
What-Remians-of-Damian's-Brain-Meats

MORE C2E2 GOODNESS...

2010-04-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

The images from this post are courtesy of the awesomely awesome AKI ANTONIA. She graciously took photos of the BLACK COMIX panel and has allowed us to post them here. Check out her new blog at:http://bronzevilleblogchicago.blogspot.com/

This is not a C2E2 report

2010-04-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

This is not a full report of the C2E2 convention. Because I wanted to do that as a cool autobio comic with the pictures that I took and some drawings and things. But comics take time, you see, and school continues to stomp on my time like Super Mario stomps on walking mushrooms.
And why Mario? The Goombas only kill you if you're not paying attention, and it's not like you don't already have multiple lives you immortal Italian Plumber Highlander-esque freak.
There can be only 1-UPs!
Wait, what was I talking about?
Video of the Black Comix panel posted by Ashley A. Woods

Videos of the Black Comix panel from Chicago Radio

Thanks to everyone who was a panelist on, attended, taped, photographed, reported on, thought about, or otherwise gave love to the Black Comix C2E2 panel.
But no love for you, Super Mario Brothers. More like "Super-Abusers-of-Sentient Mushroom Brothers."
If you see what I did there.
I'm going to bed now.

I'M ALIVE!

2010-04-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hey. So, I have been running around the country like a crazy man. Actually, the criminal organization KAOS is after me for some unknown reason. They are pretty scary, despite what you saw on the TV show...um..anyway, here are three AGENTS OF SL.E.E.P. pages I did today.

Hope you digs...and I promise not to be gone so long again.

Promo poster

2010-04-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sure to adorn high school lockers and college dorm rooms the nation over. Or, uh, the wall of my office. Whatever.

Onomatopoeic

2010-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hark! The sounds of an off-camera ass whupping.

Picasso Knight Revisited

2010-03-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

Image I put together for the upcoming Bad at Sports exhibition at Apex Art in New York.
My private jet is once again in the shop, and my helicopter has been repossessed (dashed recession and all that!), so I shan't be there myself, so please, go in my honor and treat your eyeballs and brainmeats.
P.S. click to embiggen.
CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!!!

Present! HEE!

2010-03-24T12:13:00.001-07:00

Been a bit quiet here lately. Sorry throngs of J2D2 fans. John is travelling to every third state in the union, while Damian has recently remembered that, this being spring break, all the school work he said he was going to do over spring break has to, y'know, be done.
We shall resume a greater flurry of activity momentarily.
In the meantime, please, enjoy this random out-of-context panel from the forthcoming installment of DamCho Jam Comics.

Time is Never Time Enough

2010-03-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Detail from a comic I'm working on about the J2D2 collaborative process. (Of making comics, not drinking. Although the two do seem to be related...)

Help Jen Vaughn Rock SXSW!

2010-03-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

And check out her webcomic Mermaid Hostel too. It's a charming comedy indeed.
Jen's press release:

Cartoonist Jen Vaughn is thrilled to announce her first SXSW InteractiviZINE! From March 12th to March 16th, she will attend the SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Festival in Austin, TX and will "cover" the event multimedia-style in her Interactivitizine! SXSW is chock full of panels, events, and of course parties, related to social media, convergence, video games, start-ups and anything Internet. Upon the conclusion of her visit, Jen will post her drawings, notes, photos and other ephemera from the festival on her website for everyone to share the wealth of information gleaned.

Jen is accepting donations of $5 and up towards her SXSW InteractiviZINE experience via her website (http://www.mermaidhostel.com/sxsw-interactivizine-fundraiser/). Anyone who donates will receive a LIMITED EDITION (PRINT) SXSW InteractiviZINE full of panel notes, comics and other special goodies made especially by Jen Vaughn.

Jen creates a weekly webcomic called Mermaid Hostel and her previous works include Menstruation Station: Menarche Aboard!, and Don't Hate, Menstruate. She is also an enthusiastic member of the Rare Bits Comics Collective.

When Art Goes Bad....

2010-02-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

...they call in...

The Improbable Picasso Knight!

More Progress on the Splut

2010-02-22T13:45:00.001-08:00

This is for Vampironaut. Partner-in-Eye-Trauma Dann Tincher is rocking the backgrounds for this book, so it's totally on him whether you get to see that Fully Finished Splut I'm sure you've all been waiting for with bated breath.

Damian Duffy (c) 2010 Damian Duffy

2010-02-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Vision Vision

2010-02-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

Un Comeek Abstract:

Made from some reappropriated online images of the Vision, from the Avengers.
I recently read an issue of The Avengers from the 90s. Cheesy, but with some clever narrative stuff in there. Have to do a post about it soon.

A Splut in Progress

2010-02-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

I could go o-on and o-on/And on, and on, and on.
HELL YES!

Peter Kuper and Jeff Mason

2010-02-12T20:28:00.001-08:00

I was working on this essay comic thing where I was quoting World War 3 publisher and artist Peter Kuper and Alternative Comics publisher Jeff Mason, but the comic has either been scrapped or put off for another year. But I gotta do something with these damn drawings so here you go:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Click to embiggen. CLICK TO EMBIGGEN.
Incidentally, these were based on a rather fuzzy photocopied picture of these guys, so actually likeness may vary.

Star Clipper Art Show Extended!

2010-01-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

The J2D2 ArtShow at St. Louis' very own Star Clipper Comics has been so successful, it's been extended until the weekend of February 20, 2010.
If you're in the area and haven't checked out the show, you now have no excuse.
After February 20th, if you're in St. Louis, and you like coolness, you should still go to Star Clipper, which is one of the unfortunately rare breed of super-cool independent comics shops that deserve your reading dollars.

Vampironaut Vectornaut

2010-01-24T11:05:00.001-08:00

"Percy Junior, Percy Junior, what's that you're playing?"
"Working on something new."

Public School Teacher

2010-01-21T07:58:00.001-08:00

Early drawing for another project I'm working on in the spare moments I create via a Flux Capacitor.

On a cloudy day...

2010-01-21T07:20:00.001-08:00

This one goes out to the Mrs.
But, really, aren't we all better off that young master Simon is in the world?
Yes. Yes we are.

In Real Life I Can't Raise Just One Eyebrow

2010-01-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

Sad but true.

Blast from the past...

2010-01-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

I was doing some net-digging myself today and found an awesome shout out to our first

graphic novel..THE HOLE: CONSUMER CULTURE...here.

Dear Diary catalog

2010-01-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Google Alerts was kind enough to inform me of the existence of an online version of the catalog for an art show on autobiographical comics that John and I had a piece in a few years back. In fact, we created the short comic Trees You Can't Climb just for this show, if memory serves...

Case of The Nerve's

2010-01-11T14:27:00.001-08:00

Yes. More work!

2010-01-11T00:51:00.000-08:00

So, I managed to squeeze in a few more images. These are mostly pieces featuring the AGENTS OF S.LE.E.P. characters. I also posted Zarah..the young woman with the botanical hair. She is the creation of our friend Professor Nnedi Okorafor..who just won ANOTHER major award for her highly praised sci-fi-ness. I am working with her on an adaptation of her first book..Zarah: The Windseeker. Cool!

And Damian was right. I was using my "thinky hand". Turns out that when I sit that way...I can break electrical bonds between molecules. Who woulda thunk it?

J2 AIGA Q&A

2010-01-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

That is, John Jennings American Institute of Graphic Artists Question and Applesauce.
You can tell that John's a thinking man by the position of his hand. That's a thinky hand.
Or else he's picturing you without pants on. That's another possibility.
John? Care to share what you're thinking in that picture?

work from the "break" part 3 (sort of)

2010-01-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Okay...as promised...here are few images from AGENTS OF S.L.E.E.P. Still working on what kind of technique to use. I think I am close though. I love these characters!!

work from the "break" part 2.

2010-01-04T02:08:00.001-08:00

Damian and I are working on several projects at the moment (like whatelse is new.)...Above are newest pages from PITCH: SHADOW AND FACT...a OGN (original graphic novel) that I am writing and illustrating. From doing the colors on these pages, I think I have stumbled (from lack of sleep)..onto how to color our other project..AGENTS OF S.L.E.E.P.!...The only thing is..I need to sleep to experiment on this idea...more later. yawn.

Work From the "Break" part 1.

2009-12-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

So, I don't know if you all ( by "you all", I mean the six or so people who may be out there looking at this)..but, both Damian and I are connected to an institution of higher learning.

Currently, we are on "break". To us, it's the period of time where we do as much creative work as humanly possible before having to go back the sulphur-and-brimstone-like conditions which signifiy the horror that is the spring semester.

By the way, HELLBLAZER..was not created by either J2 or D2...I just really love doing images of John Constantine (for those of you aren't comics geeks...the guy in the trench coat smoking the cancer stick).

Also, the only thing scarier than the spring semester...is THE OCTOCLOWN...if you don't believe me...click to embiggen. CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!!!!

Now..back to work. adieu.

SUCKA MC again

2009-12-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

still messing with this. i kind of like the logo... hmmm...

Star Clipper ArtShow Photos, pt. 2

2009-12-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

From our friendly introduction display.

Our friendly, mercenary introduction display. Introduction display means we wrote stuff on the backs of our business cards, incidentally.
I took plenty of awesome pictures in a process I've trademarked called "slightly blurry vision" or "SBV." Trademark and copyright, biters.

And now, the long awaited moment, I give you, THE DUDE NAMED AARON!!!

As you can see, Aaron's greatest thrill is the prospect of the many lucrative endorsement deals that will soon beat a path at to his doorstep for the global fame that awaits him from his appearance here, at the J2D2 Arts blog.
In all seriousness though, Aaron and his creative partner Brandon braved the elements to come check out the art, and we did some excellent chatting about trying to be a professional artist and whatnot. Aaron just started at college with a Computer Science major and a Graphic Design minor, which sounds like a good combination for an animator to have. We here at J2D2 Corporate Headquarters/Self-Imposed Sweatshop hope to soon see some Aamazing Aanimations (That one's free, Aaron! You're welcome! Or, I'm sorry! One of the two...)
Anyway, that's the J2D2 Artshow, up until January 29. I may have said January 19 in the last post, but John told me January 29, so there you go. Thanks to Star Clipper for the space and the hospitality and for having Army @ Love on sale.
As cartoon John is kind enough to point out on the back of that business card, if you want to own an autographed and (where appropriate) hand numbered piece of the J2D2 Empire, Star Clipper Comics is the place to be.
Platinum level thanks go out to the Yezbick family for their hospitality, especially Alex, who was kind enough to lend us the use of his Mega Blocks.

Sucka MC

2009-12-25T22:50:00.001-08:00

Concept for an album cover by the international vampire hip hop star.

The promised Part 2 of the Star Clipper ArtShow photos will be up tomorrow.
Happy Saturnalia.

Roll that Star Clip

2009-12-23T18:46:00.001-08:00

We have an art show up at Star Clipper Comics in St. Louis until January 29.
We came, we saw, we spread prints all over the floor of the gallery.

Then manager type folks A.J. and Jim were all, like, "Those are supposed to go on the wall." Whatever y'all.

So we put the stuff on the wall via a system of pulleys using fishing wire, binder clips, magic, seven pints of rubber cement, hope, gumption, and thumbtacks.

Meanwhile, the siren's song of the comics lilted in from the shop, enticing us to crash the ships of our wallets against the shoals of the register, drowning in the whirlpool of an overextended metaphor.

Here, John pees himself in terror, for reasons known only to him.

Here, Damian stands next to the Octoclown screen prints, so his self-urination totally makes sense.

John's brother Derick came through not once but twice, with newborn son King in tow.
More pictures to come, especially a picture of a dude named Aaron we promised the fame and fortune of a J2D2 blog post appearance, but now, gotta go see Avatar. Hoping it's more Aliens or Abyss than Titanic. Fingers crossed.

STARCLIPPER SHOW OPENS TOMORROW!

2009-12-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

My compadre in comix and other visual mischief will be making the trek to the STL tomorrow for a show at the really cool comix store STARCLIPPER!

We will be showing work from our demented imaginations and wacky WACOM tablets!

www.starclipper.com

Center for Cartoon Studies' Schulz Graphic Novel Library

2009-12-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Hey, you there, look! It's the Out of Sequence catalog on display in the CCS graphic novel library.
That's just cool.
Speaking of Out of Sequence corrupting the minds of young cartoonists, I was fortunate enough to talk via Skype to the professional practice classes at CCS recently. Big ups to Michelle Ollie for giving me a call and librarian Jen Vaughn for the picture.

OoS on the Radio

2009-12-08T08:21:00.001-08:00

Out of Sequence art show radio interview!

This morning, as opposed to the occasional news that someone is selling The Hole on e-bay, Google Alert informed me that the magic phrase of '"damian duffy" + "john jennings"' has appeared on Internet Archive, in the form of an interview with Jason Croft for his WILL radio show Sidetrack, about our traveling art exhibition Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics.

Comics & Literacy

2009-12-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

So, I'm in grad school. Being in school, I take classes. Being in classes, I have assignments. My general strategy with assignments, as with life, is to make everything about comics.
Behold, the final project for my class on literacy:

In an entirely related note, I don't really recommend weebly.com for making websites.

VISIBLE NOIZE: THE VISUAL CULTURE OF HIP-HOP!

2009-12-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

My students are having an exhibition of their work from my class..The Visual Culture of Hip Hop that I have been teaching this semester.

It opens December 11th, 2009 at the Illini Student Union Art Gallery at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Primeridian will be performing along with members of the UC Hip Hop Congress. The time is: 5pm-7pm. Refreshments will be served. Be there!!

THE POSTER IS BY "MENCH" aka NICK MECCIA.

Here is the description of the course:

The portrayal of Hip Hop culture that is dominant in the mass media today is only a minute view of the entire meaning of the culture. The negative images that are proliferated stem from the mainstream popularity of the “Gangsta rap aesthetic”. Hip Hop is now a commodified image-centered culture which covets the idea of “representation”. However, the images that are seen and experienced are out of balance and focus primarily on repetitive videos and expressions that degrade and objectify women, promote violence, and hyper-consumerism.

The Art and Design course, (ARTD 299) the Visual Culture of Hip Hop, will deconstruct those images through decoding their origin and meaning. It will also examine Hip Hop’s effect on American and global culture through lecture/discussion, observation, critique and visual experimentation which will be afforded via the exercises and image-making problems assigned. The projects will deal with an intruiging array of topics that include the transience of identity and meaning, the ambiguity of historical perspectives, examination and remixing of spatial narratives, Hip Hop and social justices issues, the “sampling” of knowledge and culture, commodity culture and counter-bricolage, and examination of the idea of “authenticity".

The course expounds upon the power of the image in our culture and how it has helped to promote Hip Hop’s current status as a global culture. Analysis of visual culture is a focus of the course and also the discussion of the complex concepts around cultural production and its dissemination through various media.

Study in Spidey is DONE

2009-12-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

Click to embiggen.

CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!

Study in Spidey (2 of 3)

2009-11-30T08:38:00.001-08:00

My abstract comics inspired form study of the superhero that got me started reading comics continues.
I'm not so sure about the text... thoughts?

Slingshot 2100 and STEM education

2009-11-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

My latest blog post on the HASTAC website, with a shout out to the coolness that is Slingshot 2100.

A Study in Spidey (1 of 3)

2009-11-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

Mr. Bombhead Gets Political

2009-11-24T20:26:00.001-08:00

Mr. Bombhead. The answer to the question "What is a man with a bomb for a head like?"*

ʞɔıp ɐ ɟo puıʞ :ɹǝʍsuɐ*

An abstract comic

2009-11-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

The title is either "Bury Not 2 Praise" or "LiefTime." Can't decide which. Abstract comic made out of re-appropriated jpegs of Rob Liefeld comics pages.

OUT OF SEQUENCE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE!

2009-11-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

So, our comics exhibition OUT OF SEQUENCE: UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES IN AMERICAN COMICS recently opened at Keene State College in New Hampshire. Here's an article from the local paper.

http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2009/11/12/entertainment/news/free/id_378925.txt

Star Clipper Show: Cruising in the STL

2009-11-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

John and I will be comicking it art show style Friday, Dec. 18 atStar Clipper in St. Louis, MO. Save the date like a swashbuckler with a damsel in distress.

Hypercomics and Education in the 24th and 1/2 Century

2009-10-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Over on my HASTAC blog.
HASTAC stands for Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Colaboratory.
Academics make for odd acronyms indeed.

ABSTRACT COMICS blog post.

2009-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Our friend and fellow comics scholar ANDREI MOLOTIU showed me some love on his blog!

His edited volume ABSTRACT COMICS (from FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS)..is awesome!

AIGA CENTRAL PA.

2009-10-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, recently I went to Pennsylvania three times in as many weekends...in a row, no less! Strange.

One of the visits was for a talk for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Central PA chapter...

They are awesome!!! Thanks Luke! At any rate..here's a link to an interview for them. Very cool.

2009-10-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

So, us folk at J2D2 just LLLOOOOOOVVVVE process. We are always thinking about it. We dream about it. We would eat it if it could fuel our process-oriented little bodies. I (Me= John) am working on a new original graphic novel called PITCH: SHADOW AND FACT and I have a few process sketches and their related pages from the story. I thought it would be cool to show and cool for you all to...um..process. heh. Some of these have been edited and will continue to be..but, I had these files and wanted to share them. Btw, these images are NOT in order so, don't try to make them be so..even though I know you will try. So stop it.

This isn't really a review of Paranormal Activity

2009-10-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

Just saw Paranormal Activity, the low budget scary answer to the high dollar half-comedic Drag Me To Hell. (In that both are about haunted young women; otherwise there aren't many pertinent comparisons.)

I liked the film, but I'm not in the mood to write a review, and if I was to do a review, I think I might prefer to do it in comics form, but don't hold me to that.
Anyway, what I'd like to write here is an open letter to the assbrains who joined me in the theater this evening. I'd say, "You know who you are," but I'm sure you don't know who you are, or really much of anything, owing to the aforementioned unfortunate condition of having an ass where a brain should be.
A few fun tips:
1) Cell phones can be turned off. Or even just on vibrate. Really. You might have figured this out if you weren't busy downloading Honky Tonk Badonk a Donk or whatever that hideous sound your phone made for like three damn minutes. It's a bit difficult, so let me walk you through it: There is a volume button on the side of your phone. Hit it a few times. Try using your thumb or finger, instead of flinging it at the wall along with your own feces, which I assume to be your general practice with anything that is not fast food or Mountain Dew.
2) If you think the movie is boring, leave. I did not ask you what you think. Because I know you did not think. You just sat there sniffing your own brain farts, deep meaningful considerations like: "Titties? Aw, no titties." "Gore? Aw, no gore." "LAAAAME!"
3) I know it's impossible not to text for an hour in a half. How will you know what your high school friend's aunt's cousin's Facebook friend from Norway is doing right this second?!!! (Bjorn is sleeping with wool socks on, incidentally.) But could you at least shine the motherfucker away from my face? Is there an app for Just Sit Still For Five Goddamn Minutes and Watch the Movie You Just Paid Seven Bucks to See? Is there an app for that? HUH?!!! NO?!!!! Perhaps I should invent one. The GPS senses that you're in a movie theater and flashes a "GET THE FUCK OFF YOUR FUCKING PHONE!" message every time you try to tweet that you had a popcorn kernel stuck in your tooth but it's okay now, you've got it out. And also, if that app could deliver a mild-to-moderate electrical shock of some sort, mores the better. Free one on me designers.
4)Yep, the movie starts slow. See, once upon a time, in the land of the not completely ADD brain dead, there was this thing called pacing. It's like, instead of the bits without action just being when John Cusack moves from a limo to an airplane in his bid to outrun the building splodey apocalypse, there was this thing called story. This thing called suspense. I know, I know, suspense is still around, keeping you on the edge of your seat while you wait to see if the guy in Saw IX will gnaw off his own foot or whatever, but sometimes suspense is achieved without some sort of ticking time bomb being cut to every third second. Sometimes, pacing is developed through pesky character interactions. Madness, I know, but I don't think this movie had the budget to create a non-stop roller coaster of things blowing up and topless women being stabbed or whatever it was you were waiting for. Hopefully Paranormal Activity 2: Bikini Bloodbath Boogaloo will correct these terrible oversights, and make you feel more comfortable by avoiding moments of silence in which to hear the echoing emptiness in the cavernous hole housing the three remaining synapses that allow you to finger bang a 3G network and make trenchant remarks like, "She ain't sleeping now!" helpfully translating the mysterious image of a woman sitting up in bed frightened saying she can't sleep projected on a ten foot tall screen. Gosh, couldn't have figured that out. Thanks ever so much.

In closing assbrains, I know this blog post is too long for you to actually have read, but I'd just like to put these two messages of hope out there, on the internet, for posterity:
1. Shut the hell up.
2. Stop going to movies if you can't scale the dizzying heights of shutting the hell up.

Thank you and good night.

Put it all together make it feel like a puzzle

2009-10-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

click to embiggen. CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!

Another Vampironaut Sketch

2009-10-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

Count Chane, the Vice President of Wampyr, refuses to be addressed by his elected title. He fancies himself a pure born Wampyrian, his genetic material untainted by the foul chromosomes of lesser Wampyrian clans and alien species that have wormed their way into the holy bloodlines since the old ways of the First Wampyrian Empire were abandoned.

(Actually, Count C. has a little Werewolf in him, on his mother's side, but he shaves his back and stays indoors during full moons.)

Learning from Comics on the Walls

2009-10-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

Click that logo up there to check out a pdf of the scholarly article (in the form of a comic) that I did for the academic journal Visual Arts Research.

Walker, Champaign Ranger

2009-10-04T20:04:00.001-07:00

Actually, he's only taken a few steps without holding on to something, but it's on the way, and when it gets here, nothing will remain of the house but rubble and dust.

For my Mom

2009-09-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

The other day my Mom came over to watch the Simonster, and she said to me: "Why aren't there pictures of you from Atlanta? They're all of John!"
I said: "Surely, you must be mistaken." And she said: "My name is not Shirley!" and hit me with a folding chair she carries around for just such an emergency. Because I have the sass mouth.
Obviously, none of this is true. Love you Mom!
What is true is that John snuck in and deleted all the pictures of me. Because it was all me. In fact, this blog was supposed to be called:
Damian Duffy Presents: D2-and-more-D2-with-a-side-of-D2j2.blogspot.com
but you can't really change font sizes in URLs, so we ended up with J2D2. So it goes.

Artist/Educator Kevin Sipp, Damian Duffy, and ONYXCON maestro Joseph Wheeler III making a manwhich in the ATL.

Robot Cartwheel

2009-09-12T23:25:00.001-07:00

Detail from an art show poster I'm working on.

SIMON!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Right here he's saying: "BWAAAAAAARGH!"
It took me so long to figure out how to draw a cartoon of my kid. Drawing cute is freaking hard!

POSTER I FORGOT I HAD TO DO!!

2009-09-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

So Damian and myself have been hard at work trying to round up the artists for our next publication BLACK COMIX: AFRICAN AMERICAN INDEPENDENT COMICS ART AND CULTURE. Also, we have both been inundated with that old villain called "school stuffz"...quite the foe indeed. Also, Damian has a Simon..that's right...a Simon. That being said, I was extremely exhausted last night and totally ready to become one with my pillow when I realized that I had to design a poster for a one man show that opens at Virginia State University on the 24th of this month!..and not any one man show....that's right..MY ONE MAN SHOW!! Sheesh.

I got up. Designed a weird assed poster and then did a "cool down" drawing. I post these things here for your amusement and disdain.

Holla...

DamCho Jams

2009-08-25T14:02:00.001-07:00

...which rhymes with "damn toe jams," but one really has nothing to do with the other.

Or does it?!

No. No it really doesn't.

DamCho Jam Comics is me and Ed "My Name is Ed Cho" Cho doing the give and go with strange and crazy comics. A comics jam, as the comics kids say nowadays.
My son, who is ten months old, woke up at 4am today. He's teething, I think. That or he was just getting in and used the crying as a distraction from the smell of liquor on his breath.

I gots no brain meats left!!!

Some more Onyxcon Pictures

2009-08-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

Still more thrilling visual memories of our day and a half (or maybe three quarters...) in the ATL for the first ever, hugely successful ONYXCON (which I have since decided to forever write in all caps, MF DOOM style).

The view from behind the table.

The view from behind the table, head turned slightly to the right.

Seconds later, the Out of Sequence catalog made that dude's head explode. His wife didn't even notice, she just kept on reading the catalog. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW GOOD IT IS!

The guys from Marcel Comics...
...and a cartoon of them. Wait... that's not right...

James Mason, creator of Urban Shogun, thought having an angelic halo would help his sales.

Dawud Anyabwile and Brian McGee let you know that everything's gonna be alright. Brotherman and Big City are on the comeback.
John Jennings and airbrush and comics maestro Richard Santiago pose in front of our snazzy Hole: Consumer Culture banner.

Trimekka Studios member Stacy "Blackstar" Robinson hard at work.
Trimekka Studios member Jan-Michael Franklin hard at work.

Also, for some reason, whenever Jan eats, darkness descends. I have no explanation for this.

The Trimekka dudes. Read their books Abraham the Young Lion, Deadly Artisans, and Daft. Your eyeballs will thank you.

J2D2 is for the kids. Except for the Hole. Oh my crap is that not for the kids. Then again...

Suddenly, the publisher of Terminus Media read the first page of The Hole: Consumer Culture...

...and his brain also exploded. I know, I know, you're saying, that's called an "aneurysm", but quit backblog driving. I'm not talking a pop of the cranial blood vessels here. This was full on lighting and thunder and fireworks and flaming bits of brain shooting of the ears here. I mean, in a good way.
BECAUSE THAT'S HOW GOOD IT IS!

More pictures whenever I'm next able to carve time away from the pitiless time eater ("chronovore"?) that is my life.

A sip from the photobucket

2009-08-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

We were headed to Onyxcon, but we hit a wormhole and traveled back in time to January.
Or I don't know how to get the time stamp thing off of the pictures. One of those, I forget.

Cruising in the ATL, John trembles with fear as, all around us, Georgians drive with the smooth grace of chihuahuas on a meth bender.

Turtel Onli Studios in the full early morning blush of Onyxcon. The father of the Black Age of Comics and his able assistant whose name I can't remember, but was very nice indeed, and so I am a dick, get ready to sell comics like some kind of comics...selling... thing.

I'm gonna post the rest of these later. We need to hit the road and my metaphor reserves are lower than... low stuff.

Onyx Con live blog

2009-08-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Writing live and in person from the first ever Onyxcon in Atlanta, GA. The mood: upbeat. The vibe: celebratory. The crowds: consistent.
If you're in the area, you should be here. If you're not here, you have made a mistake. Rectify it next year.
I'm sitting behind a table right now, using a lull to feed the gaping blog maw.

Onyxcon drew a bunch of families, a bunch of kids. Which is great for comics, great for the medium.
Of course, for The Hole, which a printer in Texas refused to print and Diamond Comics Distributors decided to move to the Adult catalog at the last minute because of the... I dunno, content. Probably the oral sex scene that ends with someone getting eaten by a big scary mouth.

It's a metaphor. Honest.

Anyway, when a young lady of perhaps 10 years of age pointed to the book and said "That's a good comic. We have that at my house," I was equal parts happy (Yay! Readers!) and confused (But... you're ten.) I was going to wait until my son was way older to read our magnum opus of madness.
Y'know. Like 12.

President Dracula

2009-08-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

President Steve Dracula: "A Better Wampyr for Wampyrians."

One billed as a reformer of the Wampyrian government, President Dracula has moved to a policy of interplanetary aggression unlike any since his notorious ancestor, the Count, was exiled, and the monarchy dismantled, over 1000 years ago.

Might this be the beginnings of a new Wampyrian Empire? Only time, and cool splodey space battles, will tell.

Queen Frankenstein sketch

2009-08-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

A character for Vampironaut, a space opera where every planet is populated by a different kind of monster. This is Queen Frankenstein, leader of the Creature Race of the planet Promethean.

She is not what you would describe as happy-go-lucky, but galactic war will do that to you.

BALDWIN!! no..not those Baldwins.;(

2009-08-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

So, to continue our outpouring of capitalist zeal, I am posting an image of yet another print that the amazing Damian Duffy and myself will be selling at ONYX CON. It is an 11x17 poster of JAMES BALDWIN designed by yours truly. Spiffy yes?...not to mention "conscious" and "enraged".

Vampironaut Print

2009-07-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

A print I drew that will be for sale at Onyx Con, August 15 in Atlanta, and online sometime thereafter, once we get a prints store set up.

Vampironaut is a series I'm working on putting together with our Eye Trauma partner in crime Dann Tincher. Vampire astronaut y'all.