I went to the Art Institute of Philadelphia from Ought 2 to Ought 5. As those other fools slaved away in the salt mines of University of the Arts, I was training with master artists and graphic generals. Under the watchful eyes of the Grand Poobah of comicdom, Mr. Jamar “Stove-top” Nicholas, I was taught the existential qualities of small scale warfare, torture of civilians, scoring with the ladies… and EVERYTHING EVER… EVEEEEER. It was an experience that taught me the value of fictional warfare, talking to the opposite sex, and working inside robots as a military unit.
One time I saved a hotel of burning kittens and received burns over .05 percent of my body (it was my thumb). I quit the graphic warfare division of NAMCORP™ and worked at CBS channel 3 as a graphic artist for their news broadcasts. CBS channel 3 in Philadelphia couldn’t handle my dead center politics and passions. They thought that there was nothing wrong in putting an animated graphic of a man flying through a car windshield as a special report on seatbelt safety. I disagreed with the 4th Estate’s molding of news into infotainment. I decided that manga art and comics were where the real message was. I also missed the screams of the children as we burned their farms.
As I write this I am listening to “We Belong” by Pat Benatar… Take that how you want to. I’m safe in my sexuality…
In the studio I’m like Darth Vader to Nam’s Emperor Palpatine. I handle the strangling, hand decapitation and war planning. I’m the enforcer. I wanted to be the Punisher, but that name has been copy-written for years and I don’t have the money to stand up to a lawsuit.
As well as the dark knight of Studio IL, I also am a 3D artist, do some penciley stuff, a few illustrations, and lecture the team constantly on what belongs in the recyclying bin, (No, Shi Wah, your toenail clippings are not considered Class one plastics OR paper.) I also speak to paramilitary groups as a guest lecturer on why it’s important to live green and recycle.
Without recycling, there will be no world left to conquer. We’re all in this together people. All hail NAMCORP™!
I’m like that dirty old guy that stares at college girls and says… MmmmHmmmm!
Here’s where I went and got educated -
CAPA – Creative and performing arts high school class of ’92 - Best High school class ever! I worked in the visual arts department ruling over the peons with my kung fu art strokes and rippling bi-ceps. People still come up to me and ask me who I am… Famous? Yes.
University of the arts – Visual arts, graphic design, and illustration – character design – pottery -basket weaving – early American artifacts and bong creation – Left for artistic creative development – U of A was awesome for making me broke and showing me the value of self teaching and community college.
I would most like to meet Frank Miller because I have a fan boy crush on his work. He’s the one responsible for THE greatest batman ever created. He’s the consummate professional and artist, working tirelessly to find the perfect balance between control of his work and love of the game. He has his finger in every pie, and those pie’s seem delicious
Will Eisner is surely missed by me and the entire comics community. I was deeply saddened by his loss, but thrilled at the work that he’s left us all. His bold animated approach to the genre of images and storytelling has been my shining freaking example for years.
Chuck Jones!!!… Plaid backgrounds in a Jungle setting… ‘Nuff said
At Studio IL ( A division of NAMCORP™) I do backgrounds. I love inputting as much information as I can to show how detailed a world is that we have created. Though they would love me to be the dishwasher and mop boy, I do do hella good art. I may have just said do doo…
Mine is the luddite and non computer oriented view in this world of techno babble and emailings on the googler machine. You’ll see me least on this website, but I’m also one of the only people here that most people see at a convention and say “HEY! THERE’S AJ” And I’m usually like, “Ok, stop shouting.” and there’s all… well you get the point.
I am the oracle… I will leave it up to you to interpret what that means. In a thousand years when technology fails humanity someone will decode that phrase from skynet and think on the name AJ if just for a moment that I was either the bringer of destruction or the savior of humanity… That is all.
By order of INTERPOL and several international law enforcement policies, the biography of Nam has been redacted. When contacted through his underground network of pride fighting and goat race gambling, Master Nam had this to say.
“I know all and see all… That is all.”
All hail NAMCORP™!
I’m the old man that sits in the corner and only says witty and wise things. I’ve seen drunken master 48 times and have modeled my life after Jackie Chan’s portrayal of a young ne’er do well trying to make it in this world.
Once upon a time many moons ago... The heavens opened up and a ray of sunlight beamed towards the awaiting forest glen... The beam turned to fiery green light as it passed through the dense spruce foliage... ...The forest hushed, the dew sparkled... A man stood up and raised his eyes... The world waited expectantly for what he would say. He thundered out to the waiting ears of the universe - - Hi, my name's Dugan.
I could probably give you a run for your money fight-wise if you are blind, limited in mental capacity or otherwise crippled in some major and debilitating way. Or maybe I'm a trained street fighter taught in the way of martial arts by the Chinese street gang that helped me escape from Russia. I ended up in Russia after sleeping with the Daughter of one of the Russian mobs... actually you know what? It's a long story involving a stolen Faberge egg and the heiress to a mob fortune. How ‘bout I tell you over an English muffins at the next convention you see me especially if you’re a lady, have assloads of ready cash, likes kung fu action and jetsetting with a millionare playboy*. I live life the way I do as a personal service to the children of the world so that they have cool people to look up to.
I'm more the lover than the fighter variety. But I have a mean roundhouse kick and was trained by an elite team of black belted boy scout war veterans so I'm good behind you in a bar. I love Sci-fi, comic books, movies that make me think about more than when the next bathroom break will be and people that make me giggle like a little school girl. If you can make me laugh out loud...
At Studio IL I am the resident scribe, writer and general mayhem maker. I’ve been working my way up through NAMCORP™! I’m the ninja they send in the night to scare the opposing army with my literary tricks, cat like reflexes and verbal calisthenics. Text me for advice on matters concerning Bionic Commando tips, love, or really anything on your mind, but make it witty, cause my life is too short to respond to the general population ad infinitum.
I have spent my life tracking down a man called AJ. I have been living in his shadow for 20 years, hunting him. I went to CAPA and U of Arts, a mere seven and a half years behind the elusive AJ. I spent my training at such awesome places as the Brandywine 3D programs and Tae-bo workshop, Big picture superheroes alliance – they makes movies, The Pennsylvania Governor’s Art and assassination school, where I learned the techniques of identifying targets and then furiously sketching them. At the Academy of Fine Arts – Office of Naked People and Naked People logistics, located in Philadelphia, I saw more nude people than ever before in my life.
My plan is to bring the nefarious AJ down through his crippling fear of technology. He doesn’t realize but I’m hot on his trail. I’m like a short Bruce lee type, without his muscle’s or athletic ability. But when I start working, my muscles are like a blur of lightning art!
I’ve always wanted to grow a big bushy beard. I have included a small drawing of how I would look with a great big lumberjack’s beard.
[insert Beard photo here]
In the hallowed halls of Studio IL – I’m the resident 3D , background specialist, assistant to the Main artist(Nam) and gopher(which mean the same thing as assistant to the main artist I’m told). I majored and minored in internal ninja weaponry. I can make anything out of paper, tinfoil and duct tape. I have saved this studio on more than one occasion with my MacGyver like prowess.
If I had the power of a hero, I would definitely be the Flash. I have already started to train to be him by eating at incredible speeds, I can get my bike up to 35MpH as well. I have been known to wear my Flash costume and get that thing up to 45 on a clear day with a good tail wind… Pretty fast, if I do say so myself.
If I had the chance to appear on a major network to tell the world anything I wanted in two minutes, I would look dead into the camera. Drop the mic. Hold my hands in the air. And walk away man… Just walk away.
My name is Dan. I was hired when I was asked to create a story based on a cat with butterfly wings who thwarts the evil plans of a corporation who wants to use her for advertising, featuring a robot in a diaper and a female assassin, and I didn't run screaming from the building. (Really!)
The major accomplishment in my life thus far is beating Matt so badly at Marvel vs. Capcom 2 that he was sent to ICU. (Again, really!)
I handle the words portion on ChronoCrash!, and do some world/concept building for other Studio IL productions. I also help out behind the scenes on anything I'm able to handle that doesn't require a guy being directly in studio. I spend the rest of my time variously threatening to do other things which I'm mildly talented at, including game design and programming, writing my own comics and stupid jokes, playing music and watching television.
I live variously between Texas and California, my home state. I'm finishing up a degree in Film & Media Studies, with an emphasis on writing. My dream is to get a staff writing job on a crappy sitcom, which would allow me to quit this job.
Having grown up in the backwoods of the deep, deep south I started drawing at the tender age of 4. What began as a mere hobby in between hunting deer and grizzly bear with my bare hands soon blossomed into a full blown passion.
By the age of 6 news of the industrial revolution finally spread to my tiny village in North Carolina bringing with it the witchcraft that is technology. I was quickly beckoned away from my humble beginnings…..drawing on cave walls with rocks and poop and whisked away into a world of pencils, paper…ink and Kompooters.
Shortly after High School I found the company of a wily band of Gypsies that introduced me to comic books. Undoubtedly I was at first suspicious of these strange folk as I believed that these comic books were some tool used in mind control. Most assuredly their intentions were not of a wholesome nature as they consistently tried in vain to impress on me the need for environmentally friendly and alternative fuel sources as well as Organically grown food.
Following my short career as a gypsy I went to College were I studied drawing doodly picture books. There I found the company of yet another type of gypsy…they were basically the same thing as a gypsy but they wore sandals and rambled on and on something about some Messiah by the name of Michael Moore. Anyways I have tried in vain for years to combine the word hippie and gypsy to best describe what I encountered there in Savannah, Georgia but for now I will simply refer to them as Hippies.
After being fully and totally corrupted by the “Hippie” and $47,555.93 poorer I moved on to credited work in Children’s books, Comic books, Technical and Medical illustration as well as hundreds of illustrations on bathroom stalls all along public rest stops on I-95.
I now live in the sewers of Boston, with my wife where I lead a subhuman race of Mole-men. We occasionally venture to the surface world to indulge ourselves in the refuse behind the McDonalds located on Bennington St. as well as pouring water on the steps of your front door in the winter and spitting in your drink when your not looking.
Jamar Nicholas was born in the very-early seventies, and was raised on a healthy diet of Atari 2600, Canada Dry Cream Soda, Pop Rocks and Hostess Apple Pies (Gotta love that fruit pie wizard!). He currently resides in Pennsylvania and enjoys Pro Wrestling, Scavenger Hunt movies and any free time he can get his fuzzy mitts on.
Jamar has been drawing since he was a little kid, and is still trying to top those scribble drawings he did in first grade.
I am probably the biggest tallest blackest video game producer you know. I was picked up by Studio IL to use my size 16 to get the job done. I have been in the tech industry since I was 16 fixing computers around the small town I grew up in back in Florida. Now 31 I have finally realized my dream in being a part of a team to create video games. Living in a small town in Texas so close to Austin has given me the ability to connect with many leaders in the game industry.
Outside of building games and getting yelled by Nam on a hourly basis, I spend most of my time playing with my goofy kids and my lovely wife. They help build up a lot of material for me to crack jokes about during the day. If I am not laughing at something then something is wrong with me.
The most interesting fact about me other than being freaking awesome? I met my wife on the internet. :)
I write the songs that make the whole world sing. I am the creator of the things that go bump in the night. I am the master of all things played.
I discovered my special talents when I was still undergoing cell division in my mother’s womb. My grandma was a seer and bought me my guitar before I was born and prophesied that I would someday become a great musician.
I attended Del Mar College and studied under the tutelage of percussive giants who taught me the intricacies of all things that could be hit with a stick. One of my cooler achievements is performing with the Corpus Christi Symphony as a percussionist.
I currently write music and make sound effects for Studio IL. It’s a great excuse to break things, make things go splat and experiment with various kitchen and bathroom appliances. When I’m not writing music or sound effects for Studio Il, I am slaying demons with my bass and drumstick in God’s great army!