Jarrett Williams
Jarrett Brandon Williams (born September 8, 1984) is an American comic book creator.
Williams currently writes and illustrates the Super Pro K.O.! graphic novel series through comic publisher Oni Press.
Contents
- 1 Early life and education
- 2 Career
- 3 Style and influences
- 4 Published works
- 5 References
Early life and education
Williams was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. His first exposure to comics came from The Times-Picayune newspaper comic strip section. As a child, Williams was fairly introverted and loved drawing, reading, legoes, and playing video games. He frequented the Crescent City Comic Shop in New Orleans where he was first exposed to comics.
Williams attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he graduated in the school's Visual Arts Program. In 2002, he enrolled into the Savannah College of Art and Design where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sequential Art in 2006 and his Master of Fine Arts in Sequential Art in 2010.
Career
Williams worked primarily on his first web-comic, Lunar Boy Land, while in college from 2003 to 2007. He updated the comic every Monday and Wednesday. He eventually collected Lunar Boy into two graphic novel collections.
Super Pro K.O.!
In 2008, Williams stopped working on Lunar Boy, in order to develop a pro-wrestling comic called Super Pro K.O.!. A pro-wrestling fan from childhood, the comic was a way to challenge if he could draw anything besides Lunar Boy and all-ages types of stories. He wanted to develop a comic devoted to pro-wrestling that also drew upon his own experiences in the comic industry. S.P.K.O. was originally planned to be a web-comic but Williams began to stretch out the concept even further into a graphic novel series. Williams began bringing mini-comics of Super Pro K.O.! to comic conventions on the east and west coasts throughout 2008 and 2009 which eventually got into the hands of Oni Press editors.
Style and influences
Williams' style is a hybrid of cl*ic American-based comic storytelling and manga which influenced him during his teenage years.
Williams was hugely influenced by comic books such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Williams also sites numerous newspaper comic strips such as Curtis, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbes as influences. Manga such as Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball also influenced him. Williams also draws inspiration from numerous video games.
Published works
Graphic novels- Super Pro K.O.! volume 1 (August 2010)
- Super Pro K.O.! volume 2: Chaos in the Cage! (November 2011)
- Super Pro K.O.! volume 3: Gold for Glory! (2013)
- Yo Gabba Gabba Comic Book Time (vol. 1) (8 page pencils, inks, and letters for a story called "FIND" written by Frank Pittarese and colored by Rico Renzi)
- Yo Gabba Gabba Free Comic Book Time (Free Comic Book Day 2012)
- The Lunar Boy vol. 1
- The Lunar Boy vol. 2