Working on Dread & Alive: Book Two ... scheduled for a Sept. 7, 2011 release! Will include three different cover artwork ... the peaceful Drew McIntosh, the surprised Drew McIntosh and the angry Drew McIntosh!
In my last interview I was referred to Vice President of the Reginald Hudlin Fan club Ryan Fraser by President Nina Villano so I tracked him down for ya! Turns out it's the same Ryan Fraser which I interviewed some time last year for work on the Dread & Alive series, you can read our first interview here . He's here to talk about all things Reggie Hudlin in this comicvine exclusive!
Welcome back Ryan, It’s been awhile!
(Laugh) Sure has
Q) For those who may not have read our last interview Tell us a bit about yourself.
R) I’m just your average comic loving geek who also happens to be the translator for the Dread & Alive series; I run a very successful black superhero website World of Black Heroes in conjunction with being vice president of the Reginald Hudlin fan club. I also write weekly a column for Island Stage.net and in between I somehow fit in being a full time Dad, I’m just a boring home body really. (Laugh)
Whoa! Man! Where do you find the time to do all that?
(Laugh) It’s easier than it sounds....sometimes......especially if your enjoying what your doing (smile)
Q) What is the Reginald Hudlin Fan club?
R) The Reginald Hudlin fan club is your one stop spot for all things relating to one of the great black men of our time, Reginald Hudlin. It spans his earliest works such as House party and Boomerang to his more recent foray into the world of writing comics. It’s the focal point for fans and friends to share their common interest of, love and support for Reggie himself.
Q) What makes it different than or similar to other fan clubs?
R) It’s similar in that like other fan clubs it’s a gathering of fans of a particular person.
It’s different in a number of ways chief among them is the collaboration between myself and president Nina Villano since we both have different approaches to Reggie. She has been his friend since they were kids so she has a more personal approach to things. Myself I’ve been a fan since House party hit the scene and I’ve read his entire Black Panther and Spiderman comic book stints, In fact there is nothing that he’s written for marvel comics which I have not read.
The other way in which it differs is the added touch that Reggie is a member of and communicates with us weekly. You really can’t get a better fan club than the personal input of the man himself.
Q) Tell us about the origins of the Reginald Hudlin fanclub.
R) The origins of the fan club came about before I was ever involved. It came about from dialogue between old friends Reggie and Nina and blossomed into the work of art you see now.
Q) Why are you a fan of Reginald Hudlin?
R) I’m a fan of Reginald Hudlin because I enjoy his work and having spoken to him in the past I found him to be a very cool guy. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s an idol of mine (laugh)
Q) Why should we be fans of Reginald Hudlin?
R) That’s an easy one. Apart from Dwayne McDuffie few other black men have the breadth of experience and work as this man. Reggie has done comedies in Boomerang and House party, animation in Bebe’s kids, motion comics with the Black Panther BET series. Television and commercial director and hes easily been the single most influential force to sweep through BET in the past seven years.
Q) What do you consider his greatest work? And/or accomplishment?
R) There are different degrees to Reggie’s accomplishments. It’s almost unprecedented that his Harvard film school thesis was being shopped around as a movie before he graduated. He accomplished what some film students never do; launch a successful directing career right out the gate. He also accomplished his childhood dream of writing his favorite characters Spider-man and Black Panther for marvel comics. Other accomplishments include the Black Panther motion comic with which he managed to do something that no one else involved with the Black Panther ever did; he got the panther in a standalone series on TV. Mind you it only aired in Australia but it was huge step for the panther. Bebe’s kid was also the first animated feature to have an entirely African-American main cast, nowadays it’s still NOT something you see very often. He won the 2006 Glyph fan award for “Who is the Black Panther” was nominated this year for the same category with “Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our fathers”. In 2009 his Black Panther run was nominated for the “best male character category”. His Spider-man run won a prism award for highlighting the dangers of drug abuse.
While at BET he created 17 of the top 20 rated shows in the history of the network, couple that with being executive producer of THE BOONDOCKS, directing the pilot of the hit series EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS and being producer and director of THE BERNIE MAC SHOW and you start realizing Reginald Hudlin has many great accomplishments.
I could go on and on, to me all his works pretty much speak for themselves whether by winning or being nominated for various awards throughout his long career. As I said this is a great man who deserves more respect and recognition than he does.
Q) What’s your Favorite Reginald Hudlin piece of work?
A) I love the opening arc of his Black Panther run “Who is the black panther”. It will always have a special place in my heart because it brought the Black Panther back from comic book limbo after the priest run was cancelled and thrust him back into the spotlight.
I also have fond memories of Boomerang (laugh) it’s so outrageous and timeless. That scene with Eddie Murphy and Grace Jones in the restaurant is just unadulterated top notch laugh out load material (laugh)
Q) Reginald Hudlin has worked in comics for awhile, what do you think he’s most known for?
R) Hands down his run on Black Panther is his most popular work. It out shadows everything else he did with Marvel. His movie Boomerang has also aged well enough to still be included on just about every top ten list of black Romanic comedies in history.
Q) What were the highlights of his Black Panther Run?
R) The highlights of his run have to be the marriage of Black Panther to Storm. He also wrote the only Black Panther Annual in history of the character. Other highlights would be the streamlining of the royal family of wakanda and introducing the first female Black Panther in Shuri.
Q) He’s also written Spider-man, what did you think were the highlights on that book?
R) His run on spider-man was great melding of reality and fiction as it highlighted the dangers of drug abuse. You would need to read it to understand that Statement though (Smile)
Q) How is Reginald Hudlin different than other celebrities?
R) He’s friendly. With all the work I’ve done for my own website and others I’ve met quite a few celebrities and Reggie is like you or me. He’s a “everyman” someone who has no loft, doesn’t look down on you or thinks himself better than you. He’s probably the only celebrity who if you went on facebook and said hi, he would actually reply. I’ve met some top class A-holes in this business but Reggie is not one of them. Plus he’s a comic book geek like us (Laugh)
Q) As Vice President of the Reginald Hudlin fan club have you ever met him? What’s he like in real life?
R) Nope we haven’t met in the flesh just yet but we have communicated online.
Q) The website is very visually pleasing with highlights on almost everything related to Reginald Hudlin, that’s allot of work, how much time does it take to keep that place running?
R) (Laugh) More time than I would like to acknowledge (laugh)
Q) (Laugh) c'mon I can keep a secret :)
R) (Laugh) Seriously anywhere from six to Nine hours per day sometimes longer....
Wow! That’s allot of work!
(laugh) it’s not work when your enjoying it as much as I do (laugh)
Q) Who would win in a fight between the Black Panther and Spiderman?
R) Black Panther of course! He is better trained and has gadgets to counter anything Web head can throw at him.
Q) One more thing before you go, the facebook page seems to focus more on the comic books than his movies whys that?
It may seem that way at first glance but in truth it’s a mix of both. The comics will always seem more focused and in your face because lets check the math. Reggie has written and directed Boomerang, House party, Serving Sarah, Ladies man, White Hype, whats that? 5 movies!? 6 episodes of Black Panther, 1 straight to DVD Bebe’s kids and directed at various points in TV shows. He wrote over 38 issues of Black Panther vol. 3, 7 issues of Black Panther vol.4, 8 issues of Spider-man…..There is more to cover in comics than anywhere else. When staked against each other his comic work will always superficially outweigh the movies but the directing credits are also on facebook. Those that are not will end up there eventually since the website comes first and information there is then incorporated to the facebook page. Additionally you simply have to click on the the photos section of our facebook page to see pictures of Reggie and his works besides comics.
Thanks Ryan, we hope to have you back with us soon!
Thanks man it’s always a pleasure and don't forget to check out ReginaldHudlinfans.com :)
Well guys I'm back! Ive always prided myself with cutting against the grain with my blog and 2011 continues that trend. Whether you love it or hate it Reginald Hudlin's Black Panther run has been the most influenced on shaping the black panther and his place in the marvel universe since Kirby's run way back when. Christopher priest may be a fan favorite but his run never had the ramifications of Hudlin's. But Reginald is more than just another comic writer, like Dwayne Mcduffie before him he's done animation, movies, tv commercials, tv series etc. This man deserves respect! So great news :) I tracked down Nina Villano the president of the Reginald Hudlin fanclub, stick around! and enjoy!
Q) Tell us a bit about yourself Nina.
A) Well, I’m a 50 year old Black woman with big ambitions. I believe the sky is the limit and my potential is limitless. I’m an open-minded, self motivated woman with morals and standards. I’m married and I have 1 son. I believe you have to go for what you want out of life and I’m not afraid to do that.
Here is an excerpt from the 1st interview about comic's first reggea Album "Dread & Alive- the lost tapes vol.1" with Sahra Indio
Read the whole thing here along with exclusive art.
The evil shape-changer, ShadowCatcher has returned, and he's more obsessed than ever with obtaining the sacred amulet of the maroons held by Drew. What insidious scheme has he hatched? and how do Gryphon the hunter and Hugo Harley fit into his plans?
Don't miss what follows as the legend continues in Dread & Alive #3!!!
Web Designer is pleased to announce that friend and collaborator Nicholas Da Silva’s Dread & Alive comic book series is now available for purchase in print and digital format. Dread & Alive tells the story of Drew McIntosh, the dreadlocked warrior who fights to protect the rights of all living things … humans, animals, the earth! Issue #1 debuted on February 6, 2010 (Bob Marley’s birthday) to rave reviews. Nicholas is well known for his comicbook and graphical novel creations and his use of Flash to convey online adventures, and has authored a series of expert tutorials in numerous issues of Web Designer so be sure to check out his latest work.
To purchase a print copy of the new comic, visit the official website at http://www.dreadandalive.com and click on MERCH to order your copy for $4.99 US plus shipping.
For those of you who prefer to go paperless, you can purchase Dread & Alive for $1.99 through Wowio for offline viewing for only $1.99.
http://wowio.com/zoolook
Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Then visit the app store on your iPhone/iPod Touch and download the Panelfly App for free. Once installed, you can then purchase each issue for only .99¢. For more info on Panelfly, visit them at http://www.panelfly.com
10% of all proceeds go to the organization, HELP JAMAICA, a non-profit that works to establish Library Projects in Jamaica.
And remember, every month on the 20th, ZOOLOOK and Reggae Festival Guide give away one 8GB iPod Touch to one lucky facebook friend. All you have to do is become a fan or like the Dread & Alive facebook fanpage at the url: http://www.facebook.com/dreadandalive
“Big ups to Web Designer Magazine! One Love! Tink Diffran Mon!”
Originally posted on http://www.webdesignermag.co.uk/blog/dread-alive-returns/
Q0. Tell our readers a bit about yourself.
I am the founder and creative director of ZOOLOOK, a San Francisco-based new media agency I established back in 1996 that develops entertainment properties for the web, video, television, film and wireless entertainment. I’m also a graphic designer specializing in print, web and video, and a musician.
Dread & Alive creator- Nicholas Da Silva
When I’m not in the studio, you can find me, an avid
snowboarder, traveling around the world, looking for the perfect snow.
Q1. Can you tell us about the Dread & Alive series?
A1. Dread & Alive is the first comic book of its kind with a Jamaican protagonist. The hero, Drew McIntosh, is inspired by the Jamaican Maroons, ex-African slaves who fought back the British and escape into the Cockpit Country of Jamaica where to this day, they govern themselves and are recognized as being independent. The story meshes fact with fiction while offering an insight to the ways of the Jamaican Maroons. The series is also the first to feature a cd collective featuring the best in conscious reggae music. The story follows Drew as he travels the planet with his partner, zoologist Brandy Savage and his mentor, Cudjoe, wise and benevolent village chief of the Maroons, as they confront the forces of babylon in an effort to protect the earth and all its inhabitants.
Q2. What prompted you to create this series?
The Dread & Alive series
A2. As a kid, my dad would always take me to the library which I found fascinating. To me, the library was not only a place of knowledge, but a place where one could escape into a world of fantasy. At the time, I was into reading science fiction and comics! But the more I read, the more I discovered the lack of compelling stories centered around african-based characters. So I began writing my own stories. I used my love for history to study Jamaica’s culture, music, people and history to create Dread & Alive.
Read the whole thing here!
Log in to comment