LeSean Thomas holds a special spot in comicdom. Considered by fans to be one of the comic-book industry’s rising stars, Thomas has managed to nimbly weave successful careers between the mediums of animation and creator-owned funny-books.

LeSean Thomas kicks it with PCS TV at San Diego Comic-Con

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Standing tall as the Supervising Character Designer on Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks, it doesn’t hurt that his anime-inspired, hip-hop infused, revisions of the popular social comic strip helped catapult the show toward ratings paradise for The Cartoon Network.

With a smile and New York swagger, LeSean will tell you that it’s been anything but easy. With a journey that began – at least for most fans – with spectacular art on titles that fizzled too early to catch, Thomas might argue that his rise really began with a full moon, a childhood of Street Fighter art, and tracing paper. Light tables were out of the budget.

With little tolerance for laziness, and a great deal of love for the artistic process, LeSean sits with PopCultureShock.com to promote his latest labor, Nervous Breakdowns: The Art of LeSean Thomas Vol.1, Hip-Hop’s Little Brother, and why Roy Hargrove is great creation food.

Keep up-to-date with LeSean on Leseanthomas.com, or shoot him a line on MySpace.