Cartoonist Jamar Nicholas has made the scene with his autobiographical comic from the 90’s, The Jamar Chronicles, and his online comic strip Detective Boogaloo. These days, he’s got a new and quite unusual project going: the Fat Wonder Woman blog, in which a number of comics creators reinterpret the classic DC superhero in a… fuller-figured context. I spoke with Nicholas about what this is all about.

PCS: So what made you want to do a blog with pictures of a fat Wonder Woman?

Jamar Nicholas: A few years ago, I was sitting around with one of my best pals in and out of comics, the legendary Mike Manley, and we were just noodling around on scraps of paper, sketching, just chewing the fat, and what I seem to be good at is randomly putting things together and making them funny. So on one of these occasions, I asked him to draw a fat Wonder Woman, and he obliged. I inked it, and it was pretty good! I think I subconsciously got the idea from Dave Cooper’s Wonder Woman story for that Bizarro [Comics] DC indy [creators] anthology a while back, and I always thought that Dave and that concept was great. Soon after, I had a theme sketchbook and started asking my cartoonist pals to drop a sketch in it. They were all awesome!

As the book started to fill up, people started saying that it would be a great idea as a blog. At first I relented, probably being selfish, but I broke down and created the BBWW blog, and it’s been very, very popular. Who knew?

PCS: What was the range of reactions to the creators to whom you posed this idea?

JN: There was really no “range” – you know how cartoonists are – we’re all a little off-kilter, and we think anything that’s different is great. Well, at least the guys and gals I hang out with. Everybody thinks it’s super, or disturbingly funny – everything good. There was no shock of “desecrating icons” or disgust, if that’s what you may believe. I think only fans act like that. To us it’s just something neat to draw.

PCS: Obviously the female figure has been idealized to a tremendous extent in comics throughout history, especially in superhero comics. Do you see what you’re doing with this blog as a reaction to the more extreme examples of the hyper-sexualized, hyper-exaggerated images of women we’ve seen in recent years?

JN: I think part of the fun for me is seeing comic fans react to the art on the blog. What I’m finding out is that some, usually younger fans, find it repulsive, because they have this ideal about ‘perfection’ and anything that doesn’t fit into their self, or media-made box is rejected. I remember when I was a teenager and I had those girly posters from the Spencers on my wall, but now, In the real world, you find that most of that is make-believe, and you learn to understand that real women have believable, real-world shapes and curves. Wonder Woman is, for all intent and purposes, is supposed to be the ideal woman. It messes with some people, I guess, that the ideal woman doesn’t have to look like a Gold’s Gym rat. That’s really the thing that throws everybody off – WHY fat wonder woman? I read on somebody’s message board, “What’s next? Fat Batman?” Yeah, no. That’s not nearly as intriguing, and doesn’t hold the same weight, pun intended.

PCS: Not as intriguing for you to do or for you to see someone else do?

JN: A picture of a fat Batman or other male superhero is funny ‘ ‘Heh, Spider-Man is fat. He let himself go.’ You don’t think anything else about it. But with this Wonder Woman thing, depending on how it’s done, can be flipped to show that there’s pride there – something ELSE. You get that from the interest that the blog has received. The other guys can go eat cake.

PCS: Would you call it empowering?

JN: Empowerment would be a great way to put it. But as viewed on the blog, the artists sometime take their images to a not-so-nice light, so I can’t say that everyone is striving for the same result – but it is one I believe in.

PCS: As a male, do you find drawing a fat woman more aesthetically pleasing than drawing a physically fit woman?

JN: I think being trained in a way by reading mostly mainstream comics, it’s hard to NOT draw muscle-bound people, and the real stretch is trying to not fall back into that. It’s much more appealing to draw something that’s different. I’d rather not draw that way, and if you’re familiar with my stuff, you know I don’t.

I’m a big, big fan of Dave Cooper, and I think he draws the most interestingly disturbing-slash-appealing girls. I think I like the emotion that comes out of images that ask you to look deeper into your own psyche – to ask yourself, “Why does this drawing make me feel funny?” I’m pretty sure it’s a different feeling looking at a Bloodgirl Dagger-Claw comic vs. a Dave Cooper painting.

September 2006 Blacklights

Checkmate #6 (DC). Amanda Waller brings back the Suicide Squad.

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #4 and LSH: Death of a Dream (DC). Ken Lashley does all the art on Flash and some of the art on the Legion trade.

Snakes on a Plane #1 & 2 (DC/Wildstorm). I recently read an interview with Samuel L. Jackson which helped put this bizarre phenomenon called Snakes on a Plane in some perspective. He said, among other things, that he was more interested in making entertaining movies than so-called ‘important’ ones, and that people get enough drama in real life and could stand some fun and escapism in the movies they see. After reading about the opening weekend screenings of this summer’s most unlikely action film, and seeing how this particular moviegoing experience has become the modern-day equivalent of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I’m inclined to understand his point of view. I have not seen it yet. I never got caught up in all the hype leading up to its release, and while it’s amusing to see Fandom Assembled dissect this movie and its box-office performance up and down the Net, I doubt I ever will see it. Call me a snob if you like. I have my tastes and other people have theirs.

Chuck Dixon calls upon the skills honed, no doubt, in writing Way of the Rat in penning this adaptation.

The American Way #8 (of 8) (DC/Wildstorm). Final issue of what has been a very enjoyable mini-series. Written by John Layman with pencils by Georges Jeanty.

Ant #9 (Image)

Emissary #5 (Image). This is getting to be a pretty decent book. I liked the way the Emissary learned how to express himself better in issue two.

Occult Crimes Taskforce #3 (of 4) (Image). Co-written by Rosario Dawson.

Spawn #162 (Image)

Beyond #3 (of 6) (Marvel). Written by Dwayne McDuffie.

Black Panther #20 (Marvel). Written by Reggie Hudlin. See my thoughts on the wedding arc here.

Blade #1 (Marvel). On the occasion of the premiere of the Blade TV show in June, I did a ‘Blade Week’ at my blog, in which I talked about and/or posted to links about the Wesley Snipes films, the comics, and the show itself. As a result, there’s not too much more I can say about Blade here that I haven’t already said there except this: if this new series is gonna be integrated more fully into the Marvel Universe, that’s fine, but at the same time I hope it doesn’t lose its horror roots. With the unexpected success of Robert Kirkman’s Marvel Zombies mini-series, we’ve seen that horror can still be done within the context of the MU; the one doesn’t have to preclude the other. I hope series creators Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin don’t forget that. Click here for preview pages.

Civil War: X-Men #3 (of 4) (Marvel)

Heroes for Hire #2 and Daughters of the Dragon: Samurai Bullets TP (Marvel)

Nextwave #8 (of 12) (Marvel)

Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man (Marvel). Face front, true believers! Olivier ‘Can-Do’ Coipel provides the scintillating sequential scenery for this monumental Mighty Marvel one-shot, part of a series of equally pulse-pounding one-shots, in which The Man Himself, Smilin’ Stan Lee, teams up with your favorite Marvel heroes! It’s history in the making! Nuff said!

Adrenaline #1 (of 8) (A Wave Blue World Inc). This new publisher has been kind enough to provide the entire first issue of this new mini-series free at their website, and after having read it, I can safely say that I think you should give it a try. The protagonist is this African doctor who runs afoul of the heir to a television empire who fancies himself a world traveler and adventurer, and he presents her with an unusual opportunity to raise money for her medical facility. Good dialogue, decent artwork, well-paced story and a heroine you can easily root for. Can’t ask for too much more.

Yenny #7 (Alias)

Gold Digger Annual 2006, Gold Digger Max Pocket Manga V1, Gold Digger Super Poster Mania, and Fred Perry’s S-Guild (Antarctic). Story and art by Fred Perry.

CVO: African Blood #1 (IDW). Talk about your high concepts ‘ this book is about vampires working for the government fighting worldwide threats. Some people might question the logic in using operatives that can only function when the sun goes down, but hey, it’s comics! Anything’s possible, right? Right… Anyway, CVO has been around for awhile, from what I’ve seen at the IDW website, and in this new title, the team heads off to Africa to look for some magic thingamabobs or something. I’m uncertain if this is a mini-series or not but it probably is; the webpage for CVO doesn’t definitively say, nor does the original solicitation.

The Anubis Tapestry: Between Highlights HC (Komikwerks). I almost wasn’t gonna include this, but I figured I should at least mention it. It’s an illustrated novel written by animator Bruce Zick that draws upon African mythology and throws in some other crazy fantasy/pseudo-horror elements as well. Apparently the titular tapestry is one of those all-powerful doodads the ancient Egyptian gods created while they were getting high on hashish or whatever, that can eff things up big-time if it falls into The Wrong Hands. White protagonist of course, so all this kooky primitive stuff won’t seem quite so intimidating. Forgive me if I sound a little snarky; I’m sure this’ll be somewhat decent and all, but it seems like there are already so many stories throughout history, from the Phantom to Tarzan to every mummy movie ever made which appropriate African culture for white audiences. Rarely do you ever see this kind of story with an actual black protagonist. The best example I can think of in recent years is Gregory Walker’s Memnon series of books. (In comics, there’s also Robert Roach’s Menthu.) So I can’t get too excited about this Anubis book unless I was convinced it was nothing less than mind-blowing. And it doesn’t look mind-blowing.

Rosen Graphic Biographies (Rosen Publishing Group). And now, six fun facts about the six people who are the subjects of this series of graphic novel biographies:

You probably know that Muhammad Ali (nee Cassius Clay) won the heavyweight boxing championship in 1964 with an upset victory over Sonny Liston in Miami Beach. Ali trained for the fight in the Fifth Street Gym, where among his many visitors included the Beatles. He taunted and jeered Liston throughout the days leading up to the contest, including the weigh-in on the day of the fight, calling him an ‘ugly old bear,’ but it was nothing more than calculated showmanship, designed to get under the champion’s skin. Less than 9,000 fans were in attendance at the Miami Beach Convention Center (among them, Rocky Marciano and Joe Dimaggio) to watch the 8-to-1 underdog take the title from Liston, and afterwards, he announced his name change from Clay to Ali as a result of his joining the Nation of Islam. Over 40 years later, this fight is still regarded as one of the greatest moments in sports history.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a book about the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, Stride Toward Freedom, in which he described the segregation within the buses. If you were black, you’d pay your fare in the front and then reboard the bus in the back. Often times, black passengers would have to stand over empty ‘whites only’ seats even if there were no white passengers. Also, if all the ‘whites only’ seats were occupied, any additional white passengers could kick out black passengers seated immediately behind the white section. King, of course, went on to become a pivotal figure in the bus boycott, which lasted 13 months until the Supreme Court forced the Montgomery Bus Company to integrate its buses in November 1956.

Nelson Mandela was a superhero! Well, sort of. In 1944 he co-founded a splinter group of the African National Congress because he and his cohorts believed the leadership at the time wasn’t up to the goal of national emancipation for South Africa. He would go on to become a major leader in the fight against apartheid, but in 1960, the ANC was outlawed, and the next year he was forced to go underground after publicly challenging the ruling regime to either adopt a more democratic system of law or expect a mass general strike. During this period he was separated from his family and had to adopt a number of aliases in numerous places, always one step ahead of the police. For this, he was referred to as the Black Pimpernel, a riff off the Scarlet Pimpernel, the title character from the book about the French Revolution. Whether he wore a cape and mask is unknown.

Many consider Exodus the definitive Bob Marley album. Indeed, Time named it the best album of the 20th century, one which includes the classic reggae songs ‘One Love,’ ‘Jamming,’ and ‘Exodus.’ It was recorded after a failed attempt on Marley’s life in December 1976. Six armed men took shots at Marley, his wife Rita, some of their children, and his manager in their Kingston, Jamaica home. There was speculation that it may have been politically motivated, possibly even carried out by the CIA. A week after the shooting, Marley and the Wailers would perform at a music festival in Kingston, and one of their great anthem songs, ‘War,’ was very much directed at the CIA. Exodus was recorded the following year and would go on to spend 56 weeks on the UK album chart.

Rosa Parks was involved in the civil rights movement, and activism in general, long before her fateful bus ride. After finishing her high school studies in 1933 (she was forced to drop out in order to care for her grandmother and mother), she succeeded in registering to vote after three attempts. In 1943 she joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP and served as volunteer secretary, a position she would hold for the next 14 years. (Her husband Raymond was also a member.) At one point she worked as a housekeeper and seamstress for a liberal white couple who helped sponsor her at a Tennessee education center for workers’ rights and racial equality. Three months after the murder of black teenager Emmett Till at the hands of whites, she was at a meeting in Montgomery centered around how to respond to this and other recent murders.

A USA Today article from this past spring talked about the deification, so to speak, of Oprah Winfrey. Apparently there’s this growing movement, if one can call it that, in which the celebrated talk show hostess is looked upon as not just a savvy businesswoman and influential media figure, but as a spiritual leader and moral conscience for many people. The article at the link goes into more detail.

Earthlight V1 (TokyoPop) and Firestorm the Nuclear Man #29 (DC). It’s been a pretty good year for Stuart Moore. His run as writer of Firestorm has begun to get some serious notice (even if DC STILL hasn’t put out a trade paperback yet ‘ makes you wonder what they’re waiting for), and now he’s entering the world of manga with this new title called Earthlight. It’s set on a lunar colony, with the focus on a small group of teens. The central character is a kid named Damon whose father is the new head of the colony. Plus there’s all sorts of political turmoil back on Earth that affects things on the colony. You could say it sounds a bit like Deep Space Nine from Jake Sisko’s perspective. Based on what Moore’s doing on Firestorm and what I’ve seen of his writing elsewhere, on books like Para, I think this could be good. Moore’s specialty is hard sci-fi, and he has said in interviews that the work of Robert Heinlein, especially his teen novels, was a major influence on Earthlight. As someone who favors more multi-cultural outer space fiction, this sounds like it’s exactly up my alley, so I’m gonna make a leap of faith and name this my Buzz Book of the Month. I think this has a strong potential to appeal to all kinds of people. Wanna know more? Check out this interview with Moore about Earthlight.

Jamal Igle pencils Firestorm; Brian Stelfreeze does the cover.

Seven: Gluttony #1 (of 7) (Zenescope). The Gift writer Raven Gregory kicks off this anthology of horror stories inspired by the David Fincher film.

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I don’t think I mentioned the new Astro City: Samaritan one-shot. That got by me, but don’t let it get by you because it’s really good. It’s a Samaritan story, but the focus is on his nemesis Infidel, a centuries-old sorcerer who has fought Samaritan so many times that they’ve reached a d’tente of sorts. As usual with an AC story, it’s as much about the character as it is the story, and Infidel is a fascinating super-villain, with a specific worldview shaped by his experiences and the intelligence to operate on a near-cosmic scale. Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson once again make it all look easy. Pick this one up ‘ and don’t forget to keep an eye out for Book Two of Astro City: The Dark Age this fall.

Geoffrey Thorne is a sci-fi writer, mostly in the field of Star Trek novelizations, crossing over into comics, and his new title The Red Line looks like a winner. It’s not too far removed from the Astro City paradigm, actually: set in a city full of superheroes, the story focuses on a girl in a neighborhood mostly overlooked by the heroes ‘ that is, until a big fight blows her way and she accidentally acquires a weapon of immense power. What she does with it next is the basis for the series. Very solid dialogue and characterization, with decent art. Give it a try ‘ and look for his Star Trek: Titan novel next summer!

Till next time…