Lance Tooks' Journal

A great gift idea:
STUDS TERKEL'S WORKING is named one of the best Graphic Novels of 2009 by the Village Voice.

A brief preview of what you're in for...

…and The Comics Journal says…

And still available:
Lucifer’s Garden of Verses from NBM Books.

(...and I actually get royalties for that!)
Ho Ho Ho, everybody...
Lance Tooks

Just in time for Thanksgiving, a jumbo glazed HAM for the center of your table! Que aproveche!
Lance Tooks
(Congratulations to filmmaker Jose Skaf on a job well done!)
PS… a few kind words from Catch A Vibe about the London art show!

...between October 9th and November 10th with time to kill, saunter over to the Swiss Cottage Library Gallery for a terrific art show that I've been invited to participate in!
“Grandma said,” a short story inspired by the Hurricane Katrina tragedy will be on display in its unfinished original form (page one pictured below), view the entire finished piece by clicking HERE.

Curated by talented cartoonist Paul Peart Smith, it’s a show you won’t want to miss if you’re at all interested in the history of Black comics characters and creators. “The collection coheres around black representations through the imagery and language of the comic book medium: representation as markers of both historical and contemporary struggles. The theme is developed through archival works from the 1930’s to the present-day and culminates with a display of the singular comic art of Patrice and John Aggs, Paul Peart-Smith, Woodrow Phoenix and Lance Tooks.” More info HERE.
Thanks, Paul, for including me in thi…

...if such a thing exists!
Not long ago I shared a few war stories about my "not so brilliant career" as a movie actor. Well, the plot sickens, as they say, because every time I think I'm out, "they pull me back in!" Among my recent adventures in over-acting were a pair of odd turns in Spanish station IDs for TNT. In the first one I'm a hellfire southern preacher, (sorry Mom, but this is as close as I'm ever gonna get), of course if Tyler Perry's casting any day soon, he should know I fooled the Spaniards pretty good!



Then I made my small contribution to the de-evolution of Hip Hop with the other spot... I swore I was channeling Ice Cube, but it came out looking more like an unwanted member of the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (I dare you to Google them if you're too young to remember!)



Anyway, they were a whole lotta fun to do... many thanks to my friends at TNT and TCM España. They found out about me in the first place after spotting me in a very surreal …

I've been asked to submit a few representative images for an upcoming coffee table book on Black Comix... most may be familiar to regular visitors of this blog, others not... but here's my two cents worth. (click to enlarge)






Thanks to John Jennings and Damian Duffy for including me once again in another of their fine projects.
Lance Tooks

(Click to enlarge)

The Beacon Press has some terrific Graphic Novels coming up… including Jamar Nicholas’ adaptation of Geoffrey Canada’s autobiographical FIST KNIFE STICK GUN, and Carol Burrell’s adaptation of Octavia Butler’s classic KINDRED. A call went out for artists to adapt both books and I applaud the very talented cartoonists chosen. I also took a crack at KINDRED, one of my favorite books, and I’d like to share the results with you. It was a lot of fun to try on for size, and they’re going to be beautiful books.
I can’t wait to see them.
Jamar Nicholas on his upcoming book
Carol Burrell’s SPQR Blues











Lance Tooks

Recently assembled sketches, done in a Miles state of mind...


















Hang in there, friends...
Lance Tooks