Bio

J.H. Williams III: A multiple award winning creator in both illustration, design, and writing.

The Story So Far…

J.H. grew up in the Bay Area of California where his obsession with comics began. His love for Micronauts toys prompted him to check out the comic by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden. An addict was born, first he was drawn in by the stories and then the art of the books he was picking up. He started noticing names attached to these books and realized people actually did this for a living.  Then, at the ripe old age of 8 he decided comics would be his life..err..career. 

Drawing every day and getting critiques at conventions from working professionals, he honed his craft, and eventually, with a helpful nudge from Howard Chaykin, started getting work.  

J.H. has been a professional comic book creator since 1991. As an artist of broad conceptual thinking and the ability to use several mediums, over time, J.H. has been able to craft unique images using a variety of techniques and methods stemming from influences of comics to fine arts.

The bulk of his career has been with DC Comics.  Among some of his earliest work includes a mini-series, Deathwish for the Milestone imprint, Batman, Starman, the Elseworlds graphic novel Justice Riders, to name a few. Also part of his early career was a very personal project, Chase which he co-created and co-wrote in addition to his art chores. He also has done a variety of work for Marvel Comics, such as Wolverine and X-Men related stories, along with numerous covers. This was followed by The Son Of Superman graphic novel with writer Howard Chaykin.

But ultimately, it was Chase that brought a career defining offer he couldn’t refuse, Promethea with Alan Moore.  The 32 issues of Promethea were at times daunting, but J.H. enjoys a challenge and was very grateful for the experience.  Promethea earned numerous nominations and awards for all involved including an Eisner win for J.H. and company for Best Single Issue and a Best Artist win from the Harveys.

Other notable works are Batwoman: Elegy with Greg Rucka, Desolation Jones with Warren Ellis, Batman: Snow that he co-wrote with his writing partner on Chase, D. Curtis Johnson, as well as Seven Soldiers Of Victory and Batman: The Black Glove with Grant Morrison.

Williams became co-writer and artist on the Batwoman ongoing series with his very talented writing partner W. Haden Blackman. He took on the challenge of continuing the story out of devotion to this compelling character and her fans. Highlighting the success of the series were multiple nominations and awards, most notably a GLAAD award for Outstanding Comic Book and Eisner wins for J.H. in both the Best Cover Artist and Best Penciler/Inker categories.  Over the pond, J.H. garnered 3 Eagle Award wins for this work (Yeah, we know, we’re tooting horns). His work on the series has garnered additional awards, such as The Inkwell, The National Cartoonist Society Award (The Rueben), another GLAAD award, along with various other nominations to date.

Recent comics work is the highly acclaimed The Sandman: Overture with the illustrious Neil Gaiman. The two of them partnered in such a way to find new breaking ground of what to expect from the comics form. Creating a worthy piece of storytelling that forever alters the legendary Sandman canon, (and the very universe itself).

This is followed by the Where We Live Anthology book project. A benefit book project to help those affected by the Las Vegas October 1st shooting that happened in 2017. J.H. contributed multiple pieces to this project. He and his wife, Wendy, are the book’s curating editors. Published by Image Comics.

Currently, J.H. is back to co-writing duties with W. Haden Blackman, and creating art for a new series called Echolands. Soon to be published by Image Comics. He’s also is writing various other projects that are in development.

J.H. also works on projects outside of the comics industry. He’s designed a limited edition suit lining for Artful Gentlemen out of San Francisco, all of the packaging and cover art for rock band The Sword on their Apocryphon album. And all of the package and art design for legendary rock icons, Blondie, for their Ghosts Of Download album. In that past he’s designed work for t-shirts, neck ties, bicycle riding jerseys, boogie boards, and snowboards.

J.H. lives in Las Vegas with his adoring wife, a cat, a rabbit, and an ever expanding comic book and vinyl records collection.

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