N. Steven Harris⎜Represent

Notable Time Stamps:

Background: 

5:25-5:31 “I draw, I’m a penciler, I sometimes write but primarily I draw. I plot sometimes but that’s mainly what I do. I’m an illustrator, penciller, and I may color digitally sometimes but usually it’s only my stuff that I color.” 

 12:55-13:23 I went to school for visual arts, I was an illustration major. I went in wanting to do comics but when I got in I didn’t like what was coming out of the comic book department or what was happening there, it wasn’t putting out people that were developed” 

 14:08-14:41 “A fellow classmate introduced me to an illustrator named Michael Davis who was one of the cofounders of Milestone Media. He was running a class up in Harlem where i had moved to. I met Michael Davis in 89’ at this placed The Children’s Art Corner where he was teaching free classes, it was a community center that had visual arts there.” 

 14:55-15:24  “His best friend Denys Cowan, the other founder of Milestone Media was there and he saw my work and wanted me to become his assistant at some point. So maybe a few months after I was taking the class I became Denys Cowans assistant for about a year or two before he started Milestone. That’s what got me in.” 

 Project History:  

15:37-15:56 “I got some work from Dark Horse Digital, I wrote the first artist comic book called X one of Dark Horse’s first superhero characters. Before that, I did a 10 page DC comic book story which is two characters “Fire and Ice” 

 16:19-16:30 “I was working at Motown like THE Motown. Michael Davis left Milestone and started an animation company at Motown. Motown Machine Works I did a comic book there called The Crush, they have like 4 or 5 titles there. “ 

 17:02-17:10 (Motown) I did a book called Man Against Time, Casual Heroes, Troubleman, yeah there’s a few titles” 

 17:19-17:57  “After that I jumped on DC comics, a book called Aztek: the Ultimate Man. I co-created that with Grant Morrison and Mark Miller for about a year. I did Deadpool annual 98’, that book was a template for the first Deadpool movie because that was his origin story” 

 19:2819:53- “I got back into comics with a book called  Vampire Huntress for Dynamite Comics and that was written by the late L.A. Banks. A 12 book novel series that as later adapted into a limited comic book series. I just did one issues, I wish I did more of it but the series she did for it was phenomenal” 

 20:46-21:10 “I did Voltron for Dynamite in 2012-2013 and then I was asked to do an issue of Watch the Holmes that was already out. I did an issue and that issue and that series up to that point was nominated for  2 Eisner Awards for best series and best single issue.” 

 Current Projects: 

2:50- 3:17 “Comic book, graphic novel, and some commissions here and there for maybe a pinup or a cover, so that’s what it’s been. It ranges from action adventure with martial arts to historical to even working on something now for DC Comics, so autobiographical.” 

 3:58-4:31 “DC is doing a thing called Represent, it’s a digital imprint of stories of people primarily Black and poc that may reflect on something that happened in their life, it could be a range of anything. I’m doing something now that happened in my life, I’m almost finished with it. It’s due out in May” 

 5:30-5:36  “This will be my DC writing debut, I’ve written before but this is my first DC writing debut because I wrote the story” 

 32:00-33:00 I’m doing a book right now called Indigo Clan, it’s an independent project I’m working on with a guy out in California, The book is a martial arts adventure. Some fantastical stuff some sci-fi stuff in it, it features 5 young people centering around a young teen girl from Oakland, California with these powers and abilities to fight the ancient evil. It uses mysticism, ancient cultures, traditional cultures and they go on a trip around the world” 

34:44-35:01 “I’m doing a ten page of a royalty free character called Octobriana. It’s a character that was created in the 70’s that’s a very Cold War specific type of character. 

35:39-36:15  “Another royalty free character is a character from eastern european lure called Baba Yaga . She’s not the old hag that’s in the lure, she’s a beautiful woman that’s fashionable but she’s a trickster or a mischievous type of character.” 

Black Creators: 

45:50-46:10  “ If you have a vision, especially if it’s a comic book or if you want to do animation don’t feel the need to mitigate your Blackness. If you have a story that you want to tell that’s rooted in Blackness or your culture, do it. 

51:28-51:47  “Usually we see our culture being used as a demonic thing. We see voodoo being used as a demonic source or some traditional African spiritual modality being used as a demonic source.” 

 Advice: 

12:10-12:22  “Time is money, time is a factor so you could spend a lot of time figuring something out and that could cost you money if you’re doing on the job training” 

38:19-38:28   “I didn’t want to have to get a job to live and not have comic book work” 

 38:55-39:14   “Now you have more comic book companies, you have kickstarter where you do your own thing and people decide if they want to support you or not. There are much more resources out there and opportunities for a creator to do their own thing.” 

 46:42-47:30 . “You’ve got to put yourself out there. Being on social media, being online, going to conventions and talking to editors, talking to artists, getting critiques and having them give you some pointers on what to do. Building relationships and building connections with creators in comics. The key is to do the work and get yourself out there.” 

 47:32-48:00  “Do the writing, do your drawing, and do your research. Research in a story, research in what you have to draw, who you have to know, and research how to navigate into these spaces and once you’re in these spaces, to maintain it you have to be professional. You have to be on time and being accountable, ” 

 52:55-53:00  “This is the time to show yourself who you are and do it unapologetically” 

Key Links: 

Website: www.nstevenworks.com 

Instagram: @nstevenharris 

Twitter:@NStevenharris 

Facebook: NSWorks 

Deviant Art: nstevenharris