During my time at Yale, I have been astounded by the texture, depth, and passion of each student I meet; Jeremy Williams, BR ‘25, is no exception. A zealous first-year by day and a brilliant comic book artist by night, Jeremy epitomizes the artistic-intellectual duality that makes so many Yale students unique.
When I sat down with Jeremy for our interview, he was sporting a brilliant I-survived-my-econ-midterm smile and his usual square-framed glasses, reminiscent of a real-life Clark Kent. After a quick, friendly catch-up, we began talking about his art.
Elena Unger : How and when did you start drawing comics?
Jeremy Williams: I started in 8th grade; I think it was right after the first cinematic appearance of Black Panther. Before the actual movie, [Black Panther] was in Captain America: Civil War. Basically the whole idea [behind drawing comics] was I wanted to create my own superhero and superhero universe that revolved around Black characters. At first, it was very rudimentary. I drew [panels] in art class I think, or maybe at home, and then one of the tech teachers showed me how to get Photoshop on the school computer.
Jeremy went on to describe how his early interest in making comic books came into full fruition in high school. In tenth grade, he started planning an outline for the first issue of his comic series, Guardian. He spent nearly two years sketching panels on paper, uploading them to his laptop, and recreating digital versions on GIMP (an image manipulation software). As Jeremy moved on to recount the process of finding a publisher, his ambition and humility were radiant. He explained how he connected with a printing press through online research with distinct nonchalance—as if his self-starting was nothing notable.
EU: How did it feel when you finally saw your own art in a printed comic book?
JW: It was April of 2020 when they sent me the real-deal copy and I was just so excited. It was just really cool. My mom was really happy and proud of me because she had seen me working on this thing for a while.
Seeing Jeremy’s genuine pride at that moment was a true privilege. His dream of using his comics to promote racial representation, his love for drawing, and his fascination with worldbuilding weren’t things he had to explicitly articulate; I could see it all on his face.
EU: And can you give a brief synopsis of Guardian?
JW: So, Guardian is this warrior from his home planet Primaterra. Primaterra is the first planet to have life, so it’s basically the center of the universe. The planet is getting seized by this primordial being whose sole purpose is to consume and destroy things, so Guardian’s mentor calls him. His mentor tells Guardian, “Look, we can’t beat this thing, we’re gonna have to figure something else out,” but Guardian’s like, “Nah, I think we can do it.” The being comes to where Guardian and his mentor are, and Guardian wants to fight it, but he gets his ass whooped, like he just gets sideswiped. [In the end,] Guardian’s master saves his life and then sends him through a portal to Earth, and that’s where issue II starts…
To check out Jeremy’s work visit @astral_comics_and_design_co on Instagram or reach out to him by email at astral_comics_and_design_co@gmail.com.
During my time at Yale, I have been astounded by the texture, depth, and passion of each student I meet; Jeremy Williams, BR ‘25, is no exception. A zealous first-year by day and a brilliant comic book artist by night, Jeremy epitomizes the artistic-intellectual duality that makes so many Yale students unique.
When I sat down with Jeremy for our interview, he was sporting a brilliant I-survived-my-econ-midterm smile and his usual square-framed glasses, reminiscent of a real-life Clark Kent. After a quick, friendly catch-up, we began talking about his art.
Elena Unger : How and when did you start drawing comics?
Jeremy Williams: I started in 8th grade; I think it was right after the first cinematic appearance of Black Panther. Before the actual movie, [Black Panther] was in Captain America: Civil War. Basically the whole idea [behind drawing comics] was I wanted to create my own superhero and superhero universe that revolved around Black characters. At first, it was very rudimentary. I drew [panels] in art class I think, or maybe at home, and then one of the tech teachers showed me how to get Photoshop on the school computer.
Jeremy went on to describe how his early interest in making comic books came into full fruition in high school. In tenth grade, he started planning an outline for the first issue of his comic series, Guardian. He spent nearly two years sketching panels on paper, uploading them to his laptop, and recreating digital versions on GIMP (an image manipulation software). As Jeremy moved on to recount the process of finding a publisher, his ambition and humility were radiant. He explained how he connected with a printing press through online research with distinct nonchalance—as if his self-starting was nothing notable.
EU: How did it feel when you finally saw your own art in a printed comic book?
JW: It was April of 2020 when they sent me the real-deal copy and I was just so excited. It was just really cool. My mom was really happy and proud of me because she had seen me working on this thing for a while.
Seeing Jeremy’s genuine pride at that moment was a true privilege. His dream of using his comics to promote racial representation, his love for drawing, and his fascination with worldbuilding weren’t things he had to explicitly articulate; I could see it all on his face.
EU: And can you give a brief synopsis of Guardian?
JW: So, Guardian is this warrior from his home planet Primaterra. Primaterra is the first planet to have life, so it’s basically the center of the universe. The planet is getting seized by this primordial being whose sole purpose is to consume and destroy things, so Guardian’s mentor calls him. His mentor tells Guardian, “Look, we can’t beat this thing, we’re gonna have to figure something else out,” but Guardian’s like, “Nah, I think we can do it.” The being comes to where Guardian and his mentor are, and Guardian wants to fight it, but he gets his ass whooped, like he just gets sideswiped. [In the end,] Guardian’s master saves his life and then sends him through a portal to Earth, and that’s where issue II starts…
To check out Jeremy’s work visit @astral_comics_and_design_co on Instagram or reach out to him by email at astral_comics_and_design_co@gmail.com.
