3 Questions With… Jarrett Williams
I met Jarrett at the CALA comic show a couple of years ago. I picked up Hip Hop: The Beat of America, which is a history of hip hop for young readers. He also draws the Rick and Morty comic. While talking with Jarrett, he mentioned the next book he was working on, Harper Sharp, about a kid detective. Who doesn’t love kid detective stories?
Jarrett offhandedly mentioned that Harper is the first book with a black kid detective protagonist. Which is pretty awesome, but also, it took this long for that to be a thing? The first Harper book just came out a couple of weeks ago, and I was sure to scoop it up. It’s as fun and delightful as I hoped that it would be. A solid whodunnit for readers to enjoy and follow along as Harper researches clues and works away at the mystery. Another enjoyable aspect is the relationship Harper has with friends and the loving home life that keeps him grounded.
What is your favorite part/step of the process?
I love inking so much. I struggled with it for a while. But year-over-year, I got more comfortable. I was really dedicated to improving! I found myself really clicking with Pentel Brush Pens and Microns, and so I use those a lot now. My pencils are really loose, but I know my inks will always tighten things up!
What are you currently working on?
I just released Harper Sharp: Kid Detective a few weeks ago through Penguin Random House. Harper is an artsy, 5th grade kid detective who really cares about solving mysteries in his small town of Starview. Someone is trying to sabotage his school’s Young Inventor Fair and Harper is on the case! It’s been a really ambitious project. I love getting to build his world and designing various characters and suspects for him. I’m currently completing the second book in the series called Harper Sharp: Camp Chaos.
What was the book/comic that you fell in love with when you were a kid/teen?
I loved the newspaper comic strip Curtis by Ray Billingsley. It runs to this day in the Times Picayune in New Orleans. I’d cut it out and paste the strips in my journal. It felt like I was making homemade graphic novel. I always admired Mr. Billingsley’s ink work and how he could convey textures like fabrics or walls with just a few ink strokes. I didn’t draw that well as a kid but work like his made me want to get better as an artist.
You can find Jarret online at:
