Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerry Michael Grimes.
Hi Jerry Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
While I like to think of myself as an artist, my formal training ranges from the studying of ancient religions to the history of Western industrialization. I’m from rural, Eastern North Carolina, and I lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Virginia before settling in Chapel Hill, where I was honored to have graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
I attend the North Carolina School of Arts earlier in my life having earned my initial degree in Theater Arts and Film Production from Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh.
Throughout all of that time, and long before, I have illustrated, painted, composed music, and made films. The best way to describe my love for art, comics, music, and film especially, is that my worse days are made better because of them. If money were never an issue, I would draw, compose, and make movies all day, and even if money, sickness, or anything else is an issue, I still try to find time to draw, compose, or imagine a film I would like to make because for me, art is the difference between living and merely existing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have only known rough roads. The disadvantage to learning to travel rough roads is that people unaware with my struggle or my story assume that the obstacles have been minimal.
One of the biggest struggles has been learning to work through grief and work while grieving. My newest project, Luc Oswell, is, among many things, a fantastical, cathartic reflection on loved ones, who have passed away, fleeting happiness, and the effort to make the most out of difficult situations.
Honestly, I am still in the earliest stage of rolling out the project, so understandably, anyone hearing and seeing the content may be at a complete lost as to how those themes emerge, but they are definitely the subtext driving the larger, sci-fi and fantasy elements of the comic and its accompanying material such as the music and short films based on the comic.
In the world of Luc Oswell, there is a large retail franchise called “SEERS,” which is also a play on one of the superpowers of the titular character. Such an inclusion is an example of how I am navigating the nostalgia of once-reliable cornerstones of everyday life eroding or transitioning to something less recognizable.
At best, throughout my journey, this is where my appreciation of art, and those who create it in their own way, has been comforting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
By no means am I a professional illustrator on par with the many gifted artists, whose abilities eclipse mine to the billionth degree. Likewise, I would not even describe myself as remotely accomplished creative author or filmmaker.
I am very much an amateur in the sense Francis Ford Coppola once spoke of in that I do what I do out of love and enjoyment.
Professionally, I have worked in education at various levels, and I have also been heavily involved in executive-level nonprofit leadership and community work. My work in these fields, especially teaching, have been rewarding, but my creative side permeates even these fields.
Rarely have I ever taught a course without drawing Superman on a dry-erase board to make a point, and I made it a priority to reference Captain America and the cultural contributions of Batman creator Bill Finger in my dissertation.
Having said all of that, producing Luc Oswell: Professional Problem Solver as a major franchise with mature-themed graphic novels, collectible figures, animation projects, and relevant product tie-ins paired with several live-action adaptations and spin-offs is my dream!
I would say, “spoilers ahead,” but I actually give away the end of the story in one of my earliest promos for the project to make the journey as interesting as the destination.
Luc Oswell is a golden age superhero in a postmodern world. He is brash, reckless, and most of all, selfless. A kind and mild kid growing up in poverty, Luc suffers the loss of his parents to illness, and reacts to these tragedies by volunteering, counseling, and helping as many people as possible. He also develops a bit of drinking problem in the process, which he conceals from everyone except members of a motorcycle club called “Trial-N-Era” that he spends time with. Luc’s father started the club, and Luc affiliates with the club as a way of maintaining a connection with his dad’s legacy.
While sitting on a rooftop enjoying a particular brand of whiskey called “Machina,” Luc sees the sky open and through it walks a casually dressed man, who steps through the cosmos as casually as taking a morning stroll.
The casually dressed man is known as The Nameless, and he busies himself with keeping the universe in working order with the assistance of a cloaked individual known as “The Nameful.” Luc finds himself whisked away on an interstellar journey to discover that his constant positivity and selflessness summoned The Nameless and The Nameful, something they thought impossible. Luc’s confident disposition then causes a large heron, named “The Crane,” with flaming wings and large, sentient Toyota Tundra to materialize as Luc discovers that he innately possesses the ability to psycho-ionically materialize his own confidence, and that of other people, for the purpose of manifesting abilities and objects that will enable him to help other people.
That is the gist of the story. What makes it unique, I believe are the aesthetics of the story. Luc materialize a white suit and purple tie for himself based on a detective from his father’s favorite tv show, and the same with the sentient Tundra, whose name is “Vagrant’ spelled “VGRNT.”
There is also Luc’s best friend, Bianca Battle, also known as “Ms. 28.” She is virtually indestructible with one major exception. In addition to her invulnerability, she is a double amputee with cybernetic, prosthetic legs that radiate an energy similar to the ionic power Luc emits. Ms. 28, who is rescued as a child by the Trial-N-Era Motorcycle Club grows to become a formidable club member and enforcer. While she and Luc are not romantically involved, in a traditional sense, they have an unbreakable bond.
In the book, the story actually picks up with Luc in a slump having already effectively saved the world from a series of mysterious seismic shifts. Luc effectively retires from being a superhero in his 30s, gets married, and has a family only for a series of damaging events to send him into a depression leading him to have to rediscover his strength in time to meet the mysterious threat reemerging in the world. He is joined along the way by Ignatius Delaware, a brilliant, handsome trillionaire, who is simply a huge fan of Luc’s and of course Ms. 28, VGRNT, The Nameful, The Nameless, and The Crane.
I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s my passion!
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Persistence and a willingness to accept that sometimes, things are going to be unfair, unnecessarily difficult, and discouraging. The question is, whether I will let that stop me, or do I care enough about what I’m pursuing to give it all I have even when it hurts.
In addition to any personal quality I possess, I honestly believe that the truest success is determined by the quality of the friendships you have.
I have been beyond fortunate to count remarkable artists like Aaron Philip Clark and Marc Thompson, producers like Luther W. Truesdell, Jr., and thought leaders like Lenny McAllister, among my closest friends in life. My highest recommendation to anyone seeking to do anything of value, is to establish and maintain meaningful friendships.
Luther, Aaron, Marc, are not only my lifelong friends, but for over two decades, we have facilitated the CAVE Enterprise, a production that has produced several projects since 2001. Most recently, we have renamed the CAVE Enterprise, the XAVE Enterprise, but it is still pronounced, “Cave” as we are lovingly using the Greek pronunciation of “X.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.LucOswell.com
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lucoswell
- Other: https://www.JerryGrimes.com
