Cully Hamner (born 1969) is an American comic book artist, known for his work on such books as Green Lantern: Mosaic, Blue Beetle, Black Lightning: Year One, and Detective Comics. He is the co-creator and illustrator of the 2003 graphic novel Red, which was adapted into a 2010 feature film of the same name starring Bruce Willis, as well as a 2013 sequel. He is also the co-creator of Jaime Reyes, the DC Comics character at the center of the 2023 feature film Blue Beetle.

Cully Hamner
Hamner in 2020
Born (1969-03-07) March 7, 1969 (age 55)[1]
Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.[2]
Area(s)Penciller, Inker
Notable works
Green Lantern: Mosaic
Red
Blue Beetle
Black Lightning: Year One
Detective Comics

Early life

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Cully Hamner was born March 7, 1969[1][3] in Huntsville, Alabama.[2][4] He graduated from Albert P. Brewer High School in Somerville, Alabama.[5]

Career

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Since Hamner's 1992 debut on Green Lantern: Mosaic for DC Comics, hehas worked for nearly every major American comic book publisher, and is chiefly known for such titles as the aforementioned Green Lantern: Mosaic, Blue Beetle, and Red. He is also one of the original members of Atlanta's Gaijin Studios. Hamner also helped start and acted as Creative Consultant to 12 Gauge Comics, publisher of such titles as The Ride, Gun Candy, Body Bags, and O.C.T.: The Occult Crimes Taskforce.

His work can be seen in Top Cow's 2005 Warren Ellis series Down. That same year in DC Comics' "Infinite Crisis" storyline, the publisher debuted Jaime Reyes, the third incarnation of the superhero Blue Beetle co-created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Hamner, and whose visual look was designed by Hamner. He was the regular artist for that character's monthly series in 2006 and 2007, leaving that title with its tenth issue, though he continued throughout the following year as the regular cover artist for that book.[6] Black Lightning: Year One, written by Jen Van Meter and illustrated by Hamner, was released in 2009 as a miniseries and as a trade paperback collection in 2010, and was subsequently nominated for two Glyph Awards.[7]

In March 2009, it was announced that Hamner had signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, and in June 2009, he began his run on the monthly Detective Comics, featuring The Question.[8] After concluding his year-long tenure on that character and in light of the pending release of the film version of Red, it was announced that Hamner would return to both write and illustrate the Paul Moses character for a 40-page prequel called Red: Eyes Only.[9]

 
Hamner with RED director Robert Schwentke, at the premiere of the film version of Red at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood California, October 12, 2010.

In 2010, Summit Entertainment released RED, a feature film adaptation of the 2003 comic book of the same name that Hamner illustrated with writer Warren Ellis, starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Richard Dreyfuss.[10][11]

On June 9, 2011, it was revealed by DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee that Hamner had been enlisted in a substantial role to help guide the initiative to redesign DC's stable of characters as part of the "New 52" line-wide relaunch.[12] On July 12, Comic Book Resources reported DC's announcement that Hamner would be teaming with writer James Dale Robinson for the first three-issue story arc of a new 12-issue series starring The Shade.[13]

On July 19, 2013, RED 2, the sequel to RED, was released in North America. The film stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lee Byung-hun, Anthony Hopkins, and Helen Mirren, with Dean Parisot directing a screenplay by Jon and Erich Hoeber. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $18.5 million and finished in fifth place, which was lower than the $21.8 million its predecessor earned in October 2010. According to exit polling, 67% of the audience was over 35 and 52% was male. Red 2 grossed $53.3 million in North America and $94.8 million overseas for a total of $148.1 million worldwide.[14]

In the spring of 2015, Hamner reteamed with writer Greg Rucka to produce a two-issue coda to their run on the Renee Montoya character in Detective Comics. Convergence: The Question was released by DC Entertainment in April and May 2015.[15]

On August 14, 2015, it was announced that NBC was developing an hour-long based RED television series produced by screenwriters Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber, along with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian. Lionsgate Television and Di Bonaventura Pictures Television would be producing the series.[16]

On June 17, 2016, Lionsgate announced that it would be teaming with Indian actor/producer Anil Kapoor’s AKFC production banner on a Hindi version of RED for the Indian market.[17]

On June 21, 2017, RED producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura stated that a script for RED 3 had been commissioned, and that he was "waiting for [it] right now."[18]

In August 2017, it was announced in The Hollywood Reporter that Hamner would be returning to DC Comics to illustrate Batman And The Signal, a three-issue mini-series teaming Batman and the Duke Thomas character (now known as The Signal). The series is written by fan-favorite writer Scott Snyder and newcomer Tony Patrick (a graduate of the DC Comics Writers Workshop).[19][20]

In August of 2023, Warner Bros. released the feature film version of Blue Beetle, directed by Angel Manuel Soto and starring Xolo Maridueña, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez. The film centers around Hamner's co-creation, Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes).

Bibliography

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Comics series

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Comics anthologies and one-shots

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Pin-ups and covers

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Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Cully Hamner". Good Reads. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Comic creator: Cully Hamner". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  3. ^ Parker, Philip M. "Dictionary - Definition of cully" Archived 2013-07-30 at archive.today. Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  4. ^ Wake, Matt (January 23, 2013). "Cully Hamner, Huntsville native, discusses Superman artist gig and Bruce Willis sequel based on his comics". AL.com.
  5. ^ Welch, Chris (October 8, 2010). "'Red' movie based on comic book by Huntsville native Cully Hamner". AL.com.
  6. ^ Irving, Christopher. Blue Beetle Companion: His Many Lives From 1939 to Today. Raleigh: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-893905-70-5
  7. ^ Pepose, David (February 17, 2010). "2010 Glyph Awards Announced" Archived February 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Newsarama.
  8. ^ Cully Hamner Signs DC Exclusive, Newsarama. March 24, 2009
  9. ^ Pitts, Lan (January 19, 2010). "Cully Hamner is seeing 'Red' again…" Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine. Newsarama. July 19, 2010
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (June 11, 2008). "RED Aims For Green Light". The Hollywood Reporter.
  11. ^ Marnell, Blair (October 23, 2009). 'Red' To Begin Shooting In January Archived 2009-10-26 at the Wayback Machine. MTV News.
  12. ^ "Project: Up Up and Runway"[permanent dead link]. DC Comics. June 9, 2011
  13. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Robinson's 'Shade' Debut, More October Solicits". Comic Book Resources. July 12, 2011
  14. ^ "Red 2". Box Office Mojo. 2017-07-31.
  15. ^ "HAMNER, RUCKA Revive RENEE MONTOYA' Life As THE QUESTION in CONVERGENCE". Newsarama. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 14, 2015). "'Red' Movies Get NBC Series Adaptation". deadline.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  17. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (2016-06-17). "Action Comedy 'Red' Set For Indian Remake From Lionsgate, Anil Kapoor's AKFC". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  18. ^ "Lorenzo di Bonaventura Talks Red and Jupiter's Legacy". Movies. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  19. ^ "'Batman and the Signal' Introduces a New Hero to Gotham City". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  20. ^ "First Look at Cully Hamner's BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL Designs (Exclusive) | Nerdist". Nerdist. 2017-08-09. Archived from the original on 2017-08-23. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  21. ^ Parkin, John (2010-02-15). "Glyph Comics Awards nominees announced". CBR. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  22. ^ "Inkwell Awards Ambassadors"
  23. ^ ""Award Recipients for the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards"". Archived from the original on 2017-07-08. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
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Interviews

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