IMPORTANT UPDATE: J’s artwork from the Impassioned Destruction exhibit was featured in the New York Times (12/15/23) in an article commemorating the 250th Anniversary of The Boston Tea Party. Check it out HERE!

In Spring 2023, I was contacted by Revolutionary Spaces, the pre-eminent Boston history museum, about creating a number of illustrations for their forthcoming exhibit centered around historical instances of property damage, entitled Impassioned Destruction.

Overseen by renowned exhibit designer, Helen Riegle, with special 3D augmentation by veteran designer, Will Twombly, the project took shape very quickly. Beginning in early April 2023 and completing the last of the revisions by end of May, the final pieces went to print with the exhibit itself going live just in time for the Independence Day holiday on July 4th. Impassioned Destruction is slated for an 18 month run at Boston’s Old State House (click the link above for tickets and other information), so if you’re in the Boston area, don’t miss this opportunity to see this work, firsthand.

Hush Ronin #1 recently released through Band of Bards, on January 25, 2023! I have a limited number of SIGNED copies (standard edition, as of now, still waiting on the gold foil). If you are interested in obtaining one, use the contact form on this website with subject: Hush Ronin. Signed copies are $9.99, with $4 for shipping and handling, and only while supplies last. The book is also available for order in both standard and gold foil spot variant editions directly from the publisher. You can find those here. Lastly, it is available immediately in a digital edition through Global Comix.

If you read the original Hush Ronin, as published through Ashcan Comics Pub. in 2019, this new edition follows a completely different storyline. As someone recently pointed out to me, stories about stories are often the best stories, and Hush Ronin seeks to transverse and unite a number of different world mythologies and historical eras, including ancient Mesopotamian gods and goddesses and Elizabethan England, all in addition to the inferred feudal Japanese tropes and trappings.

Included in this section are a number of unlettered pages from the new version of the story, as well as cover images for the current issue #1 and forthcoming issue #2 (June/Jul;y 2023). This story has been many years in the making, and one that has evolved tremendously beyond the mouthless, chibi samurai who inspired the idea of a silent ronin character. My apologies to fans and stoppers by for my poor maintenance of this site, and particularly this section. We moved out of state in mid 2022, and the change has not been easy. Nonetheless, I have lots more news and artwork to share with you this year, and not just a few exciting announcements, so stay tuned and check back as there will be plenty updated here in the near future!

In addition to my work as a graphic novelist, I also create a lot of singular, more illustrative pieces. Whether it’s the cover image for a novel (or a comic), or a single image composed to convey the underlying societal/cultural/emotional complexities of the Boston Tea Party, my work tends to cover a broad range of historical, emotional and genre contexts. As a strident proponent for the power of composition to activate all aspects of an image and convey intentionality and design sensitivity, I am always ready to leap at the challenges presented by telling a complete story with a single image. —JS

Hallowed North is a comic book mini-series/original graphic novel written by Jeremiah Espinoza, with line art and colors by J. Schiek, lettered by Matt Krotzer and edited by Leland Bjerg. It explores the troubled territory of mental illness, specifically depression, as it is manifested and personified by an anthropomorphic monster that seeks to tear down protagonist, Ben Ramos, from the inside. Ostensibly a horror story, Hallowed North is also a fantasy epic, in the grand tradition of JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin and others, with a diverse cast of characters centered around a Latinx protagonist. Issues 1 and 2 have already been released via Kickstarter, with a third to (hopefully) begin production in mid to late 2023.

In February 2021, I began on a small personal project (sort of a palate cleanser between other larger projects) to depict the Major Arcana of the Marseilles Tarot deck with characters and events from Neil Gaiman’s wonderful Sandman comic book series. These were embarked upon as an exercise of personal enrichment and amusement, which they certainly have been, even as the project has expanded to include the entirety of the 78 card deck. I will continue to post new cards here as they develop, but in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy what I’ve made so far.

The Yankovic Theorem is a forthcoming short, written by Christian DeMatteo, with line art by J. Schiek, colors by Avanish Sathianathan and letters by Kevin Lintz. It will appear in the third volume of Fugitive Poems continuing Containment Breach anthology series. Collected here are a number of J’s finished inks for the short, which is an overt homage to 1980s wacky scifi, a la Weird Science and The Peanut Butter Solution, with a subtle nod to both Weird Al Yankovic and Frankie Yankovic, particularly for their work with the accordion.

I discovered very early on in my comic book career that, however passionate I was about my own characters and projects, critical response (and cashflow) were significantly more pronounced when I posted work of established characters and IPs. Please note that none of this posted work was done for profit, really I made it to bolster my portfolio and have some fun with some of my treasured childhood heroes and villains. I publish them here for display purposes only. However, if you have any questions about this or any of my other work, please shoot me a message. As ever, thanks for stopping by!

A recent collaboration with writer J. Michael Donohue. Line art, colors and letters completed in Procreate on iPad Pro.

“A horrifying tale of love, loss and second chances.”

Copyright 2019 J. Michael Donohue

The Lion And The Unicorn began life, as many I’m sure will know, as a 17th century nursery rhyme about King James I of England and Scotland. What is perhaps less well known is that it was later used as an assignment by comics artist Kit Seaton in her Sequential Art class at Cal State Fullerton. I was attempting to crash that class in the Fall semester of 2018. Though I wasn’t enrolled, I considered myself on the hook to do the homework, which, in this case, included making a two page Sharpie comic that made use of The Lion And The Unicorn nursery rhyme as narration for whatever story we wanted to put down on paper. Some took the assignment more literally, and though my original idea involved a 17th century hired assassin, something else happened in my brain along the way and this other story about pugilism and racial inequality took a foothold that would not let go. It did moderately well in the homework critique, and though I ultimately wasn't able to get a spot in the class—although I would get to teach it for a day in Fall 2019—the idea stuck with me. In Summer 2019, I sat down and made the effort to make a nicer, more cleaned up version on my iPad, which I subsequently submitted to the Platform Comics Short Comic Competition. Much like the homework critique, it did moderately well. I didn’t win, but I did make it as a Finalist.

Shown here are both my cleaned up version and the original Sharpie comic that I dutifully pinned to the cork board wall in Kit’s class. It’s rare that my brain operates with such succinct clarity of purpose, but I’m glad that it did here. And if you enjoyed this piece, I’m all the more glad for it.

Copyright. 2018 J. Paul Schiek. Art and lettering completed in Procreate on iPad Pro.

One of several collaborations made with Tony Fabro (Three Panel Crimes) perpetrated in 2019. All artwork, including cover and lettering, created by J. Paul Schiek in Procreate on iPad Pro. Story and editing by Tony Fabro.

There are some of those ideas that defy being summed up in a single sentence, or even two tightly crafted statements, however well intentioned. Taxman/Founders Day, whichever title this story finally hangs its hat on, is, for better or worse, my open love letter to the ever expanding genre of post-apocalyptic fiction that has given us so many of our modern classics, from Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, to Stephen King’s classic fantasy epic, The Stand. Cast upon a similar world stage to that found in Cormac McCarthy’s wonderful novel, The Road, my story concerns itself with re-imagined versions of the American Founding Fathers, specifically John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In my earliest drafts, these men are clones of their historical namesakes, though in more recent re-imaginings, they are again their own men, though perhaps born a century or two too late to affect the world with the power and influence of their famous ideals. In its current form, the story is seen through the lens of a very young Nathan Hale, who lives in the wasteland remains of North America with his father, an anti-imperialist activist/terrorist. One day, Mr. Hale’s activities get the better of him, and Nathan steps out into his own hero’s journey in search of all the trappings of personal discovery and eventual vengeance. As with many stories in this genre, its appeal is predicated on the notion that the best adventures are not about the destination so much as they are about the journey.

Long story here. In Spring of 2019, I was approached by a woman named Nancee who wanted to commission a piece for her dad, whose older brother was lost and presumed dead in 1944, during a fairly routine Navy training mission off the coast of Florida, out over the infamous Bermuda Triangle. Nancee’s dad, had, of course, reached an advanced age, and while there wasn't a deadline to speak of, time was very much of the essence. Well, as it happens, Nancee herself wasn’t in the best of health, and near around the time I completed this 9 panel grid chronicling my imagined version of the details (it’s a MUCH longer story than I’ve related here), her medical prognosis wasn’t…Well, it wasn't good. Like, at all. I was able to get the piece to Nancee and by Nancee to her dad, and that makes me happy inside. That’s actually them in the last panel. I wanted the reader to be able to track Nance’s dad throughout which is why he carries that slingshot in his back pocket well into adulthood. And the little girl in the plaid dress is Nance, herself; a comics, horror and Sether loving lady who never hesitated to drop the dime where a good time was on the line. I haven’t heard from her in a few months now, and the way things were going, I fear the worst. Nonetheless, it is important we remember, and everyone who reads Last Flight Of The Phoenix is complicit in an act of memory, more than seventy five years old.

Copyright 2019 J. Paul Schiek. Art and lettering completed in Procreate on iPad Pro.

A composite (mostly fictional) biography of three of the greatest minds in 20th century close up magic and illusion. Spanning two generations and the entire American continent, Meatwater is a coming of age story for the adult child living in all of us.

Meatwater represents Jeremiah’s most ambitious work to date. He is still in the process of finalizing the script to begin pitching in earnest to leading comic book and graphic novel publishing houses by Spring 2019.

Robotique: Life In The Age of Rude Mechanicals is a collection of visual development art for a graphic novel of the same title. Composed back in 2012, the illustrations both inspire and accompany a three part epic, set in the distant and contemporaneous past, as well as a grim future that is the sum total of both the former. Picture Pinocchio done in the style of Blade Runner.

The whole collection is still available for purchase in both hardcover and trade paperback. Makes a lovely conversation piece for the old coffee table. Click here for details.

He’s the greatest space pirate in the history of outer space travel, circling the cosmos with his trusty companion, Gooey, @starshipcaptain76 has everything going for him…Until he doesn’t anymore.

In reality, @starshipcaptain76 is the online handle of a gamer named Chester Conklin, who just fouled up big time. He blew up the alien robot space station, yes—sweeping a record number of critical hits and hit points—but he forgot the save the effing princess. Oops. Now anyone in Gamerdom who didn’t know his name, is more than aware. The derisive instant messages start pouring in and they just. Don’t. Stop.

But someone else has been watching Mr. Conklin’s gaming prowess; someone who doesn’t give a fig about space royalty; someone who has a job needs doing; a job for someone like…

@starshipcaptain76 is a fun, mixed sci-fi-fi/comedy/drama adventure romp. The project is currently in production with new pages and panels being churned out more or less daily. Expect to see this one making the pitching rounds in Fall of 2018, with plenty of content to read here, online, and potentially even a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign to create a print run for this four issue mini series.

Written and Illustrated by Jeremiah Schiek

©Copyright 2018 Jeremiah Schiek

All Rights Reserved

In Spring 2016, Astronaut Ninja went live as a webcomic with its own domain. Featuring the adventures of Okami, the Astronaut Ninja and his misguided twin brother, Neko, the Warlock Ninja, Astronaut Ninja was a science fiction epic as heartfelt as it was tongue in cheek. Reminiscent of the relationship between Thor and Loki, the two twins share a common grievance in the past that spurs Neko to make life hard for his only very slightly younger brother. Caught in the middle, their adoptive father figure (a Japanese snow monkey named Sobokuna) tries his best from his confinement in the spirit realm to guide the two brothers toward mutual reconciliation.

Given the rigors penciling, inking, coloring (not to mention writing and layouts) Astronaut Ninja’s online tenure was put on hold as Jeremiah welcomed his first son, Emrys, into the world. But fear not, gentle reader, there are still many more adventures (and crossover adventures!) planned for these star cross’d twins. In the meantime, you can read the whole first issue and most of the second here on Tapas.

Forced by the Nazis to create an invincibility serum, Dr. Jedediah Cranium bravely drinks his own untested formula to keep it out of enemy hands. The serum works, but for Jed’s subsequent decapitation, all might have been well. But since head and body were both protected by the invincibility serum, Jed’s body lives on as a headless Nazi super soldier. Transcending time and genre all at once, Jed’s adventures find him facing off against every known enemy and disaster of the latter half of the 20th century.

Created in 2004, Jed The Flying Head marks my longest running continuous creative endeavor. Since its inception it has gone from comic book to animated series back to comic book, radio drama, live action series, pretty much everything but a musical and an interpretive dance. Its current form is as a webcomic on Tapas, though admittedly, it has been a while since I’ve finished a page for output.

Covers are hard. Put that a different way: Good covers are hard. What it comes down to is a sense of unity between the story and the design that is going to entice a reader, new or seasoned, to pick up this book off the shelf, as opposed to those east, west, north or south of it on the wrack, and even more, open it up to see if the carpet really does match the drapes.