Always the Gentleman - Freddie Williams II

by R.C. Samo

Editor-in-Chief

The road to success is never the path met with least resistance. Some people may have more advantages than others and the ones with those advantages may never realize their potential, settling for a meager status.

In the case of Freddie E. Williams II, his struggles to succeed was also his driving factor in creating a foundation as a comic book artist.

“I was under the misconception that I would walk out of high school and into Wild Storm,” said Williams, a self-taught artist whose education is grounded in anatomy books and the industry standard, How to Draw the Marvel Way.

Although Williams was not formally trained as an artist, he advises others to go to school to avoid some of his struggles.

“If you are self-taught you can take a lot of false leads, but if you go to school, you will be able find guidance and avoid a lot of missteps,” said Williams.

Through his hard upbringing, Williams was able to maintain a positive disposition. His father left the family when he was very young and struggling to make ends meet. Through comics, Williams essentially picked Superman as a surrogate father figure because of their similar Mid-West upbringing and his moral values.

“When drawing Superman, I try to consciously leave his hands a little open and not clinch his fists. Hopefully, it leaves the reader with the impression of fearing an angry guerrilla but noting that negotiation comes first with violence as a last resort,” said Williams about how he hopes the subtleties in his draws leave a lasting impression on the audience.

The Arkansas native now resides in Kansas City, Kansas with his lovely assistant, wife and best friend Kiki. The two met in high school while taking a class entitled, “Principles of Technology,” and started dating after graduation, once Kiki was able to come out of the, “toy chest,” hanging up her softball cleats for the Lord of the Rings books.

Very few have been as fortunate as Freddie E. Williams II to make it in such a fickle industry and Williams is always grateful for his success. During the early stages of the New 52 reboot, Williams was the illustrator on Captain Atom before moving on to Green Arrow. He is also the author of As well as the author of DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics.

The always smiling Williams has a check list for achieving his goals. They may seem simple, but the execution in following through is the difficult part.