RESPECT | ZOOLOOK - Natural High

Artwork by: ZOOLOOK

A diehard comic book fan and an avid reader of fiction/horror/sci-fi novels growing up in the U.S., multiartist ZOOLOOK (Nicholas Da Silva) was disappointed in the absence of black heroic characters in popular culture and American literature. So he spent his childhood reading sci-fi novels by American science fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein to fill the void. He also read/collected comic books featuring The Hulk, Green Lantern, the Black Panther, and the manga Lone Wolf and Cub, created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. Coming from a diverse background, he promised to change that by meshing cultural facts with fiction with his writing. The result was creating two comic book series, Dread & Alive and HITLESS, both series featuring black heroes who could hold their own and an original soundtrack.

Dread & Alive, brainstormed during his early teen years, is a Jamaican-inspired mixed-media series spanning comic books, novels and music created, written, produced, and published by ZOOLOOK.

HITLESS™, published in 2007, was the first digital comic book/music series produced for the fourth-generation iPod and SONY PSP. The series featured an original soundtrack produced as the background theme for the comic book series. The award-winning series got ZOOLOOK featured in Web Designer Magazines HOT 100 for 2008 three times. It also garnered ZOOLOOK a Web Designer issue (#143), where he shared his creative vision with their audience. That same year, Adobe selected ZOOLOOK as 1 of 100 chosen designers from 6 million worldwide to be called the Chosen One by Adobe in 2008.

On February 6, 2010, ZOOLOOK self-published Dread & Alive, issue #1 to rave reviews.

In 2011, the Glyph Awards nominated ZOOLOOK for the Rising Star category for his work with Dread & Alive. He’s also been featured in Riddim Magazine (Germany) and is the only 4-time recipient of Web Designer Magazine’s HOT 100 honors (2008-2011). ZOOLOOK has also appeared on NPR, CNN, ABC, and AfroPunk.

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ZOOLOOK is currently the founder and publisher of IRIE, the global reggae music platform spanning magazine, tv, and music. In November 2018, ZOOLOOK published his 100th issue of IRIE, featuring the bad boys of reggae, Inner Circle. ZOOLOOK is currently producing a lofi animated music video album project featuring the Cavedudez (Kaya & Leno) titled Stonefrenge. Stonefrenge™ is a nine-track space opera album featuring original lofi music inspired by ZOOLOOK’s Cavedudez characters. For more information on the Stonefrenge series, join the official website at https://www.stonefrenge.com

ZOOLOOK recently released the next story arc from his Dread & Alive series, entitled Nine Night. Nine Night™is a comic book maxi-series featuring 12 chapters published in graphic novel format. The supernatural horror series includes a script for an episodic tv series based on the comic book series.

When ZOOLOOK is not in his studio, you can find the mixed-media artist traveling the globe, covering the reggae music scene for IRIE™ Magazine. He also enjoys sampling cuisine from different countries, reading comic books, and watching movies (especially horror films) that don’t suck.