The Inaugural "Li'l Gary" Award Goes To...

Recognizing a Neighborhood Hero

On Wednesday, April 16, 2025, I had the pleasure of presenting Mr.

Jamie Jones

with the first-ever “Li’l Gary” award for Neighborhood Excellence.

This award was not conceived lightly. Jamie has made numerous contributions to our Savannah community of comic book creatives. And now that he’s moving on, it’s time to give him his proverbial flowers.

Jamie’s accomplishments include:

Founder and Host: Neighborhood Drink N’ Draw

Jamie took on a casual challenge and turned it into a Savannah institution. The 2-3 times monthly meetups could draw dozens of illustrators and comic-curious. His special programming nights on fifth Wednesdays were fun and innovative. While this is his biggest contribution, it’s far from his only one.

I thought this was funny because he sent it at 3:21 AM.

Spakow! Magazine

By self-publishing this anthology-style magazine, Jamie was able to include many of our local artists and writers, bringing some of them into the publishing realm for the first time.

Artist-in-Residence

Jamie’s professionalism was on full display as he was in our first class of Artists-in-Residence at the shop.

Poster Artist

Jamie created our first Free Comic Book Day poster, celebrating a return to normal from the pandemic. He included all of our staff, present and past while homaging King Kirby.

Tabling by Example

Jamie’s tabling skills at conventions (SAVage FST, et. al), signings and pop-ups is legendary. By “walking the talk” he showed our scene how to be successful at this important skill.

OH, also, he’s a nice guy. He supports the shop and he supports his fellow artists. He knows that a scene has to have makers to survive and he’s created an amazing template for that here in Savannah.

On the first of May, Jamie will be heading to Philadelphia to make amazing things happen in that town. While it’s already known as the City of Brotherly Love, it’s capacity for love is about to get a whole lot bigger. XOXO.

Paid subscribers get more information about the “Li’L Gary” trophy after the paywall.