Since Hamner's 1992 debut onGreen Lantern: Mosaic forDC Comics, he has worked for nearly every major American comic book publisher, and is chiefly known for such titles as the aforementionedGreen Lantern: Mosaic,Blue Beetle, andRed. He is also one of the original members ofAtlanta'sGaijin Studios. Hamner also helped start and acted as Creative Consultant to12 Gauge Comics, publisher of such titles asThe Ride,Gun Candy,Body Bags, andO.C.T.: The Occult Crimes Taskforce.
His work can be seen inTop Cow's 2005 Warren Ellis seriesDown. That same year in DC Comics' "Infinite Crisis" storyline, the publisher debutedJaime Reyes, the third incarnation of the superheroBlue Beetle co-created byKeith 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 byJen 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 twoGlyph 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 monthlyDetective Comics, featuringThe Question.[8] After concluding his year-long tenure on that character and in light of the pending release of thefilm version ofRed, it was announced that Hamner would return to both write and illustrate the Paul Moses character for a 40-page prequel calledRed: Eyes Only.[9]
On June 9, 2011, it was revealed by DC Comics co-publisherJim 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 writerJames Dale Robinson for the first three-issue story arc of a new 12-issue series starringThe Shade.[13]
On July 19, 2013,RED 2, the sequel to RED, was released in North America. The film starsBruce Willis,John Malkovich,Mary-Louise Parker,Catherine Zeta-Jones,Lee Byung-hun,Anthony Hopkins, andHelen Mirren, withDean Parisot directing ascreenplay 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]
On August 14, 2015, it was announced thatNBC was developing an hour-long basedRED television series produced by screenwriters Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber, along withLorenzo 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/producerAnil Kapoor’s AKFC production banner on a Hindi version ofRED for the Indian market.[17]
On June 21, 2017,RED producerLorenzo di Bonaventura stated that a script forRED 3 had been commissioned, and that he was "waiting for [it] right now."[18]
In August 2017, it was announced inThe Hollywood Reporter that Hamner would be returning toDC Comics to illustrateBatman And The Signal, a three-issue mini-series teamingBatman and theDuke Thomas character (now known as The Signal). The series is written by fan-favorite writerScott Snyder and newcomer Tony Patrick (a graduate of the DC Comics Writers Workshop).[19][20]
Nominated for two 2010 Glyph Awards (Best Male Character and Fan Award for Best Comic), both forBlack Lightning: Year One, alongside writerJen Van Meter.[21]
June 2011 Inkwell Awards Ambassador (June 2011 – present)[22]
