Thursday, September 16, 2010

Done to a Turn







Comix jams generally don't result in a product with a tight storyline, but this one was relatively coherent compared to others I'll hopefully be scanning if I can contact the artists.

Dave Tosh and I sent the art back and forth and checkerboarded panel by panel. He published it in 1987 under his Slice o' Life label (Dallas, Texas). We've never met in person, but when you work on something like this you create a connection that is almost like talking in person. I don't know how many copies he printed, but 50 of them were set aside and signed and numbered by both of us.

Trivia: The wraparound cover included our heads on platters, that's Dave on the left and me on the right having my nose honked by Morty. This comic has an unusual depiction of Mukey the Mutant Membrane. He actually predates Morty the Dog by a good five years or more. This comic depicts his face as more human-looking than other works. I love Dave's background touches such as the title "Bullets I have Known" on the detective's bookshelf, and the Red Herring Cafe. Our drawing styles were close enough that the visuals don't seem too jarring.

When my last day comes, I want to utter a cryptic clue like Mukey does here. And of course it will be a total lie, but it'll keep everyone guessing. Heh-heh.

I see as of this date, Rick Bradford has the original art for this comic available at The Poopsheet Shop. His specs state:

- page size roughly 5½ × 7½"
- all pages have one hard-to-see crease running through them (my assumption is that the pages were folded when they went back and forth through the mails one page at a time), condition is otherwise very good, no tears or markings


Original art in these comix were usually larger than the printed version and then reduced for sharpness and clarity. Reducing and enlarging on photocopy wasn't really commonplace until the late 70s-early 80s, and it had a profound impact on the ability of us Newavers to produce and publish our own work.

Scanned with permission from Dave Tosh.

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