Outside In # 1

1st edition, 1983, 150 copies on white cardstock.

2nd edition, December 1983, 20 copies on white cardstock.

3rd edition, 1984. Seattle, Washington : Starhead Comix, regular stock white paper.

Created with the intention of starting a visual directory of self-portraits.

The first issue featured Hank Arakelian, Clint Hollingsworth, Brad Foster, Tucker Petertil, Jean Turnbow, Mark Hopkins, and Jon Turnbow (now known as Strongbow)

The cover was an accident. I loved Hank's drawing and thought he sent this as his self-portrait right after I sounded the call. But it turned out he sent the graphic to me just to do it and didn't consider this a self-portrait. Yet it works and was the perfect illustration to kick off the series.



Hank's original still adorns my studio wall. My poor studio. Right now it looks like the Tasmanian Devil has paid it a visit.


Mark Hopkins is someone I've known since the third grade. He is one of the greatest natural born artists I've ever seen. While the other kids were drawing crude figures during art time in school, Mark would be creating an image that looked like a lost Van Gogh painting. Here's a photo of Mark and I in Santa Barbara, California, April 1, 1976 as we hitchhiked together down the West Coast. Mark's on the right. A lot of people thought we were brothers.

Retreads # 3

1st edition, 1985, Pullman, Washington, 50 copies, yellow cover, enlarged digest size. Not distributed until 1986.

2nd edition, December 1985, Pullman, Washington, 30 copies, pink cover, enlarged digest size. Not distributed until 1986.

3rd edition, November 1986, Coupeville, Washington : Published by Rex Munger. 4 copies, white cover, enlarged digest size.

1st Danger Room Reprint Edition, July 2005, 5 copies, blue cover, enlarged digest size.

Trivia:

Page 34: I still think that is greatest joke ever.

One Normal Guy Talking With a Nut!

1st edition July 1985, Pullman, Washington : Kage Comics. Letter size cardstock stapled at margin.

2nd edition, 1985, Pullman, Washington : Kage Comics. Letter size cardstock stapled at margin.

Available as a reprint-on-demand title, 1994, regular digest size.

Clint Hollingsworth originally published this in a format that makes it difficult to scan, so you Morty the Blog readers are stuck with my posting the digest size version, which is unfortunate given the amount of fine detail work by Brad Foster. Also you'll need to extra enlarge the images to read the thing.

My personal copy is the 2nd edition and it is pink. I don't know if Clint used different colors in his printings. As a note to you bookpeople, Newave collectors tended to regard printings as editions, something that was more or less institutionalized in the network by Jay Kennedy in his Official Underground and Newave Comix Price Guide.

Clint's original editions included some extra material: Foster's short pieces "The Button" and three whimsical illustrations, and my story "A Glimmering Ray of Despair." These extras were all excluded from the print-on-demand version.

This was a very enjoyable jam with one of the most prominent artists associated with the Newave comix movement. Sending this thing back and forth between Washington State and Texas was like a long game of chess with a master. We made attempt after attempt to trap each other in this visual gamesmanship.

Brad and I are from the same generation and shared a somewhat parallel development as cartoonists, growing up with shared influences. We also, and I think I can speak for Brad here, found the Newave network to be a great outlet for our artistic freedom and expression. An outlet that was fairly unique at the time.

With those things in common, the differences were in the details. And we had fun with those differences in this jam.