“Foxtrot” ala “Duke”

After I included this image as part of my recently added Art and Illustration page, I decided to post a copy to give it a proper home here, too. I originally did this back in 2011 for Joel Pfannenstiel and Greg Smallwood‘s short-lived “Visual Audio Club” blog, in response to their challenge to translate my favorite album’s cover.

When looking through my favorite albums, a lot of them didn’t have covers that inspired me … but then I hit upon doing Genesis’ “Foxtrot” album (Paul Whitehead, 1972), the best of their 5-member era, in the style of their “Duke” (Lionel Koechlin, 1980), the best of their 3-member era.

In another life

Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with my career as a self-publishing cartoonist. It’s afforded me the freedom to tell my stories my way, and craft a finished product that reflects my sensibilities without the intrusion of outside ads or editorial mandates. But if there was any publisher I could see my work fitting in with, it would be Harvey Comics of the 1970s.

Gallery-worthy comics

When I saw the flyer for the Percolator Artspace‘s “Dime Bag Show”, a joint fundraiser for the gallery and Lawrence’s Social Service League, my interest was certainly piqued. The challenge: purchase a bag of thrift store items for $10, and make artwork out of it. Of course, I’m not the kind of artist who would make a “collage, assemblage, fabric, poem, video, a song or a dance” out of the items … but I am the kind of artist who can make comics inspired from them!

And thus Dime Bag Comics was born.

When the realization of the short timeline (about 5 weeks) sank in, I knew I couldn’t fill up a book with my own new stories in that time, so I asked if some of the other artists I know would be interested in taking on the challenge, too. Fortunately for me (and Dime Bag Comics readers), a number of them were, and the comic is so much better for the variety of styles they brought to the project. Dime Bag Comics features all-new short drawn stories by J.B. Winter, Tom Cherry, Greg Smallwood (soon to be of Moon Knight fame), Drew Boynton, Matt Levin, Keith O’Brien, and Dale. Signed and numbered limited edition (of 50) 28-page black & white standard comic w/hand-cut accent on the outer wrapper for $7.00.

Since it was initially produced for the gallery fundraiser, I’m giving them first crack at selling copies, after which I will make them available from other retail outlets and direct from the publisher. The “Dime Bag Show” opens Final Friday, June 27th.

[Feb 2020 UPDATE: You can now order a copy of Dime Bag Comics from my new Square store!]