Shameless namedropping and friend-pimping post! Way back in the old days, circa 1990-1998, I wrote and about half the time drew a self-published comic book called Amoeba Adventures, which has since sunk into a well-deserved obscurity. One of the cooler things about my comics years, though, is the number of incredibly talented friends I made. Lately I've been super psyched to see how many of these old buds have started to "break through" and get real recognition for their efforts. Seems like I can't flip past an Internet page without seeing one of these bums. Just look at this motley crew:
Joe Meyer is the subject of a great new interview up over at Newsarama -- all about his autobiographic comix published in "365 Joe." Joe's an outrageous talent who deserves to be world-famous and his daily strips can be read over at his web site.
Then there's Will Pfeifer who did the funky and hilarious "Mad" magazine-esque satire "Violentman" back in the day for small press, and even had the gumption to actually collaborate with yours truly on a couple things. Both of us are newspaper features editors who write video review columns, but I think I have the sexier mug shot. Sadly Will has barely made his mark in life -- he's only been writing comics for the home of Superman and Batman, DC Comics, for the past few years. Recent work includes "H-E-R-O," "Aquaman" and "Swamp Thing", all worth checking out. Will also recently kicked off a blog -- like the copycat he is.
Shoot, I can't forget the inimitable Troy Hickman, whose "Common Grounds" miniseries from Image Comics got all kinds of accolades earlier this year, great realistic and warm superhero comics with flair and a jealousy-inspiring roster of amazing artists helping out. A trade paperback is on the way for early next year of the 6-issue series and well worth seeking out. Troy never returns my e-mails and apparently only uses the Internet for surfing porn, but still, he's a good egg.
Another old chum is Bob Elinskas, who with fellow talent Dave Hedgecock has just kicked off a new comic series for Slave Labor, "15 Minutes." Check it out at their web site -- it's good stuff. There's a good interview with Bobby here
And of course one of my best pals is jumpin' Jay Marcy whose "365 Jay" daily strips are great online fun. His third (!!) book of autobiographical comix, Jays Days 3, is now available over at Landwaster Books.
Why, knowing all these cool comix kids makes me wish I had the time or drive to do comics myself anymore. One of these days...
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