So, What Took You Away from Wolff & Byrd?

Several commitments kept me away from SLaw toward the end of last year, not the least which were family matters that needed my attention. Professionally, there was a comics project I was hired to write that consumed a lot of my time. Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to discuss the details and, even more unfortunately, it appears to be dead in the water. Which is a shame, since it took over a year to develop! I’ll check with the person who hired me (and who created the project) to see if I can eventually share the info. I believe the story behind the story would make a fascinating graphic novel!

You may have seen two other non-W&B comics I worked on. One of them is under the “other projects” listing on the menu above. It’s a new strip I created for David Lloyd’s online anthology, ACES Weekly. David invited me to be part of his new venture . . . and how could I refuse the co-creator of V for Vendetta? I write, draw, and color “The First Gentleman of the Apocalypse,” while Lovely Wife Jackie handles the lettering duties (and cleaning up my syntax!). Two installments (each containing seven episodes) appeared in ACES volumes 5 and 7. The third installment is scheduled for volume 9. The First Gent grew out of my love of thrift and vintage store clothes shopping and my disdain of overreaching and intrusive bureaucracy! Hope you might give the First Gent a try if you haven’t done so already.

Another project has been the comic Gori Lori, for which I was penciller for writer/creator Nick Blodgett. It’s the story of a high school student in a post-apocalyptic world who just wants to live long enough to graduate! Imagine if Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma produced an Archie comic . . . that should give you an idea of what Gori Lori is like. Doing the art was definitely outside of my comfort zone. But I had a ball working on it! I was happy to have my pencils inked by longtime indie artist and comics entrepreneur Steve Crompton. I don’t know if Gori Lori is in “wide release,” but it is in print and if you do an online search, you might be able to order it.

Also, I contributed a story for Blank Stare Entertainment’s Neil Hamburger Comic Digest. I did a parody of “The Tell-Tale Heart” by way of “Classics Illustrated.” I’ve also been doing some private commissions of Wolff & Byrd and it’s got me itching to get back to them and get down to cases! I’ll let you know as soon as I get them on the docket . . .