The Tough Guy Postcards

These three pieces were postcards done at the same time as the Tough Guy Greeting Cards. They are entitled, from top to bottom, "What Does Blinky Think?", "Mona Sullivan" and "Casual Combat." The last one was inspired by the 1960s-70s psychedelic advertising mailings of the clothing chain Casual Corner.

YDLA: Second Thoughts

aka THUNDERSTORM

I created Thunderstorm in high school (that'd be in the 1980s) as a standard superhero strip and self-published two THUNDERSTORM comics, portions of which will NOT be posted here. My next comic, the anthology BEAT COMICS (1985-1990) featured a revamped version of the strip, focusing more on the hero's alter ego and his relationship with his wife. When the strip next appeared in the Lancaster PA free monthly, 13 MAGAZINE, from 1994-95, it had evolved further into AKA THUNDERSTORM, now almost solely about how being a superhero affected the character (named, heh, Alexander Hitchcock... no, really) and the small group of friends and family (mostly his wife Laura) who shared his secret.

The strip predated the whole "superheroes in real life" genre as Thunderstorm didn't really have supervillains to battle, he mostly used his powers (flight, invisibility, the ability to generate lightning bolts of varying intensity) to put bad drivers in their place and run errands more easily. I may get around to posting some of the later strips here, and I also have a big file of layouts and scripts for a never-finished graphic novel / screenplay (wasn't sure which). Whether or not TS remains in limbo remains to be seen.

This drawing shows a costume that I never got to use for the character, with the shirt turned into a heavy pullover (seemed to me that tucking in a shirt would be very cumbersome to a crimefighter).

YDLA: 20 Things I Actually Love About the 80s

This was slated for AQUATULLE Magazine, but the magazine sadly folded before it was printed. I still hate the 80s.

Agents of P.O.O.C.!*

This was the flyer for a 2003 show I curated at Maxwell's called AGENTS OF P.O.O.C.!* which stood for "Panels Out of Context," in which artists were asked to do reinterpretations of comic book panels (some of mine are elsewhere on this site). The background for the flyer was my version of a panel from LOIS LANE #93 (1969) by Irv Novick in which Superman and Wonder Woman were dancing the Froggie Underwater.

The Tough Guy Greeting Cards

Okay, so here was the deal: In 2003, I launched TOUGH GUY GOODS AND SERVICES as a greeting card / graphics products line. The idea was to build a company that put out cards, stickers, mugs, etc. I emptied my savings, printed up thousands of cards, bought supplies, filed for a tax number, set up the website, hired an assistant, sent out hundreds of packages to stationery stores around the country.... and sold absolutely nothing. Zip. Zilch.

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the following cards (they are 5 x 7", blank inside and come with envelopes), drop me a line. I'll give you a deal that will make your head spin. Okay, so it's unlikely that any deal on freakin' greeting cards will make your head spin, but trust me, it'll be cheap.

The Supergirl / Batgirl Plot

Loosely based on a hilariously ludicrous tale from WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #169 (1967).

The Jazz Pack Poster

Fellow former Lancastrian Michael Kauffman was for a time, the sales manager at Verve Records, and hired me to do this promotional poster for their marketing team. This art was also adapted into a promo CD.

Mauled!

This page was my contribution to MAULED! #1, published by Manual Comics / House of Twelve.

Tough Guy teaser

This was the placeholder for the first version of Tough Guy Goods & Services in 2003, when the plan was for it to be a greeting card / graphics products company. Yeah, that didn't work out.

Tough Guy Home Page V.2

Maybe the saddest thing about choosing to adapt this site to the Blogger format is the loss of the home "Splash" page, something I really liked designing and drawing. But I have been told that research indicates that web-surfers hate home pages that merely lead you to actual content, so I guess this piece is an artifact of an ancient bygone time for the internet! This was the home page for TGGS version 2 from 2003.

Detroit Cobras Poster

Johnny Cash

Babylon, the Mother of Harlots!

One of the pieces I did for the AGENTS of P.O.O.C.! show was this adaptation of a page by Al Hartley from the 1970s Spire Christian Comic, THERE'S A NEW WORLD COMING!, a mind-blowing comic book based on Hal Lindsey's book about the Rapture!

Rob & Laura Petrie

My all-time favorite sitcom, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was released on DVD in  2003, causing much spending, ranting and a drawing in celebration.

XMCD 2003: Baby, It's Cold Outside!

The cover (front and inside) to my 2003 Christmas compilation CD. The front image is from the December, 1959 issue of ROGUE Magazine; The interior illo was from a 1967 ad for Haig Scotch.