2023 FAN EXPO Chicago The Rocky Horror Picture Show Brad Majors Commission by Andrew Pepoy (signed by Barry Bostwick)

Let me just say that I underestimated Andrew Pepoy. I sort of recognized the name, quick research indicated that he currently mostly works in an Archie style, and I thought that would be quite keen on uptight preppie nerd Brad Majors. I talked to him in Chicago, he was up for it, and turned in a neat, surprisingly detail-oriented take. In the two years since, I've seen his name attached to all sorts of projects, very capably inking some high caliber pencillers (Ivan Reis, Gene Ha, Tom Raney, Phil Jimenez) and demonstrating a range of illustrative styles on his own. I wouldn't change a thing about how this particular piece turned out-- it's perfect-- but I wanted to put respect on Pepoy's name, now that I know better.

I didn't realize when first seeing Barry Bostwick in Rocky Horror that he'd already been a presence for most of my lifetime collecting comics, via a previous artistic rendering of his character Ace Hunter in print ads for the movie Ultraforce ("Deeds Not Words.") It was a very toyetic Mad Max riff, but the dud was not a notable part of my '80s weekend afternoon UHF TV watching. My main Bostwick delivery system was actually the sitcom Spin City, which I watched first run in the early seasons, more fully in syndication, but pretty much not at all after Michael J. Fox (mostly) retired from acting. Bostwick played the mayor Randall Winston in the nominally political city hall-set show. I also kinda ran into him at a convention in 2015, when he approached the comic writer Peter David while I was interviewing him, because PAD's wife had won a charity auction for a signed pair of his briefs. Houston's Comicpalooza hosted a bunch of Rocky alumni that year, the 40th anniversary, and I'd just seen Barry at a panel with Patricia "Magenta" Quinn and Little Nell of "Columbia" fame. Dr. Frank-N-Furter himself, Tim Curry, was also signing at the show. He'd had a stroke, and looked like he was having a rough time of it. I felt icky about him being wheeled out like that, and anyway, I hadn't started doing the art commission/celebrity autograph thing yet. Now that we're at the fiftieth anniversary, and I've at least got the starring couple sorted out, I mourn for a missed opportunity that quite likely won't come around again.

But back to Barry Bostwick, he came off as such a sweetheart while chatting with Peter David that it reminded me of his turn as the amiable mayor. When I brought the Pepoy piece up to him in the Windy City, that held true. He seemed to like the art produced for his character, and was quite cordial overall. After the carnival of the Sarandon booth, it was a relief to just be able to have a nice moment with a good guy that had made a solid dent in the pop culture landscape. I still really wish he'd been available for Shock Treatment, though. I think he could have killed it in the dual role, but I'm sure he considers that a bullet dodged.

More Art Monday

• 2025 The Martian Criminal Baytown Eastern Rim Funny Book & Vintage Con Commission by Sam Lotfi
• 2024 Charlotte Heroes Convention The Maxx colors by Daniel Govar