2023 FAN EXPO Chicago Howard the Duck Beverly Switzler Commission by David López (signed by Lea Thompson)

I'd always wanted to visit the Windy City (The Blues Brothers is a lifelong favorite,) was hot to get commissions again after COVID restrictions cooled, and there were also a bunch of artists and celebrities that I was interested in at FAN EXPO Chicago. One of my first VHS rentals was Howard the Duck, which I adore because it's such an... odd duck. Others will pick at its flaws, but I was instantly smitten with its offbeat approach, Thomas Dolby soundtrack, the surprisingly good special effects (smirk at the suit if you must, but not the Dark Overlords of the Universe,) and of course Howie's best girl Bev. I'm not sure whether I had yet seen Back to the Future, but it was this movie that made me first take note of Lea Thompson, who would become a forever crush through her continued work on BTTF, the frankly traumatizing AIDS panic comedy Casual Sex?, and just under a hundred episodes of the NBC sitcom Caroline in the City. I'd been using art commission as a rationale to meet celebrities since the Aliens 30th Anniversary project, so why not do the same for Lea via Bev.

I only had a few months to plan for the trip, and would have get most of the commissions at the show itself, which put time pressure on. Out of the artists attending, I figured the best bet for this one was David López, who I knew best from the DC Comics run of Fallen Angel by Peter David (who eventually moved it to IDW.) That was a rather dark and moody series, but in my research, I came to appreciate his run on Captain Marvel especially. He was able to offer waterpainted color, which meant a seriously warped piece of paper that proved difficult to scan, but also a wonderful array of colors and tones. You might not believe me, but my favorite part is the hip '80s geometric patchwork on the shirt. He may have ultimately regretted that choice, because he had to commit to the bit across a lot of long-sleeved material, but you couldn't tell by the finished outfit.

I never asked for or expected a likeness, which is a prospect many artists find intimidating. I only ask for them to render the character in these circumstances, which he did very well... but that cleavage was a surprise. In retrospect, I maybe should have given him reference from the Kyle Baker movie adaptation, rather than just photos from the flick, because this was certainly... supple? And then the shy comic nerd with the forever crush also had to work in an explanation to the artist that I didn't mean for her to look like she was painted on the nose of a WWII fighter plane. I do not think that I managed all of that very well, and the encounter was ultimately more awkward than I'd hoped. Ms. Thompson was pleasant enough, but I'm not sure that she knew what to make of me and/or the art. I can't even say "nice piece" without it coming off as catcalling.

2023 Fan Expo New Orleans Darkman Commission by Derec Donovan

If I remembered to ask Derec Aucoin why he changed his last name to Donovan, I don't recall his answer, but that was how I was introduced to him in R.E.B.E.L.S. '94 #2 (I'd technically seen a few of his pages in Green Lantern #55, but didn't take note of him there.) I'd decided to try all of the DC Zero Month comics, and had not taken the art on the first two (#0-1) issues well, but this new guy really impressed me. R.E.B.E.L.S. ended up being an excellent if too short run that I still highly recommend, and remains the artist's second longest stint in a 30+ year career (he did 17 issues of Adventures of Superman with Joe Casey after I'd closed my comic shop and avoided anyone else's.) After that, it was catch as catch can, between some stories in DC's Showcase and Secret Files & Origins books and fill-in work. I'd abandoned Marvel Comics by that point, so I mostly appreciated his progress from afar on titles like Bug, Quicksilver, a Venom mini-series, and the adaptation of an ill-fated animated TV series, Avengers: United They Stand. I've done some back-filling to rectify, like working on a set of his Youngblood run, but Derec Donovan (as credited beginning around 2004) has mostly remained an artist that I wanted on series that he didn't work on, especially in the late '90s at DC.

My frustration at not getting Donovan drawing stuff that I wanted to see him do contributed to my driving from Houston to NOLA for a comic convention. We missed most of the first day, but since he was a top priority, I'm confident that I sought him out during the hour or two we had left. I told him all about my appreciation of his work, and wanting to get something special from him. The director Sam Raimi was also at that con, and I'm a big fan of his 1990 movie Darkman (less so the franchise, but it has its moments.) The cool thing about Darkman is he's not Ash Williams, so Raimi and friends see him fractionally as often, but virtually anybody from the Evil Dead trilogy had a hand in Darkman (even Bruce Campbell played him in the closing moments of the movie.) I don't recall if I specifically wanted Donovan on Darkman, or if it was his choice out of several options, but I knew he'd do something cool.

I can't recall which day it was finished, but the artist ultimately provided me with a glorious 11x17", full painted color, cover quality image. The horrifically disfigured Peyton Westlake, wrapped in gauze and theatrical guise as a brutal vigilante seeking revenge from those who ruined his life. We see Darkman swinging from a crane hook, strongly recalling the final set piece from the first film, where our anti-hero danced across girders on an unfinished skyscraper. No offense to the other creators who've tried to do Darkman justice in four colors, but this is the Darkman comic book that we always wanted and never got! Besides the dynamic pose, attention to costume details, and appropriately deep shadows, I love the deep reds and orange of the swirling inferno that the man of many faces battles against. Honestly, it was simply to beautiful to marr, so all the celebrity signatures are on the back. Like I said, I got the piece to be signed by Sam Raimi, and I probably did get it back on the last day, because I was simply too tired to take it to him before heading back to the H on Sunday. It took me a few tries (who could guess the Army of Darkness director's line at Texas Frightmare Weekend would be huge?) but I finally got Sam and his doctor consultant/co-writer brother Ivan Raimi in Chicago later that year. Both men added Darkman-specific personalization, so I'm curious what Ted will come up with when I send it his way?

Finally, Derec Donovan also provided me with three sheets of thumbnails for the design, which I don't figure rates scanning, but it's still a neat extra. Also, I forgot to mention that I actually got two works from the artist in New Orleans, so this one might not have even been started until Saturday? Click that link below. I haven't gotten around as much in the years since, but I know I haven't gotten my last convention piece from [D]!

Derec Donovan

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• 2023 Fan Expo New Orleans JLA JAM The Flash segment by Derec Donovan

1983 Original Dokuzetsu Momohei Tsuyoi Ka Yowai Ka!? manga art by Kimura Tomoe

On our trip to Japan, I tried to track down ephemera relevant to my childhood experiences with their cultural exports with little success. Aside from a few recent manga collections, the only Golgo 13 item I came back with was a tiny figurine similar to a large Heroclix, but with a suction cup in its back. The only English on the item is "ucc Good Coffee Smile" so I'm guessing-- mug decoration? Aside from that, I finally found a small Gatchaman color print at a legit old school comic shop. There were newsstands with manga all over, and we hit several Mandarake, including the multistory one in Tokyo with an elevator. Still, those were mostly filled with 21st century artifacts, and don't get me started on the malls filled with One Piece/Dragonball/Attack on Titan items. No, we only ever found one really dense & dusty popcult tchotchke dumping ground (it was a claustrophobia-inducing number not quite wide enough for any one fat American walk through) and a single true, terribly humid Android's Dungeon deal. That's where my partner finally found a set of water-damaged Candy Candy volumes, and pretty much the only place with original manga art.

So much of the Japanese otaku scene feels prefabricated-- the type of stuff offered every month in the Previews catalog, just flea markets full of stuff you'll see at every domestic con. I've never been big on anime, so my tastes are either for nostalgia for Super Nintendo video games and afternoon cartoons, or just stuff that strikes me as cool. Japan runs on yen, so I had a finite amount of physical currency to last our entire trip. I didn't want to go begging to my girlfriend for toy money, so I was very frugal with my purchases. I mostly bought stuff that I only saw in a particular region to take back as souvenirs for the folks back home. That's why I passed on a ¥3500 Dawn of the Dead movie program, which caused me a bit of non-buyers remorse. Anyway, this one shop had a lot of wicked stuff, including the original art of complete stories in slipcases, like one of those Artifact Editions of the actual artifacts rather than reproductions. Those cost tens of thousands of yen, and in retrospect it would have been totally worth it, but I was still being very conservative. I was also afraid that they might be proofs or something, so I only bought one to take back to the hotel. It was clearly on inspection the original boards, and so we went back for one more, but I should have splurged. It's not like I'm going back to Japan... probably ever, in all honesty. It was a very expensive and fairly arduous trip, and my partner didn't have the best time.

The two pieces I bought were ¥8000 each, so roughly $150. Both were by the same artist, who was unsurprisingly unfamiliar to me. Knowing that I'd never get anywhere with the kanji on the bag, I asked the shopkeeper to tell me what he could about the pieces. He spoke almost no English, which is still a million times better than my Japanese, so I just jotted down a few cryptic notes on his Dumbo Post-Its. "Published in Young Jump. 1984. Poisonous Tongue. Momohira. Strong or weak. Tomoi. Kimura." While searching for some specific missing items and reorganizing in general to take advantage of all the power outages here in Texas, I came across the Post-It again and figured I better take advantage of the reunion before I misplace it again. With a bit of online research, the artist appears to be 木村知夫, or Kimura Tomoe (when the names aren't flipped due conflicting Eastern/Western conventions.) The strip seems to be Dokuzetsu Momohei Tsuyoi Ka Yowai Ka!? (毒舌桃平 強いか弱いか!? 全7巻セット), a shōnen manga (targeting teenage boys.) It's about a young couple willing to die in poverty rather than be separated, and ran from 1983-84, producing a seven volume collection. The writer, Kazuo Koike (小池 一夫), studied under Golgo 13's Takao Saito and is best known for Crying Freeman, both in my limited manga wheelhouse.

Tones are my kink, but the other thing that drew me to these specific pieces was the sensuality. Cheesecake and beefcake are common enough, but the delicate intimacy and tasteful nudity here are uncommon in my experience with comics. You have beautiful male and female forms in vulnerable and romantic situations where the sexuality of the characters isn't compromised. But again, the zip tone usage is extensive and exquisite. These are scans of reduced photocopies, so a lot is lost in translation. On the first piece, the top two inches are solid black, Then the wavy tones are adhered, running to either edge of the page so that but for the scotch tape texture on your fingers, it's tough to spot it. The tone is cut around the central figures, who then have horizontal tones hand cut round their forms and the white areas of the eyes and mouths.

My understanding is that the second piece was made either for a wall poster or some form of promotional work. This one also has two tones, dot pattern for the water and horizontal lines for figure shading. The cross-stitched sky appears to have been exhaustively created by hand, based on the asymmetry and the physical texture on the page. The Japanese boards are much thinner then western counterparts, so enormous delicacy must have been required. The artist also relies heavily on liquid paper for the sea foam and highlights on the figures. Don't miss the ornate back tattoo on the female, which though covered by the horizontal zip, appears to have been custom drawn dot by dot. There's a large "81" written on the back, and some yellowing/browning from actual tape. This was used to apply a tracing paper overlay with kanji suggesting a first chapter with a circled Arabic "1". I've opted not to throw up that scan.

I adorev these pieces, and my only regret is that I didn't grab a third available from the series, this one involving some form of demonic entity and a lot of lumber. Thematically though, this works better as a duology. I want to hang them, but I'm afraid of causing damage, in spite of Japan being about as muggy as Houston and without common use of air conditioning. If they lasted over thirty years under those conditions, many hanging from a thread from a ceiling, how much more harm could I do?

DC Comics 1993 Editorial Presentation: The Killing Machine

Adam Cross is a drifter. He takes an almost child-like delight in his life as a manual laborer moving from one job to another...until he is unexpectedly confronted by violence. Then, good-natured Adam Cross explodes with the devastating ferocity of a human time bomb!

In the tradition of DEATHSTROKE, THE TERMINATOR, Robocop, and The Punisher, THE KILLING MACHINE blasts his way onto the scene in this super-hero/spy adventure.

This three-issue miniseries stars a cybernetic hero, Adam Cross, who is part of a government program to create a human defense system in a world where nuclear missiles aren't likely to be used now that the Soviet Union has fallen. Instead, there are smaller "brush fires" to fight around the world. The solution? Implanting human brains in artificial bodies to create a special combat force.

Unfortunately, a glitch in the technology drives the resulting creation mad. The program seems doomed, until a crippled scientist allows his brain to be put in a cybernetic body. He becomes the first to survive, but the gov­ernment doesn't have much time to celebrate before he rebels against them for trying to use him for more and more corrupt purposes.

On the run, THE KILLING MACHINE tries to find a peaceful life. The government tries, through assassins and cybernetic controls, to eliminate him, but there's one thing they didn't count on: confronted with extreme violence, THE KILLING MACHINE goes into combat mode and becomes uncontrollable. Faced with his devastating power and exper­tise, his handlers are driven to the ultimate risk...sending a newer, improved model after Cross.
THE KILLING MACHINE is the first major work created, written, pencilled, and inked by the legendary Gil Kane since his classic His Name is Savage over 25 years ago.

Referenced in comics media in the early '90s, this project has unfortunately never seen print. At least you can see a character sheet.

1966 Transogram Construct-All ad

2013 Houston Comicpalooza Thanos Head Sketch by George Pérez

A sketch a friend of mine got for $40.

1998 Wizard Magazine Holiday Present Tags

Featuring Katchoo from Strangers in Paradise, Dawn, Monkeyman and O'Brien, Darkchylde, Danger Girl, Lady Death, The Coven, Shi and The Tenth. A very indy Christmas, so I figure the big two must have been Grinches after last year. It occurs to me that I wish Tony Daniel drew Batman in his old cartoony style. Might be more palatable.

1980 S W Studios Masquerade Make-Up Kits ad

Be a CLOWN!
Be an INDIAN!
Be a MONSTER!
Be a SPADE?



Having grown up on Mammy Two Shoes and Jolson references in animation, I shouldn't be too surprised that you could still advertise a "Black Face" make-up kit in 1980. What's interesting is that it appears to be an African-American boy lad wearing the make-up, and I tend to think the wonders of latex applications hadn't quite trickled down to the suburbs yet. Perhaps "Zulu Warrior" would have been more appealing to the racially insensitive youth of America, but I suppose a sigh of relief could be uttered for the absence of "Darkie Savage" or "Spearchucker." Never mind the "Indian," which was probably a trademark dodge for "Tonto" rather than a nod towards A.I.M. Just scope the KISS make-up, or rather "Black & White (Disco.)" Between "Black Face" and "Indian," "Kabuki" was clearly expecting too much. Ads like this remind me that whatever the faults of political correctness, I'll take it over grody crap like this.

Death's Head Resolicitation (August, 1991)

Literally on the back of the torn out page of Advance Comics with the Mutant Genesis Ad was this solicit for what ended up being the first Death's Head II mini-series. I believe the same little sketch, presumably by Liam Sharpe, was in the original solicit. Because the image was so small and the lines so fragile, I decided to take the scan as is. The yellow highlight was for books I was interested in ordering, and the green for those that got purchased. I was so anal in those days, I read the goddamned thing cover to cover. I'd been a fan of Death's Head since he appeared in a comic strip on the back of Dragon's Claws, the first Marvel UK series I followed.

Mutant Genesis Ad (August, 1991)

I've been digging through my boxes of loose crap lately, and figured it was time to revive Smelly Brown Paper (Scans of Yore) as a more regular feature. This piece seems especially appropriate, since my original is literally smelly, brown, and, um, yorey. Good thing there's digital contrasting to clean it up. This ad was torn out of an issue of Advance Comics after I realized that I didn't want to keep hauling ten years worth of two different retailer catalogs from place to place and recycled that shit. It was used to promote the launch of Chris Claremont, Jim Lee and Scott William's X-Men #1, as well as the new art team of Whilce Portacio and Art Thibert on Uncanny X-Men. For some reason, I clipped out the part of the ad with the X-Men credits, so I trimmed out the Uncanny ones from the scan. Claremont of course was drummed off both books, and I don't think that either of these line-ups ever came into being. I ran a check for this art online, and couldn't find it, but please drop a comment if you can direct me to better scans (re: any.)

1977 "Help A Hero.." NCG Merchandise Ad

Vintage "The Superhero Shop" ad from the Joe Kubert school.

Help A Hero..Give Him A Home! From Mego!

The Teen Titans Wonder Girl, Speedy, Aqualad & Kid Flash with Isis for just $4.19!

The New Wonder Woman Fashion Doll! 12 inches tall! "Each doll comes complete with Wonder Woman's own costume and her Army uniform as Diana Prince!" Only $10.95!

1975 G.P. Exports "Learn The Secret Powers of the Deadliest Killers in the Orient" Ad

The physio-mental powers of the ninja!

1968 DC Comics Showcase #73 "Beware The Creeper" House Ad

DC promoted the event of a popular artist moving into their stable with "Steve Ditko Strikes Again!" I suppose that would be a strike in the baseball sense, as like Jack Kirby, none off Ditko's DC creations ever caught fire like the Marvel ones. In fact, I'd say the Charlton heroes DC bought about fifteen years later have profited them far more than the Creeper, Stalker or Hawk & Dove... although the Vertigoized Shade the Changing Man had a longer run than any of them.

1983 Superman Peanut Butter Action Comics #1 Reprint Ad

I never had much luck with mail away items as a kid (Fuck you, thieving Get Along Gang!,) and I rarely saw Superman brand peanut butter on store shelves, so this is pretty much just a nice ad to me. I do still have a bit to shit copy of the Superman #1 Treasury Edition I bought at a Gemco around 1983. Now that was a badass Superman, before he haunted the local grocers with his bullshit off-brand PB!

1982 Remco Toys Action Figures Ad

I love seeing that tag about "Available at participating K-Mart stores!" K-Mart was the #1 toy store of my po' barrio boy youth. My grandmother would get her prescriptions filled what seemed like every Saturday while I hit the toy aisle and loitered, determining which inexpensive action figure I'd get to take home. If you couldn't tell by the association, Remcos were pretty low rent. The Sgt. Rock line was totally shit (more on that another time,) but I ended up with most of the Warlord figures, if you can call different heads on the exact same body "individual figures." Only the initial three are illustrated here (I never got Arak for some reason,) but there were at least another quarter dozen (heads/repaints) others. I pulled off and lost the wings on my Travis Morgan's helmet, plus a friend of mine's little brother tried to steal it from me, so narc'd him out to get back (don't recall if successful.) Hercules had this shitty foil-wrapped rope that fell apart, and I didn't even have him that long. He went into a storage unit during a move, which my parents neglected to pay for.

1982 Revell Power Lords Ad

Man, was this ad all over the back cover of my comics that year. I think I bought a Lord Adam Power because he reminded me of one of my favorite heroes, Adam Warlock, with his bejeweled brow and big hair. Try as I might to play with him along those lines, I could never quite wrap my brain around his being a beast with no backs, just fronts. It's also hard to treat a guy like a bad ass when he looks like Family Ties patriarch Michael Gross in his human form. I was pretty fanatical about acquiring all-to-rare female figures in my youth, so I also owned Shaya, "The Queen of Power." I knew she also turned into a red-skinned mutant going in, but I think the real deal breaker was that I hadn't realized she was wearing a muskrat wig. I dated a girl who wore a wig. It makes their heads all tacky from sweat. Then and now, not a turn on. Nobody wanted to be Shaya's boyfriend, and she was too scrawny to feel like a legitimate threat (see also the manorexic Adam.) She just kind of loitered in my collection before disappearing one day without being immediately noticed for, like, actually, I think I just now realized she was ever lost. Adam Power played at the periphery of my collection for years before something happened to him. Again, I don't recall what. Yard sale? I just know I don't have him anymore.

As for the rest, they were too weird and funky looking for my taste. I never even dug them out of the discount bin, which for me is saying something. Did anybody ever love the Power Lords?

2009 Red Wolf and Lobo Commission by John Byrne

Click To Enlarge


I'm always pleasantly surprised when anyone remembers one of my favorite disregarded Marvel heroes, Red Wolf, much less a big name like John Byrne drawing him. I wasn't aware the Initiative replaced the last Lobo with Rahne Sinclair, but if Longshot can join the X-Men, I guess Warpath can gain a 'lil Injun buddy in X-Force. I still need to work on my Captain Comet Bantum Blog, but sooner or later the Masked Avenger of the Western Plains will get his, and Byrne's brief '70s work on the character will be covered. Be sure to click the pic to get the full story on the enlarged art...

1993 Advance Comics The Sandman Holiday Wish List Postcard by P. Craig Russell

This Morpheus of the Endless postcard came polybagged with a distributor catalog. "Art by Craig P. Russell." Philistines.

1997 Wizard Magazine Holiday Present Tags

Featuring Deadpool, the Strangers in Paradise girls, Kevin Matchstick of Mage, Madman, the Silver Surfer, Ash, Gen¹³, Darkchylde, and Power Man himself, Luke Cage. "Sweet Christmas" indeed.

1991 Who's Who in the DC Universe Update #8 Captain Comet Profile

A (literal) page from the April 1991 issue...