Although I was anticipating the release of this gem, It was a pleasant surprise to see that Drew Friedman included my dad, Ed Watson (42:47) amongst these great underground artist portraits. My dad didn’t have a huge output, but he had a lot of talent. He was also a friend and patron of S. Clay Wilson.
Such a generous presentation of this comprehensive (not exhaustive) gallery of most of the greatest figures of underground comix (apart from Japanese manga and some of the classic strips of the earlier twentieth century, my favorite species of comics art). Friedman's draughtsmanship is out of this world, and his skill at capturing likeness and character is impeccable. Among artists not mentioned, I would have enjoyed seeing Curt McDowell and Mike Kuchar featured, but I know we can't have everything. I did have the honor of knowing Mike's twin brother George Kuchar, who is included in the book, and I remember him fondly as a lovely human being. George is best remembered as an independent filmmaker and teacher of film and video at the San Francisco Art Institute, but I think his likely masterpiece in any medium was his comix biography of H. P. Lovecraft, published in 'Arcade' in 1975. I regard this as one of the great works of comics art, and is too little known among aficionados of the medium. Perhaps Friedman's marvelous tome will guide more fans to George's legacy in this field.
I worked w/ Sherri Fleneken at Builders Hardware in Seattle in late 90's. She spoke at our Cartoonists Northwest meeting in 1999. She signed my Comic Book Confidential VHS jacket. Cool lady!
Great to see Jim Franklin, who did ARMADILLO COMICS and began drawing armadillos as a symbol of the hippie counterculture movement in Texas in the 1960s. Better known for his concert posters, he also worked with Gilbert "Freak Brothers" Shelton. Jim is still kicking, still painting.
Decades ago I was lucky enough to meet and spend an afternoon talking to Grass Green at a Chicago Comicon. I had never seen any of his work or knew anything about him but we had a great time chatting away and later I hunted down a lot of his stuff. Loved it! It was fun stuff with lots of energy but it still bothers me that I never got to see him again to tell him that. Glad he was represented in that book.
Green also founded the company REGCo which offered comic book artists and newspaper cartoonists ready-to-use art boards with non-repro blue ink. The only place we knew back in the day to get comic book art boards if you didn't work for a big comic book company.
I imagine the Camel cigarette pack in the John Peck illustration is a reference to the farewell concert poster he did for Cream's Rhode Island performance.
Ha! Thanks for Friedman and you two for adding to the Underground archives! CxC underground table definitely left me wishing I had budgeted more and hadn’t brought my minors!
Although I was anticipating the release of this gem, It was a pleasant surprise to see that Drew Friedman included my dad, Ed Watson (42:47) amongst these great underground artist portraits. My dad didn’t have a huge output, but he had a lot of talent. He was also a friend and patron of S. Clay Wilson.
Such a generous presentation of this comprehensive (not exhaustive) gallery of most of the greatest figures of underground comix (apart from Japanese manga and some of the classic strips of the earlier twentieth century, my favorite species of comics art). Friedman's draughtsmanship is out of this world, and his skill at capturing likeness and character is impeccable. Among artists not mentioned, I would have enjoyed seeing Curt McDowell and Mike Kuchar featured, but I know we can't have everything.
I did have the honor of knowing Mike's twin brother George Kuchar, who is included in the book, and I remember him fondly as a lovely human being. George is best remembered as an independent filmmaker and teacher of film and video at the San Francisco Art Institute, but I think his likely masterpiece in any medium was his comix biography of H. P. Lovecraft, published in 'Arcade' in 1975. I regard this as one of the great works of comics art, and is too little known among aficionados of the medium. Perhaps Friedman's marvelous tome will guide more fans to George's legacy in this field.
I worked w/ Sherri Fleneken at Builders Hardware in Seattle in late 90's. She spoke at our Cartoonists Northwest meeting in 1999. She signed my Comic Book Confidential VHS jacket. Cool lady!
I love the portraits and the format of this book!
I’m 1000% here for a Bill Stout shoot interview.
3:53 I'm pretty sure that's Dirty Duck by Bobby London. Cool book, you guys! 👍
Great to see Jim Franklin, who did ARMADILLO COMICS and began drawing armadillos as a symbol of the hippie counterculture movement in Texas in the 1960s. Better known for his concert posters, he also worked with Gilbert "Freak Brothers" Shelton. Jim is still kicking, still painting.
Decades ago I was lucky enough to meet and spend an afternoon talking to Grass Green at a Chicago Comicon. I had never seen any of his work or knew anything about him but we had a great time chatting away and later I hunted down a lot of his stuff. Loved it! It was fun stuff with lots of energy but it still bothers me that I never got to see him again to tell him that. Glad he was represented in that book.
Green also founded the company REGCo which offered comic book artists and newspaper cartoonists ready-to-use art boards with non-repro blue ink. The only place we knew back in the day to get comic book art boards if you didn't work for a big comic book company.
I imagine the Camel cigarette pack in the John Peck illustration is a reference to the farewell concert poster he did for Cream's Rhode Island performance.
Ha! Thanks for Friedman and you two for adding to the Underground archives! CxC underground table definitely left me wishing I had budgeted more and hadn’t brought my minors!
William stout...didn't he do the art for the Dolph Ludgren He-man movie? Beautiful stuff
think that thing in the top right is Dirty Duck by Bobby London
I think that is Barefootz by Cruze, not Wendell.
You’re 1000 percent right. I knew it right when I said it but didn’t wanna kill the flow.
Ed
The best comicsin the world😊😊😊😊
How many of these dude's became staffers at national lampoon and Hevay Metal?
Yeah that is definitely Rand Holmes’ Harold Head on the cover top left
I had an entire issue of Projunior way back all pages done by different artists
The Robt Williams character is Cooty something?
Coochy Cootie
Wow!
Jazzy!
Gee,nobody ever told me l was in this book! This was a really old photo,, but then, there's not very much imagery of me out there.
Thanks, guys!
Armageddon is definitely something else. A little "problematic " as the kids say.