Boxed In!

In preparation to move from my current home office to the much more spacious office across the hall (currently called "the game room"), I have been sorting through literally decades of "stuff" (a highly technical term for things that I don't throw away). In doing so I have come across a number of oddities. My latest is Paranoid Feature Presents, the cover of which can be seen to my immediate left.

I was a sophomore in High School when I created Paranoid Feature Presents. It was what I call a "threefer." I got credit in English for writing the seven-page strip, "The Box;" credit in Art for drawing the strip and its cover; and credit in Shop for printing and binding 50 or so copies of the eight-page comic.

I went for a pure space-opera cover and incorporated an octopus I stole from an old Famous Funnies Buck Rogers cover by Frank Frazetta. The title, Paranoid Feature was inspired by Bill Black's Paragon Publications line of comic stripzines.

When I get into the interiors you will see so many influences you won't believe one person drew it all. And techniques! Heck there is a liberal amount of wash (trying desperately to copy Richard Corben), zip-a-tone and Neal Adams swipes, and some Al Williamson inspired balloons and inking as well.

But that is all for another day...