... how surprised i was to find this piece of advertising art for sale online. this is an advertisement for an anthology comic titled "comico illustrated". the original premise was that the comic was to be a spotlight for up and coming comic book creators (though that changed as production on the book progressed).
my artwork on the ad is the silhouetted skeleton (though my memory says that the image was much smaller and much less prominently placed on the version of the ad that i saw). my name (which i censored here with a gray bar) is relegated to the bottom of the list.
once upon a time, during the great black and white comics explosion (ignited by the teenage mutant ninja turtles), comico was a small comic book company that was rising in stature. its rise to fame was due mostly to a book they published titled "grendel". this led to other successes (such as a one shot "gumby" comic illustrated by arthur adams) and a partnership with DC comics (the superman/batman people).
"comico illustrated" was getting press and attention because of comico's growing success and this being the premiere issue of the comic. after a lot of hard work and a lot of struggling doors were finally opening for me. "comico illustrated" was going to be my first step on the ladder to a career in cartooning.
sadly, three months before "comico illustrated" was to be published comico filed for bankruptcy. the company had overextended itself financially on a full color comic book adaptation of hanna barbera's "jonny quest".
"comico illustrated" was never published. it's cancellation profoundly affected my life.
