A Lifetime of Comic Illustration

I've been drawing comics on and off for a long time. My interest in them has ebbed and flowed as other nerdish pursuits battled for my attention but from age 10 to 13 comics were numero uno. This was of course pre internet and without a dedicated comic book store my idea of heaven was strolling into a newsagent in Leeton NSW with a few bucks and making a beeline for the comic section. The store was run by a tall, frightening man who I recall looked like a cross between Anton Ego from Ratatouille and Joseph Goebbels. The Nazi connection didn't end there as he policed his no browsing policy with the cold hearted ruthlessness of a concentration camp commandant.

Are you going to buy that?

The presence of the towering SS Officer / Newsagent proprietor didn't phase me too much. I was always cashed up by virtue of there being absolutely nothing else I'd spend my pocket money on what with the arrival of the inexpensive amphetamine "Ice" years away.

Despite the limited range I was actually quite choosy. I never got into super hero titles - my interests lay in your horror / tales of the unexpected gear and war stories. Without doubt my favourite of all was DC's Sgt Rock.

Sgt Rock My World

WIKI SAYS "Rock seems to have close to superhuman endurance and strength, surviving large number of gunshot wounds, fragments from hand grenades, exposure to freezing water and other hazards. In Bob Kanigher's stories, Rock's powers seem to be more realistic than in Joe Kubert's." It's worth noting I was also a massive fan of Joe Kubert.

So I did what any self respecting pre pubescent nerd would do and created my own comic book loosely based on my beloved Sgt. Rock. When I say "loosely based" I mean "shamelessly ripped off" although I did accidentally differentiate the two by bestowing my characters with weirdly shaped heads - a flaw in my drawing technique I have partially eradicated these days.

Collectors Item

The comics I drew were never shown to anyone let alone reproduced however as I am once again gung ho into comic drawing mode I thought what better opportunity to unleash their anatomical weirdness and cultural insensitivities onto the world at large via the internets. I've included a few present day observations. See all the explosive no forehead combat action after the jump.