A twitter exchange with a University of Calgary alumnus reminded me of this comic I did way back in 1979, for the University of Calgary GAUNTLET. Unhappily, I couldn’t find the first episode in my files, so this is all I’ve got. The narrative is already a little shakey, because I think installments came out only occasionally, over a number of months. Also, I left some words out, plus there was some strange layout made by actually cutting up a page (*gasp!*) and spreading it over a page. Did Jack Kirby or Bill Watterston ever have to worry about this?
I’m amazed at all the space the editors of the Gauntlet gave me. One of these comics covers an entire broadsheet newspaper page! It would have been kind of a pain in the neck to scan, so I hope you can enlarge these snapshots.
The calligraphy was kind of cool. I made Sam a girl, which confused some people, but was more fun to draw.
Obviously it’s inspired by the “Fritz the Cat” comics of R. Crumb, but actually has more to do with the movie version of Lord of the Rings released by Ralph Bakshi around that time.
Lots of the humour was inspired by the movie “Animal House,” and I note some references to the situation in the MidEast, which doesn’t ever seem to change.
There are so many old cartoons in those files. Makes me feel downright prolific. Much more fun seeing it come out in a newspaper, rather than simply going up on the web.
Going through my files was like getting reacquainted with a person I knew, but hadn’t seen in a while. Many cartoons, some of them embarassingly crudely drawn, sometimes offensive, but on the whole they were funny. I may put up some more, if anyone cares.
