In the center of the 1995 calendar I included a couple of illustrations of the Misspent Youths gang. This one, the first illustration, depicted the kids as a teenagers. (Mostly. The one with the teddy bear was about eight. He was a child that Moe and Lili rescued from a cult in an unpublished episode of Bonecage Graffiti.)
1995 Calendar: June
Here the Lizards visit Scarecrow and the Kid. Scarecrow is the tall woman and Scarecrow isn’t actually her name. She’s a hero(ine) with no name wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland, kicking ass and righting wrongs. Scarecrow was intended to be the name of the comic series of which she was to be the star. The Kid is named The Kid. He grew up watching and rewatching his grandfather’s collection of western movies. He thinks he’s a gunfighter. Fortunately he’s been practicing the art of the quick draw since he was four so he’s fast and accurate with his weapon.
1995 Calendar: May
Sandra and … her boyfriend … I can’t remember his name right now and I’m writing this post while on the road so I can’t check one of the comic pages … meet the Switagern. Sandra is Buffy Crawfield’s little sister. The Switagern is a creature I invented back in 6th grade. Griffins are a mix of eagles and lions and Hippogriffs are mixes of eagles and horses. The Switagern is the unlikely mix of a swan and a tiger.
And those critters in the foreground? What do they look like a mix of?
1995 Calendar: April
Moe and Lili in their younger days.
In my mental history of the Misspent Youths gang Moe and Lili first met and became friends when they were in grade school. And Lili was much much shorter.
1995 Calendar: March
Aunt Hortense and the gang visit a space station. The aliens here are early versions of species that I incorporated into my Sentient 39 universe.
1995 Calendar: February
I think I’ve mentioned that I’ve been a fan of the Oz books since I was a kid. Since Aunt Hortense could travel anywhere going to Oz at least once was inevitable.
1995 Calendar: January
Most of the illustrations in the 1995 calendar featured characters from Misspent Youths. At the time I was thinking of reviving the series as a self published comic that I intended to call Bonecage Graffiti. Aunt Hortense and the Lizards were going to be part of the ensemble cast of the comic.
But in 1995 Nizzibet and I began our plans for world domination and Bonecage Graffiti became one of the serials in the first version of Glyph.
The human characters on the page are Black Molly (in black), Lili Veracruz (in plaid) and Sequoia St. Jude O’Hare (in the hat).
1995 Calendar Front Cover
From 1988 to 1995 I did a series of calendars. The calendars featured original illustrations each month. The first calendar in 1988 featured a different “classic” monster each month – vampire, witch, werewolf, etc. Every calendar (but one) after that featured the Lizards. I’ve never really worried too much about what the Lizards actually were. They had the ability to create doors in reality so they could have adventures pretty anywhere. They had an Aunt Hortense, who was constantly smoking something, but otherwise their relationships are undefined. I couldn’t tell you if they were siblings or cousins or friends. I’m not even sure that Hortense is really anyone’s Aunt.
The last calendar in that series was done in 1994 for the coming year of 1995. The theme of this issue was “Through Time and Space with Aunt Hortense” so basically it was an excuse for me to draw whatever I wanted.
The art was done on duoshade boards, an artboard with a pattern imprinted on it that can brought out by painting a chemical on it. One chemical brought out a hatch pattern. A second chemical brought out a crosshatch. Duoshade doesn’t scan as well as I’d like. It tends to show a moire pattern.
Briefer Frankenstein (Color)
I went with green when I colorized this fellow more because it seemed like fun than for any other reason. Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein was “flesh colored” in the comics.
Briefer Frankenstein (Black and White)
This final creature is inspired by the version Dick Briefer drew in his Frankenstein comics.
