There would have been dinosaurs but we didn’t get that far. These pages were done back in 2013 for a proposed graphic novel.
This one ended up with much brighter colors than I’d planned. I’ve colored all my previous illustrations in RGB mode in Photoshop. RGB is the format used for online images. This illustration was done in CMYK mode. CMYK is the format used for print. The colors didn’t look this bright when I was working on them. They’re only showing up like this now that I’ve posted the image online.
Or maybe I’m seeing things. 
Nope. Above is an RGB version.
Apparently I have much to learn. Which is why I’m doing these things.
Godzilla. Gamera. King Kong. Gorgo. Konga. Reptilicus. Daikazu. What do these monsters all have in common?
Each of them has headlined their own comic book series.
Only one, Daikazu, is an original comic book creation. The other monsters all starred in movies first. Daikazu starred in 11 black and white comics (eight of Daikazu, the regular series; three of Daikazu vs. Gugoron, a miniseries) published from 1987 to 1991. It was a fun book – written, drawn and published by Mike Wolfer. It was a fun book. I wish it had had a longer run. After suspending Daikazu Wolfer has had a long career doing adult oriented horror comics.
Daikazu is the monster on the right. The monster in the background is unnamed and only makes an appearance in this illustration.
Wonderland. The last finished page.
One thing I do remember about Wonderland is how many of the characters wore glasses. This is page four and already three characters are bespectacled. I don’t have any trouble drawing glasses now but back in 1993 I thought they were kind of tricky.
The watch showing the number 13 was in the script. The skeleton as time keeper was my addition. The writer liked that.
It’s an odd experience when I find a piece of art I’d completely forgotten that I’d drawn. As soon as I see it again I recognize it as mine and I may even remember some of the details of its creation. This page and the six pages that follow are really vague in my memory. I suspect that a big part of the reason for this is that I didn’t write the story that’s being illustrated. When I’m illustrating someone else’s story I don’t feel the same attachment to the characters that I do if I’m the writer. It’s not that I put any less effort into the art, it’s just that the characters usually don’t stick around in my head after the job is done. They didn’t originate with me. I draw their portraits and they move on.
In 1993 Brave New Words had shut down. I was still friends with the publisher. We talked on a regular basis and he brought me projects to work on. One of those was a miniseries about the apocalypse. I think. He was going to write the script and I was going to draw it. I think he intended to shop it to a publisher. I don’t think he planned to publish it himself.
The series was called Wonderland. I’ve found parts of the script for the first issue. There’s a lot that happens off stage with characters reacting to things that the reader hasn’t seen. I believe it concerned a group of people who were out to prevent the end of the world. A lot of stories are about that. I remember that he wanted to the art to be high contrast black and white. If I remember correctly, he didn’t send me a full script. He faxed me the script in pieces. This was in 1993. I had a Mac desktop that I was sharing with my room mate. There was no email or internet.
The project didn’t get any farther than a script for the first issue and seven finished pages on my end. We moved on to other things.
