Thursday, February 06, 2014

Mutton Jeff by Brian Hayes


Nick Caputo has been writing on his blog about the historical significance of The Comic Reader as a fanzine and I figure I may as well take the wave he is whipping up and ride it to glory. I doubt that Nick's coverage will dig so deep into minutiae as to get around to mentioning a full-page gag strip written and drawn by yours truly that was published in 1981's TCR #189, so The Hayfamzone Blog will take up that gauntlet.

Through the 1970s it was a treat whenever a new issue of The Comic Reader (or The Buyer's Guide) showed up in my Chicago mailbox, and when TCR #189 arrived with my own artwork in it I was walking around on a cloud for days!

That's my drawing up above and you can see a somewhat larger view if you click on the image. Unless you're as old as dirt like I am, the comics-related significance of the "Mutton Jeff" title may not immediately register with you so you might want to take a peek over here. I have no earthly recollection of what pun I was reaching for with "Hanging Lamb" in panel 6 and I invite to write in if you have any clue.

By the way, my favorite two Comic Reader covers were The Fox by Alex Toth and Power Man/Iron Fist a la Don Martin by John Byrne.

2 Comments:

At 3:08 PM, Blogger Nick Caputo said...

And now I know why your name was so familiar! I very much enjoyed your strips that appeared in TBG and TCR all those years ago,they had a unique personality. If I do get up to that period, rest assured that you'll be represented.

 
At 3:57 PM, Blogger Bob Buethe said...

I've seen that strip before! I followed the Comic Reader when I was a college student, but lost track of it after the comic shop I frequented closed, and the one I switched to didn't carry it. I've never been big on subscribing...

 

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