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Friday, February 19, 2010

SUB-MISSION!!!

Back in the days (circa 1996): Yer Bunche, with Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach in the Marvel Bullpen.

During my years in the Mighty Marvel Bullpen(February 1990-October 1998), one of my favorite pastimes was collecting the frequently wacky and often downright insane letters and submissions sent in by Marvel's readers and eager hopefuls who aspired to join the ranks of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller as comic book storytellers. The overwhelming majority of the stuff that found its way into my hands would never fly in mainstream comics (or comics at all, for that matter), be it art submissions or letters to the editors, so my new mission (or "sub-mission" if you will) is to post some of the classics from the files in hope that future generations will learn what not to send to comics publishers. But while my goal is to provide cautionary examples, let's get things started with what is perhaps my favorite example from the files, a work that never fails to make me grin from ear to ear.

The piece found below was sent to Darren Auck, then head of Marvel's art-correction task force, the Raiders, and when he'd finished vomiting from laughing so hard, he passed it on to me. While this guy would never have gotten work in a professional comic as a penciller, I have to admire his talent for creating an instant classic of a non sequitor:

Seriously, how the fuck does someone even make the leap in narrative logic from depicting Wolverine stalking through the forest to having him run into Freddie Mercury of Queen for no apparent reason? That, dear readers, is a sign of true creativity.

9 comments:

Xtina said...

Ha, that's freakin' hilarious. Is that all he sent? I guess he added Freddy to stand out among other submissions. I would like to have seen where he's go with that story.

Nice pic of you & Sebastian.

likethegum said...

I will pay you cash money for Xeroxes of your faves from this collection. ESPECIALLY "Spider-Man 1990," which is the high point of Western culture.

Bunche (pop culture ronin) said...

A seriously abridged version of "Spider-Man 1990" will be posted, preserving the pertinent bits. I'd love to run the whole thing, but it's over a hundred pages long and rather repetitious.

likethegum said...

I await with baited breath and seriously - if you're able to make a print at some point, I will pay (and buy the paper beforehand), or get you drunk, whichever you'd prefer.

"JUDAS YOU HAVE BETRAYED ME LORD JESUS WITH A KISS! THAT WAS STUPID OF YOU!"

Scott Koblish said...

I like the concept of Judas dry-humping Jesus. That's how I alert the authorities about criminals in my neighborhood.

i also desperately want to see that fight between Freddy Mercury and Wolverine. Hell, I'd settle for a fight between Mercury and BEN Vereen!

I recently stumbled across a packet I sent to DC to try and get work before I got the Raider job, and it contained the most god awful letter that I ever wrote - it's best read with the comic-store owner voice in the Simpsons- " To whom it may concern -I will not waste your time or mine and get right to the point..." *shudder*

Can't wait to see more!

GILSONIC said...

I have been waiting FOREVER to see the infamous "Wolvie finds Freddie" submission. I'm with Bill, I'll go in on Kinko's costs for copies of these, and the classic movie review cartoons. My life won't be complete until I see "this hobgoblin sure loves knob gobblin'!".

Mark Kardwell said...

Still better than all the X-MEN comics Marvel were running at the time.

Mindlesskirby said...

I'm sure worse random musician related things happened in the Marvel Universe

Da Nator said...

This is the first time I've seen this post, and I love it. I'll have to check out more of your sub-missions posts. I hope they all include photos of you with other 80s rockers!