 Jim asked Sandy about the above artwork. Sandy: Carl Potts was the editor on this six-issue Solomon Kane mini series. This was another character dreamed up by the prolific author who created Conan, Robert E. Howard. Carl asked me to adapt "The Homecoming", one of REH's best pieces of writing, as a back-up feature. "Great," I thought, "love that poem — full of melancholy and the sorrow of a restless heart." Only problem is that Carl wanted the entire adaption crammed into two pages. I protested, but to no avail. Well, the job was a complete disaster. Bad penciling, inking, coloring, lettering and reproduction. A real embarrassment. A few years later I got it into my head to adapt the poem again and this time do it justice. Think I was planning on five pages but never got passed the first (below). So it goes.  Page 1 of a not-completed redo of Solomon Kane's Homecoming by Sandy Plunkett  Jim asked Sandy about the above artwork. Sandy: DC Comics published a special deluxe format edition for the 50th issue of The Legend of the Dark Knight, one of their approximate 179 Batman titles of the time. About half the issue (if memory serves me right) was devoted to pin-ups of the character by various artists. The only thing really memorable about the assignment was the fact that the editor- the much beloved Archie Goodwin- gave me a call immediately on receiving it, and showered me with praise. That sort of thing can really make a freelancer's day. Sandy's inked and rough/color guide are included here:    Jim asked Sandy about the above drawing Sandy: Back in the 80's Marvel put out a series of comics called The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe which, collectively, served as something of an encyclopedia to their burgeoning stable of characters. I did a few drawing for the series, including one of a minor character named Jarella who, apparently, was the Hulk's main squeeze at the time. I really wasn't happy with the results (despite a nice inking job by Joe Rubinstein) but so it goes. Years later, though, a French fanzine called Back Up ran an extensive interview with me and tried to build their readership with that issue by offering a premium. They had me do a limited edition print that would be available for free to those who took the opportunity to subscribe. I used this as a chance to redraw that Jarella piece and bring it up to snuff, or at up to my satisfaction, this time adding a Burroughs-esque background to suggest that she was something other than a Marvel character. And that's that. Handbook to the Marvel University's Jarella  Fanzine's Jarella with Burroughs-esque background   Jim asked Sandy about the above comic strip
Sandy: This strip was something of an exploratory mission. Had the notion to try and develop a comic strip for alternative papers. Lots of them around the country. But I realized I was biting off more than I could chew in that the approach I was taking was way too detailed and precise--I'd never be able make this work for me financial since each installment would take much too long to complete. But I couldn't quite leave the story alone. The plot centered around a certain fascination I've always had with pirate radio stations and I ended up incorporating that plot element into another comic strip, Bleeding Hearts, which saw print in the OU Post. And I used yet another piece of that story (young fellow stumbles upon a secret alien invasion) for "The Adventures of Harold Mitty, Pizza Boy", a strip that ran for half a year in the Athens News and elsewhere. |
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