The inside story of a local powerhouse comic publisher ------
THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics took the Creator’s Rights revolution sparked by Pacific Comics in the ‘80s, and essentially changed the way comic books are made and how creators get paid. The La Jolla headquarters was founded by local comic star Jim Lee, who - as a Mira Mesa teenager - used to shop at the comic store I worked at, Comics Etc, in the Mira Mesa mall. Another Image founder, Jim Valentino, used to work for Pacific, where I also worked. Here's the tale, told in actual comic format --------------------
After exhausting myself with hours and hours of filing records in a massive album collection, I was inspired to pen this little ode to OCD:
I FOUND NIRVANA (NEXT TO THE FOO FIGHTERS) - Jay Allen Sanford
I found Nirvana - next to the Foo Fighters
I saw Asia with ELP
I caught Badfinger pointing at the Beatles
and Velvet Underground burying Lou Reed
I filed Buster Poindexter with the NY Dolls
And placed Ted Nugent with the Amboy Dukes
I mixed Meatloaf with Rocky Horror
and Southside Johnny with the Asbury Jukes
I have Box Car Racer right next to Blink
I placed Yes with Wakeman and Howe
I have Roy Harper mixed in with Pink Floyd
And the Doors with “Apocalypse Now”
I split Fripp with King Crimson and Gabriel
With Bowie, there’s Eno and Pop
Roxy Music includes Manzanera and Ferry
and Texas Jam's there with ZZ Top
Denny Laine's filed with Wings, not the Moodies
Ronnie Wood's with the Stones, not Small Faces
And Cream just goes perfect with Clapton
Like A Night At The Opera goes with A Day At The Races
ELP has Greg Lake, 3 and Carl Palmer
But Emerson’s under the Nice
Bauhaus has Pete, Love & Rockets
(and an audio book read by Anne Rice)
Tommy Bolin’s with Deep Purple and Zephyr
Frampton’s solo, not with Humble Pie
Alan Parsons has Ambrosia AND Pilot
(most of whom played on Eye In The Sky)
I found so many folks with the Dead
they needed their own separate box
a mystery worthy of Behind The Music
given I think that all Dead music sucks
I'm so sick and tired of filing
and remembering where things are filed
but it's better than trying to find things
in a mountainous, long-playing pile.
THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, local Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...
OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...
THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...
COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...
TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...
Birth of ima\ge
Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford
The inside story of a local powerhouse comic publisher ------
THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics took the Creator’s Rights revolution sparked by Pacific Comics in the ‘80s, and essentially changed the way comic books are made and how creators get paid. The La Jolla headquarters was founded by local comic star Jim Lee, who - as a Mira Mesa teenager - used to shop at the comic store I worked at, Comics Etc, in the Mira Mesa mall. Another Image founder, Jim Valentino, used to work for Pacific, where I also worked. Here's the tale, told in actual comic format --------------------
After exhausting myself with hours and hours of filing records in a massive album collection, I was inspired to pen this little ode to OCD:
I FOUND NIRVANA (NEXT TO THE FOO FIGHTERS) - Jay Allen Sanford
I found Nirvana - next to the Foo Fighters
I saw Asia with ELP
I caught Badfinger pointing at the Beatles
and Velvet Underground burying Lou Reed
I filed Buster Poindexter with the NY Dolls
And placed Ted Nugent with the Amboy Dukes
I mixed Meatloaf with Rocky Horror
and Southside Johnny with the Asbury Jukes
I have Box Car Racer right next to Blink
I placed Yes with Wakeman and Howe
I have Roy Harper mixed in with Pink Floyd
And the Doors with “Apocalypse Now”
I split Fripp with King Crimson and Gabriel
With Bowie, there’s Eno and Pop
Roxy Music includes Manzanera and Ferry
and Texas Jam's there with ZZ Top
Denny Laine's filed with Wings, not the Moodies
Ronnie Wood's with the Stones, not Small Faces
And Cream just goes perfect with Clapton
Like A Night At The Opera goes with A Day At The Races
ELP has Greg Lake, 3 and Carl Palmer
But Emerson’s under the Nice
Bauhaus has Pete, Love & Rockets
(and an audio book read by Anne Rice)
Tommy Bolin’s with Deep Purple and Zephyr
Frampton’s solo, not with Humble Pie
Alan Parsons has Ambrosia AND Pilot
(most of whom played on Eye In The Sky)
I found so many folks with the Dead
they needed their own separate box
a mystery worthy of Behind The Music
given I think that all Dead music sucks
I'm so sick and tired of filing
and remembering where things are filed
but it's better than trying to find things
in a mountainous, long-playing pile.
THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, local Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...
OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...
THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...
COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...
TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...
Birth of ima\ge
Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford