ZONE meets Dracula!

Jessie Desmond – 2011

This entry came from out of the blue from Jessie Desmond. Jessie is a former student with diverse talents (you should see some of the amazing cakes she's made) and interests, who occasionally has moose show up in her back yard.

http://www.jessiedesmond.com

RUN AWAY!

Pencil, color pencil, marker and pastel. - 12/30/88

It was 25 years ago today... Damn, a quarter of a century.

Back in 1986 my friends Gary Fields, Jim Rohn and I attended a number of Fred Greenberg's New York City conventions promoting THREAT! these cons were a great chance to meet fans and other creators.

During one of the cons in 1986 a fellow approached me about the possibility of doing a signing at his store. I was flattered that he asked me and was feeling somewhat superior that he had asked me and neither Gary or Jim. Rather petty I admit, but most of the guys I went to school with were all trying to get their piece of the fame and recognition pie. Being asked to do a signing at a store was somewhat prestigious and I felt like I was starting to climb the proverbial ladder.

On August 1st I took a bus up to Suffern, New York and was deposited, if I remember correctly, right across from the comic book shop I would be signing at. At the store the owner welcomed me and had a table all set up near the door.

There were a few people in the shop and they seemed interested in me and my artwork and the general buzz of a creator signing. Not one of them seemed to be anything other than a kid who would have normally been in the shop on a Friday afternoon anyway

A few people drifted in and out of the shop for the next few hours. The owner made some comments about not getting enough advertising out on time.

I was there for five hours and I don’t recall signing very many comics, perhaps a few flyers from the store advertising the event, maybe a sketch or two.

The owner of the store had promised to buy dinner and pay for my transportation costs. During the day he mentioned the French/Vietnamese restaurant that we would be going to.

As the day wore down the owner showed me the back room of the store where he said he had an art studio and he was producing his own comic book. If I remember correctly, the room was paneled in blue and there was a drawing table and a few drawing instruments scattered about.

The artwork was amateurish, the story about a team of super agents who lived in a secret lab underneath… the Meadowlands!

And as he talked up his concept, he pitched the idea of a crossover with ZONE.

And at that moment I realized the reason he had invited me to do a signing at his store and not my fellow THREAT! creators Gary and Jim.

We went to a Chinese restaurant, the French/Vietnamese place had a dress code and the owner of the store was not dressed properly.

For some reason, maybe a screwy bus schedule, the owner of the store offered to drive me home.

BUT, he tried really hard to convince me into staying for a few hours more and going to the local cinema for the opening night of George Lucas’ newest feature film, HOWARD THE DUCK.

I declined.

ZONE of the Dust

Blue ballpoint pen on newsprint - 5" x 8" - circa 1978 - 1980

Not a very exciting image I'll admit but I found it digging through the archives, still searching for the first and vastly different image of ZONE I ever drew.

See the earlier posts Set the Way-Back Machine and Notes from 1983.

GO **** YOURSELF.

2H pencil in sketchbook - sometime in mid to late 1995

Again, I curse my use of such a light lead. I had to do some work adjusting the levels to get this to be visible.

This was drawn when I lived in a small apartment on Bright Street in Jersey City. It was a great apartment with a big kitchen, a deck and access to a somewhat tamed jungle of a back yard. That apartment was my refuge from the dissolving of a marriage. Clark the cat loved the deck and back yard.

I'm not sure what prompted this sketch but I remember right after I drew it I felt a little shock at my use of the F word in relation to ZONE. I like the idea of him being protective of her and her having the strength to tell someone off knowing she had ZONE as backup.

Entrance Ramp

Pencil and PITT artist pen in 7" x 5 1/2" Moleskine - 2011

This was done while traveling on the train, the lettering added later. I liked it better before I erased all the extra pencil lines.

I intend to turn this image into a 30" x 15" oil painting.

Yer lookin' at the heads...

Ink on paper - Circa 1984

This image was used for the back cover of the stapled together zine I put together in 1984, which I talked about in a previous post.

This image is almost a throwaway, it's nothing special when it comes to images of ZONE but it does illustrate one of the best things about ZONE (in my mind anyway) and that's his shape. This drawing plays (nominally I admit) with negative space.

The dynamics of ZONE'S unique head allows for plenty of latitude when it comes to designing interesting panels, especially in close-ups. One of my goals when I designed the character was to create something that I could draw to look the same, over and over again.