Number 716


"Shadows, shadows..."


Back in the '80s when I sold comic books through Comics Buyer's Guide I photocopied some of them before sending them off to their new owner. It depended on the availability of a copy machine; I mostly used one at work and hoped I wouldn't get caught. While copying this violent comic I worried my boss would come in the door of the copy room and yell, "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SICK SH*T IS THIS?!" I was lucky that time. I didn't get busted.

Here's some of the sick sh*t: vampires, werewolves, undead corpses, dismembered limbs, internal organs, domestic violence, hangings...even a hatchet to the side of a guy's head. All in noirish black and white. What's missing in black and white is red blood. When I looked at the photocopies I thought of a line from the John Prine song, "Lake Marie:" "You know what blood looks like in a black and white video? Shadows, shadows...that's exactly what it looks like."