Yes, Gerald Ford...

While other budding comics artists were probably practicing their takes on Spidey and Doc Doom, here's an early example of what I was doing. Presenting my 1975 (I'm guessing) Gerry Comix. I was ten. The Gerry caricature is blatantly stolen from Robert Grossman. I was enamored of his comic in New York Magazine. Maybe I'll scan and post some more of my childhood comics.





And yes, that's Nixon reading an issue of Playboy.

Frank Frazetta, RIP

My first summer job was working for a pet supply store called Ruffs Meow on Queens Boulevard. The owner was a guy named Dom who popped in from time to time to use the bathroom to smoke pot. He’d check on sales with the manager, a Jim Belushi-esque guy name Matthew, then disappear. I was fifteen and it was a good experience.

During my lunch breaks I’d usually go home for something to eat, but on payday I’d take the money and run nearly a mile from the store to Walden Books in Forest Hills and my first purchases with my hard-earned money were the Peacock Press/Bantam Books trades of The Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta and its follow ups. I savored each page of his work. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have that much talent. His work had so much power and vitality. His women had big asses and hips and even dimples on their thighs. They were fleshy and hot as hell. I admired his composition and palette.

Many years later the Alexander Gallery on Madison Avenue had an exhibit of Frazetta’s work and seeing many of those canvases in person was mind blowing. As in the case of Norman Rockwell, seeing the originals blew any reproductions away. I was surprised at how small some of Frazetta’s paintings were, but though they were modest in size the art was barely contained in those frames. The colors and textures were unreal.

My own art never aspired to be like Frazetta’s. There was no way I’d ever come close and fantasy wasn’t really my bag, but he was, is and always will be an inspiration. I hope all the matters of his estate are resolved amicably and ethically. His legacy and work should be in museums to be enjoyed and admired for the ages.

FTA Does WTF!

I have known, on and off (though mostly off), the brilliant comedian Marc Maron since 1999. Prior to our actual meeting I had been aware of him because I’d enjoyed him as host of Comedy Central’s (or was it still the Comedy Channel at that point?) Short Attention Span Theater. He had a febrile intelligence that popped off the screen. I enjoyed his stand-up specials and whenever I’d see him turn up as a guest on talk shows.

I then saw him in Jonah Kaplan’s very funny short film Stalker Guilt Syndrome. I’d met Jonah through our mutual friend Dean Haspiel and told him how much I enjoyed the short, particularly Maron’s performance. Shortly after that I was having dinner at Olive Tree (not fucking Olive Garden, thank you very much), my favorite eatery downtown. Downstairs at Olive Tree, is the Comedy Cellar, an intimate spot to see stand-up. I spotted Maron seated at the table in the back where the comics who perform get their meals, so I introduced myself, telling him I’d just seen the short. Maron kind of frowned and said something like, “Oh yeah? Whudja think of it?” I told him I’d enjoyed it very much. I even got a copy from Jonah to add to my video library.

I guess Marc felt comfortable that I wasn’t going to stalk him (with or without guilt) because we exchanged info and started getting together from time to time. When I mentioned my burgeoning friendship with Marc to Jonah he said, “Yeah, good luck with that.” Hmmm.

In Marc’s company I got to know some of the ins and outs of the business of stand-up. I’d always been a fan of good stand-up but was now getting an inside look at how tough a career it was. I respected him and the craft even more. Marc was workshopping a one-man show back then (The Jerusalem Syndrome, which also became a great book). Michele and I attended several versions of it at The Westbeth Theater downtown. I think I was always the loudest laugher and the darker the material the heartier I laughed. I think Marc’s always had a soft spot for the guy (I’m guessing it’s almost always a guy) in the audience who is the only one to laugh at one of his uncomfortably truthful observations. Michele would look back and forth between me laughing and Marc performing and she’d afterwards tell me she thought Marc and I might be too alike in worldview. I dunno.

Then 9/11 came along, and swept up in the maelstrom of post-event trauma, our burgeoning friendship took a hiatus. Then a couple of years ago—maybe 2008—I’m at the urinal in the men’s room of the Comedy Cellar. Mid-leak a gravelly voice behind me says, “Is that Bob Fingerman?” I look over my shoulder and it’s Marc. We haven’t seen each other since maybe June or July 2001. I shake off and as I’m washing up—Marc having taken my place at the urinal—we catch up briefly:

Bob: How’ve you been?
Marc: Bad. Bad divorce. You down here or up there?
Bob: I’m up there. Dinner with a friend.
Marc: When I finish my set I’ll stop by.

And he did and we got back on track. None of this comes up in the conversation Marc and I had on the podcast. I don’t want to say any more. This is preamble. Backstory. Since he started the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Marc has hosted some of the greatest talents in contemporary comedy (not to mention authors, his parents and other interesting characters) and engaged them in something rarely heard these days: bona fide conversation. I was thrilled and honored to be a guest at the Cat Ranch and appear on my favorite podcast. Marc has a genius for keeping it real and real funny. DOWNLOAD AND ENJOY!!!

In the Cat Ranch

It had been raining but when the show was over the sun came out. Hallelujah!

CONTINUING THE HELL THEME

The character Dot works as a registrar in Hell. Impatient demons tap their hooves and expect miracles from her. This drawing was done very quickly, to keep it loose.

DEMON SKETCHES FOR THE HELL OF IT

Still working up some sketches to help sell my Hell GN. Going to work on some more, but thought I’d share these of some demon types.

This Blog on Top 100 List!

The website Online College has created a "100 Great Blogs for Art Students & Enthusiasts" list and the Art Blog Thinger makes the grade. That's pretty darned cool. Check it out!

MORE THE HELL OF IT

First sketches of the year. Joe the half-dog.

THE HELL OF IT

These might be the final sketches of 2009. Maybe not, but they’re probably the final ones I’ll post this year. These are character design sketches for the book I want to do set in Hell. I am hoping to finally find a home for this baby in 2010. I’ve wanted to do this story for many years, though its earlier outlines were quite different. The plot has finally gelled, so let’s hope that I finally set it to paper soon.

CINEMA SEWER'S "NOIR" ISSUE

I’ve enjoyed the often filthy Canadian movie ‘zine Cinema Sewer for quite some time (especially issue #16, which was devoted in part to post-apocalypse movies). CS is a treasure trove of exploitainment for the cineaste who enjoys some muck in their movie viewing. I was happy to oblige its publisher/writer/creator/cartoonist Robin Bougie with cover art for its “Film Noir” issue (coming sometime in early 2010). Here are some thumbnail sketches I did.

As you can see, I ended up going with a variation on the upper right-hand one.

Oldie but Rushdie

Usually when I look at my old art I don’t like it (kid stuff not included; that, I love). But I was just going through my flat file, purging some stuff, and came across this cover I did for the Village Voice Literary Supplement. It had to do with the Salman Rushdie fracas (it’s from 1989). Anyway, maybe because I did it in a different style it’s like the work of someone else and I can be a little more objective. I think it’s pretty good.

Bookshelves

Not so new quick sketch I did of some of my bookshelves from a couple years back.

WOTTA CRYBABY

I did this drawing to redress my huge oversight in not including this whining crybaby dipshit in From the Ashes. This drawing wraps up the bonus section to sort of ameliorate my mistake.

Baltimore Comic-Con Cutie Caboose

A couple of weekends ago I was a guest of the Baltimore Comic-Con (thanks, Marc Nathan!). I manned my table and signed, sold and sketched for two days. One of the attendees commissioned me to draw "a big butt girl," and this was the result. I really like the way it came out.

Cover Tease for FTA Collected

In March of next year, all the WFTers (Wait For Trade) will hopefully spring for the book collecting From the Ashes. I hope everyone will buy it, actually. As a creator, I sometimes feel a tingle of guilt when something I do comes out serialized and then I want people who already bought it to buy it again. But as a fan and consumer myself, I say, "Hey, I do it all the time." So, guilt absolved. Anyway, here are a couple of rough thumbs of the cover, which will be a wraparound. I wanted to pay homage to the great "merry chase" posters that Jack Davis did in the Sixties and Seventies.


The Amazon listing has an incorrect page count (it will be longer, because of the nifty bonus section; details to come) and cover art. I guess this is a place-filler until I deliver the real cover art.

JAZZ AND CT REJECT

I did this drawing for Connective Tissue (which is still highly discounted on Amazon yet nonetheless is languishing, so BUY IT!), but it didn't fit my narrative. I like it, though.

This was done as part of a panel in an American Splendor thing I illustrated. I think it might make a nice print.

CONNECTIVE TISSUE THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

Most of the interior art in Connective Tissue (if you haven't gotten your copy yet, for crying out loud, do! It's now an insanely cheap 45% off on Amazon!) was done spontaneously on that page without advance thumbnail sketching. There were a few that required a bit of planning, though. Here are some thumbs for them.

Zombie

It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with my work that I am a longtime, died-in-the-wool zombie fanatic.

Recently, I sold my second novel, Pariah, to Tor. I am thrilled (and relieved) beyond belief. It's a story that I've yearned to get out there for many, many years. I first conceived of it as a graphic novel (before my ambitions led me to write the regular kind), back in the mid-'90s. Fortunately (though I didn't feel that way at the time), it didn't come to pass in that format. I finally wrote it as a novel and the end result is much better.

The interesting thing is that part of my deal with Tor is to provide the book with some original interior art (I might do the cover, too, but that is pending). My approach is not to do illustrations of any scenes or characters in the book. I prefer to let the readers picture that for themselves. Instead, one of the characters is an artist and he does studies of the undead to pass the time (no more TV or Internet, so one must pass the time doing something). The conceit of the accompanying art will be that these are his drawings. I don't want any of the art to be typical EC-tinged stuff. The approach is to do sensitive, objective drawings. The zombies didn't ask to be this way. They're not evil.

To whet your appetites, here is one of the drawings. I might post some of the rejects here as the months go on, but here's a sample:

Pariah is due out July 2010.

Darla

Another unused Darla drawing from when I was working on Connective Tissue (which you really need to go buy, now).

Recess Pieces Makes Cameo in Horror Movie!

Canadian indie-cinema horror auteur Brian Clement has featured my book, Recess Pieces, as set dressing in his Lovecraftian mind-fuck flick Dark Paradox. Clement plays an author who needs to get away from the city (where strange things are beginning to happen) to finish a manuscript for his publisher. But when he reaches his bucolic getaway to type in peace, well... the best laid plans of mice and men and so on.

It's an enjoyable movie. Check it out.

Recess Pieces makes itself comfortable on the main character's desk:
Auteur/star Clement having a "WTF" moment:

Connective Tissue Thumbs

Some thumbnail sketches for the book (which hits the shelves on or about May 13th!

Updates Imminent!

With Connective Tissue hitting the shelves in a couple of weeks, I'll be uploading some of the prep work for it and some more images I cut from the final product. Please buy this book! It's really sweet.

Connective Tissue Video

Fantagraphics has been making these great little videos of paging through their books (all are on Flickr). I think they're a nifty way to get an idea of the book, especially if you're going to order online and not be able to see it in person at a store. Check it out (then order it!).



Video store clerk Darla Vogel is fed up — fed up with her job, fed up with her wake-and-bake roommate, fed up with everything. But when one of the customers at Kwok's Video offers her some of his meat-flavored candies, Darla takes a plunge down the rabbit hole into a surreal world of throbbing, veinous buildings, compulsory public nudity, weird creatures, and more. If William Burroughs, Lewis Carroll, H.P. Lovecraft, and Harvey Kurtzman ever collaborated, the result might resemble Bob Fingerman's bold confection of words and pictures — the copiously illustrated prose novel Connective Tissue.

"This is a genuinely monstrous book that made me laugh until something burst and now I think I might be dying. You really need to buy one of these." – Warren Ellis, author of Crooked Little Vein and Transmetropolitan

"Fingerman does it again! He disturbs, entertains, amuses and charms with his unholy Fingermanian mixture of perversion, humor, and pathos." – Jonathan Ames, author of The Alcoholic and Wake Up, Sir!

134-page duotone 7.25" x 8.25" hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-60699-143-5

In stock: April 2009
In stores: May 2009

Mysterioso

Color for a page of a project I just wrapped up. I think I'll leave it at that.

Not Everything Makes the Cut...

Self-rejected drawing of Byron (from From the Ashes).

BOOKPLATE FEVER

Yes, folks, there's not one, but two exclusive signed bookplates I've done for the upcoming (it's at the printer!) Connective Tissue. One is for the publisher, Fantagraphics Books, the other for retailer Panel To Panel. If you want one of these bookplates to come with the book, order the one you prefer from Fantagraphics or Panel To Panel directly.

FROM THE ASHES!

Though I still don't have an exact street date (May 2009 is as close as I can get for the time being), here is the cover for the first issue of my forthcoming series for IDW.


Also, check out the new dedicated From the Ashes blog!

Graphic NYC Takes on Yours Truly

Ace photographer Seth Kushner and journalist Chris Irving are posting sections of their work in progress, Graphic NYC, a book about the New York-based comics community. They just posted my profile. Take a gander. Here's Seth's portrait of me. I think it's pretty sweet.

Bugs & Daffy à la Bergman

A while back I did a two-page segment for the Looney Tunes comic that my friend Joey Cavalieri scripted. The sequence was a parody of Ingmar "Chuckles" Bergman's The Seventh Seal, starring Bugs as Death and Daffy as Antonius Block (AKA Max Von Whythelongface). I went to town and with filters made it look like aged film. It was fun. Here are a couple of panels which (as they all were) ran cropped and covered with dialogue balloons.

¡Salario Mínimo está aquí!

Got my copies of Salario Mínimo today from Dolmen Editorial and am very pleased to report it came out great. If you're in Spain be sure to pick up a copy.

Daily Crosshatch Interview

Brian Heater recently interviewed me on his very fine comics blog The Daily Crosshatch. I was a little less guarded than perhaps I should have been (it was more a conversation than the typical Q&A), so I think I come off a bit sourer than I feel these days, but read it and judge for yourselves. All three parts are now up.

Guy Smiley

Okay, not the Muppet. Just a picture of Yours Truly (for From the Ashes).

CONNECTIVE TISSUE FINAL COVER

So here's the final version of the cover of Connective Tissue, as put together by ace designer Jacob Covey.


Now available to order from Amazon with a sweet 32% discount! Let's make this one a hit.

Culled...

This week I've been going over the final guts of Connective Tissue with the designer (Jacob Covey) at Fantagraphics. He's doing a great job and the book's going to look terrific. Seeing all the art put into a layout with the text highlighted that a couple of the drawings were superfluous, so I cut them and did new ones for the book. I liked the drawings I cut, but they didn't make the grade. Anyway, waste not want not, here they are.

Byrons!

Here are some pages of me working out the character Byron, from the forthcoming From the Ashes.

Cerberus

Not much to say. Three-headed dog. Angry. 'Nuff said.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

It's official: IDW Publishing will be releasing my satirical post-apocalyptic saga From the Ashes next spring. It will be a six-issue series and stars Michele (my wife) and I in the radioactive wastelands of New York City. I'm dubbing it a "speculative memoir" (can I trademark that?). Consider it the antidote to the seriousness of Cormac McCarthy's The Road (which I haven't read, but it's on my list; suffice it to say, though, I'm sure there's nary a chuckle to be found between its covers).

Some of the prep art can be found here, in older posts. But now, I'm so deliriously delighted to say, this dream project has found a home, thanks to my editor/friend Scott Dunbier and publisher Ted Adams. The first issue will hit the racks in May, so between Connective Tissue in April, and this, 2009 is shaping up to be the big comeback!

Here's a sample page from the first issue.