Spotted this on Spot the Frog

Mark Heath blogs a little bit about my book. I'm not familiar with the Gahan Wilson story he refers to, but I always liked Gahan Wilson... I first discovered his work in the Playboy magazines I stole from the Flea Market* back home when I was a kid. Sometimes I liked those comics better than the naked ladies.

This reminds me that there is another ink blot strip drawn by Winsor McCay. I believe it was from a Rarebit Fiend in which a man is annoyed by an onslought of dripped ink from the cartoonist's brush. I've always loved McCay, but had never seen that strip until I saw the original artwork in the Masters of American Comics exhibit at the Hammer Museum in L.A. last year. It was not a direct influence on my book (I'd already completed the first chapter of The Blot before I saw this McCay strip) but his Little Nemo comics have always been a big inspiration to me.


*Note: Years later, I felt bad about stealing the porn, so, my friend (a cohort in the crime) and I went back one day and left $50 on the cash register when the vendor wasn't looking.