Ashcan Alley:
This is a collection of Ashcan Comics of older properties that a) I helped work on, and/or b) was done by a collaborative company called Artistic Productions Limited (APL) of which I used to be part of in a special time of my life. All Copyrights of these properties are owned by their respective creators. My intent is to preserve these past works and inspire future creators to just go out and do it! Amongst the talent in that group was Gerimi Burleigh who also publishes his indie Comics, THE NEW GODS and MORNING STAR, Julius Wu (who if my info is correct) has gone on to be an animation director for Family Guy and King of the Hill, Rob Zailo who helped me ink SCRUFFY PUPPIES Issue #5 and is a commission artist of his own right, Hunger (I don't know his real name) did some work with Danzig's VEROTICA publishing company, and many more amazing individuals like writers Josh Troesh and indie comic hero John Villalino (who are originators of APL). Enjoy!
KING ROACH
(BS Press)
King Roach was the brainchild of Bill Spears, centering around the famous Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown which creates a mutated cockroach.
This Ashcan was converted into a full comic book in what was meant to be a series, but it unfortunately didn't go past the 1st issue. It was my first freelance job (Inker) after I graduated university so it has a special place in my heart. (1996)
SPANDEX NOT REQUIRED
(Artistic Productions Ltd.)
There were 3 main titles for APL: THE NEW G.A.R.D.E. which was the main superhero comic. HIGH OCTANE THEATER was an anthology action comic which absorbed CODE NAME: JEZEBEL, and this one: SPANDEX NOT REQUIRED, which was an anthology comic of every other story that didn't qualify for HIGH OCTANE THEATER. The first story, ADRIANA THE AMAZONIAN was drawn by an amazing artist/cartoonist who was my friend at the time, Dan Plagel. Gerimi Burleigh (EYE of the GODS, MORNINGSTAR) drew the 2nd story and I drew a teaser of Bellicosa, written by Josh Troesh. Bellicosa was a Part One 17 page story which was supposed to be in published the next issue which never came out due to APL dissolving. Recently though, talks with writer Josh Troesh and I have resurfaced to casually complete the Bellicosa story (more than 17 pgs), so stay tuned for that! (1996)
CODE NAME: JEZEBEL
(Ashcan Productions Ltd.)
I believe this was the first publication (or close to it) by APL. Ashcan Productions Ltd. was later changed to Artistic Productions Ltd., which is how I knew them when I joined them. This solo adventure would later be converted as the centerpiece for the HIGH OCTANE THEATER compilation series, and then published. Created and written by John Villalino, cover and pencilled by Hunger, who went on to work for Glen Danzig's Verotica publishing company later on. I probably knew but don't remember the inker John Montgomery. I personally love all the guest artist pin-ups in the back showing everyone's early work. (1994)
HIGH OCTANE THEATER
(Artistic Productions Ltd.)
High Octane Theater (or HOT) was the action anthology series APL strived
to produce, anchored by their first property, CODE NAME: JEZEBEL, with creative team John Villalino, Hunger and John Montgomery. CNJ was joined by JEREMY SIFTER: FOR HIRE, created/written by Thomas Nealeigh with art by Doug Stephens. I don't remember this creative team from so far back, personally. However, 3 issues of HOT were published by INFINITI starting in 1997.(1996)
MACHINE 13.0.0.0.0
CAUTION: ADULT THEMES AND IMAGES
MACHINE 13.0.0.0.0 (or M-13 for short) was written by Bobby Razak and I did the artwork for it. It was a bonus comic included in his movie PIT FIGHT DVD. He surprised me by animating it into 2 short films. You can follow the links here or go on the "OTHER PROJECTS" page. I remember Bobby laughing about how ludicrous the script was-- he really enjoyed just doing something outrageous. (2004)
THE NEW G.A.R.D.E. Primer
(Artistic Productions Ltd.)
THE NEW G.A.R.D.E. was the creation of John Villalino. This Ashcan Primer was written by APL co-creators John Villalino and Randall Martin. I inked part 1 penciled by Doug Stephens, and I know I inked 2 pages of part 2, penciled by Julius Wu, but I'm not sure if the ones I inked are printed in this book or if I just did it for practice and someone else inked those pages for the publication. I would have to compare the original inks which I have somewhere in storage. This is the one title that has continued on bit by bit as a passion project by John Villalino in future ashcans, which I have tried to include below. I am missing a couple issues, unfortunately. (1995)
THE NEW G.A.R.D.E. #4
(John Villalino)
This is the last ashcan of THE NEW G.A.R.D.E., or TNG (forgive me STAR TREK fans) that I received. In this issue, John Villalino not only writes the story, but also did the layouts! This is the first time I know of him doing this. Artist Oscar DeAnda is the artist for part of the book, and Robert Zailo who inked one my books (SCRUFFY PUPPIES Issue #5) is the artist for the remaining pages-- another pleasant surprise for me to find!