2017 Heroes Convention Spawn Jam Figure Layout by Joseph Michael Linsner

Frank attempted his first artist jams in 2014. Yes plural, because Frank. The results were mostly successful to varying degrees, but literally, some of these things are still unfinished six years later. Trying to get a jam done in one weekend was the height of hubris, but in his defense, Frank did get a beauty of an opener from Joe Linsner overnight. Artists can be both a competitive and conscientious lot, so it's always wise to put the very best foot forward. Nobody wants to be the goat who ruins everyone else's work.

JML's bona fides for the piece are clear. Small press comix weren't really viable after the scene around the undergrounds faded. Then there was a huge boom in black & white books fueled by the enormous success of the Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles that led to an equally huge bust in 1987. Variety wrote about it. Most of the publishers and talent were finished forever, their books lined quarter bins, and retailers once burned were twice shy about ever giving black & whites the time of day. Then Joes Linsner and Monks founded Cry for Dawn in 1989. Between the best twist-ending horror stories since EC folded, the glorious gray-tone interior art, and the sensual cheesecake covers featuring the scarlet-haired quasi-hostess Dawn, CFD sparked a Turtles-like demand for multiple printings on every issue and skyrocketing back issue prices. There was even a plague of counterfeit #1s that forced buyers to scrutinize potential purchases for reproduction flaws.

After a bitter falling out with Joe Monks, Linsner started his own Sirius Entertainment to publish a slew of color and B&W titles, including the first actual stories for Dawn. The company survived the bust, at least for a few years, but Linsner eventually gravitated toward his former competition at Image to continue his tales. He's still an in-demand creator, now mostly occupied with work for Dynamite Entertainment, but he still occasionally contributes to Image (including a cover for Witchblade #100.)

As much as we love Linsner's ladies, we really wanted to take advantage of his goth and metal roots for the preeminent Image icon, Spawn. The artist was game, and though the intention was to get everything in black & white, who could resist the opportunity to get color work from him? However, color takes time, which was deeply deficit for a jam this ambitious. Eventually, Frank stole away with the line art to seek out further contributions, like Beto's Supreme. The photo above was the only opportunity he had to record Linsner's excellent linework before the coloring took place...