As previously discussed, I knew that I wanted Evan Dorkin to be part of the jam, both for his being an independent comics creator that predated Image Comics, but also because he'd successfully transitioned between indie projects and work-for-hire at Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and even Bongo Comics. It's a bonus when the artists didn't have any particular association with Image, even though the whole thing started with Linsner, and Alan Davis did a fair amount of Wildstorm work. Anyway, I was introduced to
Milk & Cheese through one of their hilarious Slave Labor Graphics specials, then moved on to
Instant Piano and
DORK!, though today he's probably best known for
The Eltingville Club,
Beasts of Burden, and his TV work for shows like
Space Ghost Coast to Coast. He's a long time favorite with a cult following and a shelf full of Eisners, Harveys, and Ignatzs. Ignatzes? Is Ignatz already the plural of Ignatz? I know it's a z, but it has an s-ish sound, right?
My buddy Fix has had a massive Milk & Cheese piece for decades that I've always been envious of, so even without the jam, I'd have wanted to get something from the artist. As with Howard Chaykin, I was intimidated on approaching Dorkin, known for an acerbic, withering wit. Also like Chaykin, he turned out to be a delight, so I needn't have worried. My girlfriend and I talked comics, movies, et cetera with Dorkin, and he put up with all my comings and going to navigate the piece and determine his role in it. After passing on
Shadowhawk and debating options, we settled on the Savage Dragon as the best fit. However, with all of the Heroes Con elements finished, I went back to Dorkin and asked "How would you like to ink Neal Adams?"
In truth, he wasn't exactly enthused, but the
Pitt layout was exceptionally loose. After some discussion, it was decided that Dorkin would "finish" the piece, providing needed embellishments, extensions, and background elements to round out the art in total. Besides doing Dragon and tightening Pitt, we primarily talked about adding a bunch of Isz from Sam Keith's
The Maxx and random EXTREME! '90s elements. Despite his self-deprication, Dorkin never does anything halfway, so before long we were both researching additional characters to squeeze into the margins. Above is a heavily contrasted scan the artist used to show me his general course before we'd really gotten to talking. You can see that even at this early stage, there's a huge improvement in making everything feel interconnected, rather than a collection of toys bunched together in negative space...
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