Pitt & Friends finished art by Evan Dorkin

Okay, let's be real. I asked Neal Adams to draw Pitt in the closing hour or so of HeroesCon. To my surprise, he said yes, for the relatively low price (for him, at the time) of $200-250. I got a very rough outline, and I would have paid more for a tighter piece, but I'm still proud to have gotten what I could under the circumstances. I then took it to Evan Dorkin, and asked how he'd like to ink Neal Adams? Not so much, actually, since he didn't feel that he could ape Adams' style, and didn't exactly have the warmest regards toward the man himself. I explained that there wasn't much identifiable as Adams in the sketch, and I certainly wouldn't ask an artist of Dorkin's caliber to mimic another artist. Again, frankly, there were other guys at the show who'd either trained under the heavy hand of Adams or were known for being able to impersonate other artists (hell-- Joe Staton contributed here already, though in his own style.)

We'd already agreed that he would draw the Savage Dragon, and that it would require his taking the piece home. So what we discussed was maybe filling out the space... Specifically, we set down the two main characters, and then toss in a bunch of Isz from The Maxx, plus some foreground/background elements. It took a little time after the show for Dorkin to get started, and then as he worked on it, we talked about adding some additional cameos into the mix. Late in the game, I requested Eric Stephenson & Richard Horie's Infiniti, since she was an obscure early Image heroine co-created by an integral person, who eventually became their current longtime publisher and a partner in the company. I don't think that quite happened, and I'm pretty sure some properties that were eventually sold to DC accidentally ended up in a piece meant to honor those still with Image a quarter century in. But we're also talking about '90s Image b-listers, so they're a tad less than iconic, and I figure some creative coloring could "correct" for that.

Anyway, Dorkin was checking in with me and sending photos of the process. I think I recall his needing some nudging to more or less obliterate what Adams had laid down, but those emails are locked up in an account that Yahoo! isn't allowing me access to without handing over my Social, passport, and their preferred testicle. I'd hate to break up the set for a simple clarification. Eventually, Dorkin absolutely went to town on Pitt, to a degree that I think surpasses his Dragon. It feels like he was trying to exceed the detailing of Pitt's own creator, Dale Keown, and I'm here for it. Pitt went from being questionably salvageable to maybe the coolest bit on Dorkin's already extraordinary build-out of the jam. I hope you enjoyed seeing the progress of Pitt, and if you're so inclined, hit up Dorkin for a piece all your own?

Evan Dorkin

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2017 Heroes Convention Pitt Jam Sketch by Neal Adams

I believe that by this point, it had already been determined that Evan Dorkin's contribution to the jam would be provided after the convention. I still tried to get in a few quickies like WildStar before turning the piece over, because I still wanted it to be a HeroesCon 2017 piece mearly "finished" after the fact. Despite not being an official Image founder, I felt that Dale Keown came in early and was important enough to rate inclusion. I'd already been refused by indie/self-publishing legends like Jim Steranko and Frank Brunner, so I figured Neal Adams of all people was a huge longshot. No creator came closer to creating an Image Comics before the Marvel Exodus than Adams, one of the most important figures in the history of comics, and easily one of its greatest and most influential artists. Also, while Bernie Wrightson is his most obvious antecedent, Keown's style seemingly owed no small debt to Adams.

Again, we're in the last hour of the show, I see Adams on Pitt as a total Hail Mary, and was frankly shocked when he said yes. Adams drew some of my earliest favorites as a comic book fan, so it was a big deal to get original work from him on short notice at a reasonable rate. He knocked it out while I watched, and admittedly this is a layout at best, but it still pleased me immensely to get something I specifically asked for (and will unlikely ever be replicated) by someone of Adams' stature. Also, frankly, Neal Adams is an intimidating guy with an imposing reputation, so the fact that I also own a Martian Manhunter head sketch and got Adams to agree to a very brief (by design) interview is a source of pride to me. I've had nothing but entertaining experiences with Neal Adams.