The Return Of Frenchy: The Evil Clown!
Finally - it's here. Be afraid, be very, very afraid. After the longest wait I can think of, just as long as the wait for DC to finally collect all of Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle's Batman work into trade paperbacks (still hasn't happened), Nick Bakay and Alan Kupperberg's utterly hilarious and completely profane series of Frenchy The Evil Clown, originally published in the pages of National Lampoon is finally coming.
Alan recently emailed to say, "The material is all finished, except for the color. But we've had a Lulu edition, an Ashcan edition published. You can check out parts of the book by going to this link."
Alan and I spoke about his work on Frenchy back in 2007 in a long ranging interview, which will also be featured in the book. Here's the introduction that I wrote back then:
Evil Clown Comics is living proof that everyone has a darker side than we might expect. Or is it the opposite? I'm not sure. What I do know is that it's hard to reconcile the artist of such quaint titles as Spider-Man, Avengers, Thor and the like drawing material the like of what appeared in Evil Clown comics.
Frenchy, The Evil Clown, was the brainchild of Nick Bakay, the man who went on to become better known as the voice of Salem, Sabrina The Teenage Witch's talking black cat (and if that doesn't spin you out then check out the link - yep, ole Salem has his own web-site! And people think I'm odd...). Appearing in the pages of National Lampoon, Evil Clown Comics soon became a cult, yet it was over all too quickly. Gross, offensive, disgusting and confronting, Evil Clown was everything that mainstream comics could never be, and yet it wasn't that far removed from Alan Kupperberg's previous clown comic, Marvel Comics Obnoxio The Clown. The main difference was that what Obnoxio hinted at, Frenchy, the Evil Clown, did, in full glory and in glorious black and white.
For years now Evil Clown has existed only in it's original form, in the original magazines, and only available if you were willing to dig through back issues when they appeared. That's all about to change with a collected volume of Evil Clown comics being planned for the near future. The new volume not only collects the original material, but will have two new, previously unseen stories by Bakay and Kupperberg, new artwork and, best of all, new colouring by the incredibly talented Tom Ziuko. This will be an essential item for the bookshelves and an ideal present for both grandparents and the kids as it'll provide hours of entertainment and enjoyment for all. Then again, perhaps not. One thing is for sure, once you read Evil Clown Comics, you'll never look at clowns in the same way again.
Go and order a copy - or wait for the final version to appear - all going well it should be solicited via Diamond and you'll be able to order it through your local comic book store, but if that doesn't happen, then buy on-line - you'll not regret it and remember, this material has never been collected in the one place before.
Meanwhile Alan hasn't been sitting idle waiting for something to happen - he's been as busy as he can be drawing commissions for people. As you can see here, Alan hasn't lost any of his drawing ability and still provides a lot of bang for your buck, is very affordable and delivers quality art in a very timely fashion. You can find out more about how to order a commission from Alan by visiting his web-site, where you'll find all the details you need to arrange a commission of your own. I've got a few of my own and they're stunning!
Alan recently emailed to say, "The material is all finished, except for the color. But we've had a Lulu edition, an Ashcan edition published. You can check out parts of the book by going to this link."
Alan and I spoke about his work on Frenchy back in 2007 in a long ranging interview, which will also be featured in the book. Here's the introduction that I wrote back then:
Evil Clown Comics is living proof that everyone has a darker side than we might expect. Or is it the opposite? I'm not sure. What I do know is that it's hard to reconcile the artist of such quaint titles as Spider-Man, Avengers, Thor and the like drawing material the like of what appeared in Evil Clown comics.
Frenchy, The Evil Clown, was the brainchild of Nick Bakay, the man who went on to become better known as the voice of Salem, Sabrina The Teenage Witch's talking black cat (and if that doesn't spin you out then check out the link - yep, ole Salem has his own web-site! And people think I'm odd...). Appearing in the pages of National Lampoon, Evil Clown Comics soon became a cult, yet it was over all too quickly. Gross, offensive, disgusting and confronting, Evil Clown was everything that mainstream comics could never be, and yet it wasn't that far removed from Alan Kupperberg's previous clown comic, Marvel Comics Obnoxio The Clown. The main difference was that what Obnoxio hinted at, Frenchy, the Evil Clown, did, in full glory and in glorious black and white.
For years now Evil Clown has existed only in it's original form, in the original magazines, and only available if you were willing to dig through back issues when they appeared. That's all about to change with a collected volume of Evil Clown comics being planned for the near future. The new volume not only collects the original material, but will have two new, previously unseen stories by Bakay and Kupperberg, new artwork and, best of all, new colouring by the incredibly talented Tom Ziuko. This will be an essential item for the bookshelves and an ideal present for both grandparents and the kids as it'll provide hours of entertainment and enjoyment for all. Then again, perhaps not. One thing is for sure, once you read Evil Clown Comics, you'll never look at clowns in the same way again.
Go and order a copy - or wait for the final version to appear - all going well it should be solicited via Diamond and you'll be able to order it through your local comic book store, but if that doesn't happen, then buy on-line - you'll not regret it and remember, this material has never been collected in the one place before.
Meanwhile Alan hasn't been sitting idle waiting for something to happen - he's been as busy as he can be drawing commissions for people. As you can see here, Alan hasn't lost any of his drawing ability and still provides a lot of bang for your buck, is very affordable and delivers quality art in a very timely fashion. You can find out more about how to order a commission from Alan by visiting his web-site, where you'll find all the details you need to arrange a commission of your own. I've got a few of my own and they're stunning!
Comments
Livin la Vida Frenchy!!!!!