Gorillas In The Midst
I was hellaciously busy this weekend working on this week’s strip and a short story for an anthology to be published by comic shop entrepreneur and pop culture taste-maker, Phil Crouch of Acme Comics. A while back, Phil produced a comics-related podcast called The Escape Pod, so he wanted to build the anthology around the theme of “escape” or “escape pods.” When Phil first put a call out for submissions, I originally had a longer story in mind, but due to my other committments, I wasn’t certain whether I would be able to participate at all. At first, I scaled my involvement down to a pin-up, however, inspiration struck in the strangest form when a gorilla escaped from the local zoo here in Columbia. I was able to sketch out a fairly quick outline for a two-page story about the fugitive primate. My girlfriend Noelle came up with a very funny, and fitting, denouement, but The Pirate Musketeer deserves a shout out for quite literally providing the ”missing ingredient” at the eleventh hour. The story was a lot of work, but I really had a blast doing it. This is some of my favorite inking work to date. The Kolinsky sable hair brush obeyed my every command when it came to rendering the big ape’s fur.
The first half of the story is below, but if you want to see the second half…well, you’ll have to buy the anthology to read the rest of the story, along with the other fine, creative submissions that came in. I’ll let you know when it goes on sale, or you can check out the Acme Comics link on the side for more details.
Have a safe, enjoyable Independence Day, everyone!
- JEP
Looks great! Damn cliffhanger … guess you sold at least one book.
Doug G.-
Many, many thanks! Hope you had a good Independence Day weekend!
- JEP
P.S. Did I catch a “Fear of a Black Hat” reference in the title of this? Because … what we’re trying to say is … we got hats now, muthafuckas.
Doug G.-
Actually, I was thinking of Ice Cube’s early ’90s side group, Da Lench Mob and their song, “Guerrillas In The Mist.” It might be hard to find now, but the song was a staple in my mixtape rotation when I was in college. This was back in the day when rap was able to be political, edgy and dance-able at the same time. Now, all we get is “The Stanky Leg.”
- JEP
I remember it well. The “Black Hat” song was a takeoff of Cube’s. Rap supergroup N.W.H. (The H is for hats) featured members Tasty Taste, Tone Def and Ice Cold and performed takeoffs that included “F— the Security Guards,” “My Peanuts” and “Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y. (Political Unrest Stabilizes Society, Yes.) Some of it doesn’t hold up so well, but the song parodies are hilarious to anybody who remembers rap from that time period — hitting Public Enemy, LL Cool J, C&C Music Factory and even P.M. Dawn (when’s the last time you heard of them?)
Doug G.-
That takes me back. I am set adrift on memory bliss…
- JEP