Death In A Million Living Rooms #1

[trunch59]

  Has anyone in the Ug collecting community ever come across a comic from 1979 titled DEATH IN A MILLION LIVING ROOMS #1?  How about Flood City Comics # 1 and 2 out of Johnstown, Pa.?

[Reverend]

I can't say that I've heard of these, but a quick Google search yielded the following page with regard to Flood City Comics, which appears to be the artist's (Robert T. Jeschonek's) own: http://www.robertjeschonek.com/pages/Flood%20City%20Comics.html.

It looks like the first issue of FCC was #100 and went down from there, though the fifth issue was actually #5, rather than #96.

As for Death in a Million Living Rooms, I didn't have much luck beyond the artist's Who's Who (of American Comic Books: 1928-1999) bio which I'm guessing you've already seen, here.

Scott Deschaine also did another mini in the same year (1979), according to the above site, Casebook of Boylan Kanisky.

[trunch59]

Here's a scan. It also features the artist known as Savage Pencil (usually SAV-X these days). He was the British counterpart of Gary Panter and they met each other around the time of this comic. A second issue was supposed to have featured Mark Beyer, Charles Burns and Gary Panter in addition to the artists in #1 and would have pre-dated RAW #1 but never came out. Robert Williams has listed Savage Pencil as one of his top ten or so influences.

[Reverend]

Well, shit, another item on my ever-growing want list. I'm a huge fan of Savage Pencil, but had no idea his work was featured in this.

[trunch59]

Here's the "credits" page by Edwin (Savage Pencil's first name). He uses the name EDWIN PENCIL here. I'm pretty sure this was the only time he used that moniker. I've also included his D.I.Y. MOOSE page. His work in this comic was in his "early" style and was very free form/absurdist in nature.

[trunch59]

Okay, HERE'S the "credits" page.

[Reverend]

Only 50 copies? Ouch!

Was this comic published in Britain by any chance?

[trunch59]

Here's a better copy of D.I.Y. MOOSE.

[trunch59]

No, it came out of State College, Pennsylvania. Edwin was teaching at Penn State University at the time. I've got 2 issues of an earlier comic that he self- published out of England. I'll go try and dig those up for a scan.

[Reverend]

Comics that he published prior to '79?! Please find those.

[trunch59]

Here they are. ORYX KOMIX and ORYX COMIC #2. These are even older than I thought. They date back to 1974! They are probably his first comic appearances. I don't see any names in the first issue but #2 lists Bob Gibbs and Edwin Pouncey at the end of the main 6 page story. These are both 8-page digest size comics. I can't imagine they had much of a print run. 1974 is PRE-HISTORY when it comes to artists like Savage Pencil and Gary Panter! Does anyone know off-hand, how far back Gary Panter's published work goes?

[Reverend]

You have me drooling over here. British comix are my foremost passion. If you haven't read the other threads, I'm writing a reference guide for them. Like most of the other early British books, these must've had a ridiculously small print run.

[trunch59]

For the record, Scott Deschaine has at least a minor connection to British comix. He lived there with Hunt Emerson back in the 70's and was in at least one issue of Street Comix. Do you have a want list of British comix? I have a couple stacks myself but I have no idea which ones are hard to find, other than those ORYX KOMIX. A good reference guide to British comix is something that is sorely needed. How far along are you in such a project?

[Reverend]

I saw Scott's name mentioned on the Who's Who page as having been a contributor to an issue of Street Comix, though I don't recall which.

I do have a want list of British comix, though I warn you, it's probably one of the most obscure comix want lists just about anyone has ever seen.

As for my project, I've been researching for the past two years now, though it's probably longer than that—time seems a blur. There are lists of British comix in the following books, if you're not aware:

• Comix Index: The Directory of Alternative British Graphic Magazines: 1966-1977 (1978, Mal Burns)
• Collector's Guide to Newave Comics, The (1981)
• Nasty Tales: Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll and Violence in the British Underground (2001, David Huxley)
• Comix: The Underground Revolution (2004, Dez Skinn)

Sadly, all of the above are sorely incomplete, not only in listings and information (with respect to the date of publication of each), but detail as well. And that's been one of my major motivating factors, aside from my love of the books themselves, of course. It's really a shame just how little is known and how much has fallen through the proverbial cracks.

[trunch59]

Here's the "jam" from DIAMLR #1