Wow! Cover by SHAG!
“Doris Danger” logo by Wesley Ruff!
Here in this web comic, I consider Doris Danger Giant Monster Adventures (vol. 1) published by SLG in 2009, to be “The Last Canonical Word” in the Doris Danger series (This could change as I continue to cringe whenever I open it up), because it collected basically all my self-published Doris Danger books up to that time. HOWEVER, in fitting everything into that volume, I sometimes had to make slight alterations or publish something slightly differently than in the earlier self-published volumes. And this cover is an example of that.
Shag was always an artist I dreamed of getting to contribute to my book, but whom I assumed I’d never have the chance to meet. So I was extraordinarily excited to see him listed as a guest at 2006’s San Diego Comic-Con. I assumed he’d make a short, difficult-to-catch appearance – maybe on a panel and then have an assigned hour of “autograph time,” which would be swamped and then he’d be basically otherwise unapproachable. But it turned out, to my shock, he just had a table at artists’ alley. There was a small, fast-moving line, where everyone just said hi and bought a postcard or print and then moved on. I handed him a Doris Danger comic and asked if he ever read comics. He smiled at me and said: “Nope. But I’ll read this one.”
I was just poking around in that area again the next day. There was a line in front of his table again, but he wasn’t there yet. And behind the line, all by himself, just standing around, unbeknownst to his thronging fans, there was Shag! Below are photos of that fateful, delightful week my wife and I met him.
So I walked up and said hello again, and he remembered me. After visiting a bit, I asked if he might consider doing a monster drawing I could publish in my comic. He told me he had stopped doing commissions a few years ago. I’d heard his paintings are so popular, he just draws whatever he wants, and buyers are on a list to pay for whatever painting he does next, unseen. If that’s the case, why would he do commissions? Talk about successful!
But I knew he’d drawn a number of giant monster images. Tikis, abominable Snowmen, things like that. I asked if he might consider giving me permission to publish one, and walked away surprised and delighted to have gotten his contact info.
We had discussed it a bit at the con, and then solidified it by email. Since my book is black and white, and his work is color, he gave me permission to use his painting for the cover! Wow! He emailed me FOUR options (!!!). I chose the one I did, because it was my favorite, but also because the woman the monster is carrying actually looks like Doris Danger! I’ve wondered if he painted it before or after I gave him my comic, but I’ve never asked him.
His swanky, shagadelic image was published on the cover of my oversize Doris Danger Seeks… Where Urban Creatures Creep and Stomp (2007) (posted in the page 000 Cover – Pre-Edits link above).
But I didn’t stop there! Always eager to see how far I can push peoples’ boundaries, and since he sent me four to choose from, I emailed him and asked if he might let me use one image for the front of the book, and another for the back … and he gave me permission for THAT, TOO! : page 000a Back Cover – Pre-Edits.
And that STILL wasn’t enough! After it was printed for Where Urban Creatures, I continued pestering him, and what do you know?, Shag generously allowed me to reuse the image for the 96-page, 2009 SLG Publishing collection, Doris Danger Giant Monster Adventures: page 000: Cover – Published. So you see, fans – The lesson here is, if you’re persistent (belligerent) and overbearing and unrelenting, who knows what you might accomplish? You may not have so much to lose, and perhaps have much to gain!
Notice, with this page 000: Cover – Published, which is only 5.5″ x 8.5″, I cropped the entire left of the composition, including the whole building of page 000a Back Cover – Pre-Edits. I hated to do it, but chose to do it, because I felt, 1. it better fit the space of the layout, and 2. made it more of a “giant monster” cover, AND 3. made the cover of the Where Urban Creatures book and the SLG collection recognizably and necessarily different.
[NOTE: For the complete illogically complex list of all the comics and books where Doris Danger’s adventures were printed AND reprinted, and what’s in them, please watch the Commentary Video, or peruse Doris Danger Publishing History]
The Doris Danger logo was designed by my friend Wesley Ruff. I love the cursive for her first name.
