Artwork © 2010, Rick Grimes.

GRIMES: "This one was for a hypothetical book assignment, from the early spring of 1977, as best I can guess--fellow Kubeheads may guess otherwise. They made us do it on 15 x 20 sheets back then, way too big for my taste. (Perhaps it harked back to when all the old comics were printed with those huge cameras). I got away from that size as soon as possible. For me a 9 x 12 sheet is plenty 'extreme' enough. Why add unnecessary mileage to your ink lines? Give me an illo space the size of my head, where I can see everything I'm doing in one glance. Smaller is even better, if my eyes can pull it off.

This made it all too big for my desktop scanner. So, the third generation scan here, with a wee bit of the curtain missing, (rather than the 'busier' shelf at the right), and the left hand borderline, is the best i could do.

The assignment specifics have mercifully left my mind for good, by now. An idea of text was involved, but again it was all hypothetical. I think the elongated format, (contrary to the filmic tack of "Head Cheese", likely underway well before this page), was imposed. As per my obsession then, I chose my usual subjects.

A sort of text/illo, text/illo Big Little Book mirroring approach was implied, at least in my mind. No real story was developed for it then, nor has one arisen since. (I had enough and too many of them going in my mind already, and was wise enough, even then, not to bother).

Tho' there is a subsequent 'panel', still limited to a tracing paper rough (of the period): a closeup of Weird Dick, having swatted the fly, and checking for the results. Probably never to see completion.

After all, the picture above took me 32 years to get 'round to finishing, a record, at least for me. I like it, now, because it looks like the characters were waiting for me the whole time. Better late than never! Now...to turn it in !!" -- RG 6/27/'010