The following was by no means meant to be a polished piece of comics reportage– it sprung from my desire to avoid posting one more opinion about what quickly became a played out topic at the top of last summer. I decide to draw what I had to say instead as a fun little exercise.
I drew straight ahead with a minimal of pre-planning using only felt pens (and a little litho crayon), keeping it entirely as a piece in the sketchbook.
Here at the end, some of it works for me… some of it doesn’t (scans are a little murky, too). Much of this is past history at this point, but I post it now as a farewell to 2012 and, I suppose, to a chapter in my youth that can’t be reclaimed. I wonder if the rest of fandom will catch on. Stay tuned for more sketchbook strips.
More under the cut!
Addendum: I began the section on Archie Goodwin without doing much research at all, and had completed those pages before I heard Steve Bissette (who has drawn for Epic Illustrated) talk about the history of the magazine on a podcast. I contacted him and as it turns out Archie Goodwin did NOT create the Epic Magazine for Marvel.
Here’s Steve: “Rick Marschall launched EPIC, but was fired before the first issue was done. Archie was brought in to take over; Ralph Macchio remained ass’t editor. Archie indeed launched the EPIC line, but not EPIC ILLUSTRATED magazine per se—like CREEPY, someone else did the initial groundwork (it was Russ Jones with Warren on CREEPY), got canned, and Archie took over the reins.”
Thanks, Steve. And thanks to David Rust for lending me his rare back-issue of Epic for the excerpt here on the last page. The story is “Unicorn Autumn” with art by Alix Berenzy.
jlloydillustration 
Which issue/story of METAL HURLANT did you mention specifically? I’d like to see if I can find it and read it myself.
No single issue really, just that movement in European comics in the early ’70’s as spearheaded by Moebius and Druillet. However, the issue of Epic Illustrated on the last page is number 30, if you want to give that a peruse.
This is really touching. Alien itself never occupied the place in my personal mythology that it does for you…but Archie Goodwin sure did. (For me it will always be his Manhunter strip with Simonson that made me love them both.) I had a brief chance to work for him at Marvel when he was running the Epic Comics line, and he was as fantastic a boss as you’d expect: a creative and funny guy in person who genuinely respected and liked working with other creative people. The sad thing is that this seems exceptional or noteworthy in the world of comics publishing.
Thanks so much for your response. It’s great to hear I did some justice to Archie from someone who worked with him. I would have loved to meet him, but he just wasn’t showing up much on the radar by the time I started making conventions. As time goes on my admiration and nostalgia for what he represented only grows. His vision and good will is exceptional in the comics world, tho I will say– in my limited experience in the biz I’ve been able to work with folks who are creative themselves and want to bring good work to the world (tho I blanche when I hear stories from a lot of other professionals). We would all do well to carry on his legacy.
All I want to say is “Same here” because you said it all and so much better than me. One from the heart. Thanks!
Thanks so much, Mark!