2003 AL COLUMBIA THE GOLD BENEATH OUR FEET PIM AND FRANCIE

I THINK ITS BRILLIANT, THE WAY HE LEAVES MANY OF HIS PAGES "UNFINISHED"....TAKEN TOGETHER THEY ARE A SOPHISTICATED AND DEFINITELY FINISHED ABSTRACT NARRATIVE. HIS WORK SEEMS TO ME TO BE A SHIFT AND INNOVATION IN COMIC STORYTELLING, IM VERY HAPPY TO ADD ONE OF AL'S PIECES TO MY COLLECTION!

At the age of 18 Columbia was hired to assist Bill Sienkiewicz in illustrating Alan Moore's ambitious Big Numbers series. When Sienkiewicz withdrew from the series in 1990 after the release of the first two issues, Moore and his backers at Tundra Publishing asked the young Columbia to become its sole artist. In 1992, with no more issues released, Columbia himself left the project under a cloud of rumors and accusations, including claims that he had destroyed his own artwork for Big Numbers #4.Columbia declined to address the subject publicly for several years, writing in a 1998 letter to The Comics Journal that "I could easily launch into a tirade about the extensive horror of my Tundra experience, but I much prefer the very entertaining and conflicting accounts already in circulation." In later statements he confirmed that he destroyed his artwork but disputed other claims by the principal figures in the fiasco.