Ron Randall and Karl Kesel are long time comic book writer/artists.
I first "met" Ron in the pages of the backup story, The Barren Earth, found in issues 63 to 88 of The Warlord. I found both the story by Gary Cohn and the art by Ron to be excellent. It really should be collected. Due to my comic collecting/reading hiatus in the 80s, I missed his Trekker from Dark Horse. I'm not sure how I stumbled onto his Kickstarters, but I'm glad that I did.
Like Ron, Karl has had long career as writer and artist. While I'm not sure when I first encountered his work, the stories of Superboy (Kon-El, Conner Kent) set after Superman's death is where I distinctly remember his work. Karl wrote Superboy's first stories in Superboy Vol. 3 (1994-2002). He had a three year run to start the series and returned after 20 issues to helm the book for another 29 issues. I can tell you this, I stopped some issues after he left and rejoined when he returned - Kon/Conner/SB was never as good when Karl wasn't around.
Given that both men live in the Portland, OR area and that they often table next to each other at cons, I thought a crossover featuring Mercy St. Claire, the bounty hunter/Trekker, and Isabelle Castillo (Impossible Jones) seemed to be a natural. Karl came up with the idea of the women exchanging outfilts and he drew Imp first along with the dialog. Ron handled Mercy in Imps outfit. Karl admitted later that he got the short end of the drawing assignment. I have no pity for him since it was his idea. :)
Though this is clearly in my sketchbook, I marked this as a commission since I sent the sketchbook to them before HeroesCon 2026 - yes, I felt some trepidition since there were eleven sketches already in it. Still, the USPS came through without a hitch.
Hope you enjoy the drawing. I know you will enjoy their stories.
