Richard Sala - "Peculia" Evil Eye # 3 p30 1999

In his sadly short career, Richard Sala evolved (& improved) as an artist, always creating directly out of his own consistent, weird and delightful vision. His earlier work, as seen in RAW, was more stylized and grotesque, maybe a little more "of its time" in an 80s David Lynch/Tim Burton-ish sort of way, in keeping with contemporaries like Charles Burns. By the time of "Evil Eye," his characters were created out of less idiosyncratic forms, resulting in the sexy/cute/Goth look of Peculia and other comics. I love the black-spotting, line work and hatching too. Later he branched into color, with equally gorgeous results.

(NOTE: this page will be on display in an exhibit at the McMullen Gallery at Boston College this fall. The show focuses on comic art of the RAW/WEIRDO era, and should be fantastic)