Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh (2021 by Carson Grubaugh)

Honestly, has there ever been a team-up more unusual than this? It flows back and forth between the comics world and the real world. This is: “The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Commissioned Bookplate art)” (2021; 8.75 x 11.75). In "The Strange Death of Alex Raymond," Dave Sim, legendary creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, and Carson Grubaugh, talented and creative artist across multiple media, explore and examine the line-making techniques of some of comics' greatest photorealist creators (and more)…… There was one reward tier in the Kickstarter, a 1/1 edition that included the original art for the bookplate affixed to the book along with a few pages of original art (and I got that, but it is not this)… During the campaign, Carson posted the draft for an earlier version of the bookplate, one where he and Dave were locked in a cosmic battle, swirling in a fray while a Rip Kirby character reassures us that all is swell. Dave rejected it as an idea. But I did not. So, for an extra dollop of money, I commissioned Carson to complete the art and to attach it to the inside back cover as Bookplate #2 for the 1/1 edition… I scripted the dialog and loaded it with allusions. Even the brief explanation is too long a story to tell. Suffice it to say that I am the alchemist, and Dave did warn Carson about me, so that is the origin of this cosmic battle. Sorry for the swearing, which is formatted in the way it always happened in the Cerebus books.