Paul Pope Electric Ant 3 cover

This is the second piece of OA I bought after the dam broke when I bought my Airtight Garage page. I felt like I had unfinished business in not having a page by Paul Pope. I met Paul at SDCC in 1994 when he shoved a flyer for something called THB into my hands. Usually the work advertised by unknown artists is cringeworthy; I expected the worst and didn't look at it till I'd walked away. I was immediately taken by his style. I walked back to chat, wanting to know more. His energy and enthusiasm could have powered the vehicle shown in the cover above! I made a note to keep an eye out for him when he started publishing. Paul made a name for himself at a time when I was mostly checked out of the hobby, so now I'm making up for lost time. As usual for Paul, this is 13" x 24".

Update: Featured on Comic Art Live 233. Thanks Bill and Chris!


Of the science fiction writers I read in my adolescence, Philip K. Dick is the only one whose work holds up for me. Dick's 'The Electric Ant' was first published in the Oct. 1969 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.

The five-issue comic book series was published by Marvel in 2010, adapted by David Mack, with interior art by Pascal Alixe. A note about what a small world this is - I worked with Pascal Alixe at DreamWorks Animation. Pascal shared an office with fellow Frenchman Olivier Coipel. Both were assistant animators (as was I, though a rank below them), and both were passionate about comics. One evening at work I introduced them to Steve Rude by the DW pencil-test machines, where he gave an encouraging critique of their work. After The Road to El Dorado wrapped, Pascal and Olivier hightailed it down to SDCC, showed off their work, and were immediately offered work in comics.