Eric
Jones, Landry Walker and Michael (Rusty) Drake first began producing comics
together in 1992. Just as they were completing there first mini, Filthy Habits
(which featured the pathetic existence of an antagonistic character named
Clay) they stumbled into a loose association with the then newly forming company
"Puppy Toss". This company was a collective based organization bent
on the distribution and publication of small local and non-local small press
creators. Over it's short but influential life, Puppy Toss was one of the
first publishers form many talented creators. Including Dylan Williams, Fawn
Gehweiler, Gabby Gamboa, Bobby Madness, Scott Hsu-Storaker, Ben Catmull and
many others.
The first Filthy Habits story saw wide release with Puppy Toss' anthology
title Skim Lizard #1. After awhile, the three creators slowly got around
to producing a second Filthy Habits story, and collected these two comic pieces
into a mini-comic titled Jumpin' Jezus. Jumpin' Jezus was eventually noticed
by the publisher of AEON comics, Edd Vick. Edd Vick took it upon himself to
publish Filthy Habits as a regular series, starting with an appearance in
the title: Aeon Focus #1. The Filthy Habits series was a whirlwind for the
creators, and included guest pieces from some of their longtime associates,
including Mario De Govia, Jeff Levine, and Gary Amaro.
Eventually, after publishing the Filthy Habits one shot, four issues of the
regular Filthy Habits series and little mini book Skank Dick Skank (plus many
other fine non Landry, Eric and Rusty books), Aeon decided to close down.
Around this same time, Landry and Eric began producing a bi-weekly comic strip
in the pages of California's Bam Magazine (see Bam issues October of 1997
to the very last issue published sometime during late 1999). The additional
income generated by this strip allowed Eric and Landry to... Well not to do
much, actually. All the same, with Aeon closing the creators decided that
they needed to find a new publisher, and quickly.
Unfortunately,
no one was interested. How sad.
And then along came President of the mighty empire known as Slave Labor Graphics,
Dan Vado (pronounced "Vah-Dough"). Dan had met an old high school
friend of Eric and Landry's named Todd Martinez. Somehow Todd managed to convince
the apparently gullible Mr. Vado to publish Eric and Landry. Sucker.
Through Slave Labor Graphics, Eric, Landry and Rusty renamed the series to
X-Ray Comics and produced an additional three issues. The series contained
the usual events
one might expect to find in this sort of book, dead pigs, ex-girlfriends,
attacks from vicious killer dogs. Grown men wearing the skin of dead animals
on their face as masks. The usual stuff. Unfortunately, sales were low, and
around the same time Bam magazine folded. The future was grim.
Around this time Eric and Landry were completing a short non-X-Ray comic called
Little Gloomy for an anthology run by creator Scott Morse. The anthology never
materialized. But when Dan Vado saw the mini-comic he urged the creators to
take there work in a new direction.
Since then Little
Gloomy has been published simultaneously by Slave Labor Graphics and Disney
Adventures Magazine. But despite the now enormous
egos and busy schedule combined, the creators remain quite dedicated to an
X-Ray relaunch. Most of their friends shake their heads in sadness at such
foolishness, but Eric, Landry and Rusty remain determined to bring more adventures
of the idiot Clay to the homes of
the few hundred people who will buy it and later regret having done so. This
winter, Slave Labor will be re-printing the first five issues of Filthy Habits
in a trade paperback titled: X-Ray Comics - Volume One: FILTH. Find it, buy
it, and try to remember that it was originally produced in a much more innocent
time.
Here's some other random covers from comics we've done:
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