Acid Man

[Kara Zor El]

Found my old Acid Man comic. I drew it when I was 18 and I'm 36 now. Please forgive the terrible spelling but I was a method artist back then. The whole thing was done under the influence of mind bending hallucinogenics.
I'll post the first three pages and more later.
Just for fun.







I'll scan the rest and post in the future.

[Kara Zor El]

And some more







what happens next? Why the armor? Stay tuned.

[Gumbo Maximillian]

Interesting

[Kara Zor El]

And the rest

[Kara Zor El]

[Captain_Video]

I love it.

Ever think of doing a follow up, no Acid Man, where he lives in a really mundane world with the occasional flash back ?

Not being a drug guy myself ( I spent my teen years hallucinating without the use of narcotics and for me personally I didnt like it ) I can't relate but I have always loved the use of drugs as a way to enter fantastical scenarios.

Plus it is really funny, it has a minor Hunter Thompson vibe, the use of grandiose narration to explain silly almost childlike flights of fantasy.

Yes indeed, I find it to be charming as heck.

[Kara Zor El]

Hey thanks Captain Video. I appreciate your thoughts a great deal. I did tinker with the idea of doing more over the years but it was half a life time ago now.At the end of the day I'm just not an accomplished enough artist to make it a really good comic.
I am now an accomplished writer though, so I never gave up on that and that is my living.
I just wanted to share this mad old piece of work I did.
And as for taking drugs, I'm glad you didn't because although they influenced my work early on and inspired me early on, they eventually held me back big time.
A good drug story was Legends of the Dark-Mite. In which hallucinogenics were used to create great art and a bonkers story.

[Kara Zor El]

Set in Victoria City in a Nuclear Ravaged Britain. A genetically engineered vampire, deals justice on the mean streets below his gigantic tower. Most of the main characters had an addiction to something. Be it blood, electricity, or ceratonin.



Never completed this page -


This is the vampire, who is called Mr Victory, once he has smartened his act up a bit and got all serious on Victoria City, malevolent dictator.

[Affinity]

Wow, so, you're basically ON something while doing these? That's kind of cool, not that I'd try it.

[mattx110]

i came into this thread expecting to go "haha, you sucked as a kid on drugs!"
but i really really enjoyed this. thanks.i don't comment on art much, but that was fun. i mean, don't turn to drugs, but i mean, Philip K. Dick of comics, that's you.

[Kara Zor El]

Wow, so, you're basically ON something while doing these? That's kind of cool, not that I'd try it.

Yeah I was doing LSD in that period of my life and I did a lot of art while under the influence and this Acid Man was one of those things. I just blasted it out over a few days or so. It has a raw mad energy as a result but also suffers as a result I suppose. It was teen thing. I stopped doing LSD once I'd felt I'd got all I could from it. The Beatles did the same thing but I'd never recommend it because you have to have a strong mind and the right people around you. And it has destroyed so many, so quickly. This was the 80's and I was a big Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Beatle, Led Zep fan and I was kinda following in their footsteps. But eventually drugs just eat all your ambition and inspiration away.

i came into this thread expecting to go "haha, you sucked as a kid on drugs!"
but i really really enjoyed this. thanks.i don't comment on art much, but that was fun. i mean, don't turn to drugs, but i mean, Philip K. Dick of comics, that's you.

Ha ha. I probably did suck really. As I never tried to do anything with that comic or improve on it once sober. I hid inside myself for years. And it is only in the last 4 years I have pushed myself as a writer and become successful.

[Captain_Video]

Yeah I was doing LSD in that period of my life and I did a lot of art while under the influence and this Acid Man was one of those things. I just blasted it out over a few days or so. It has a raw mad energy as a result but also suffers as a result I suppose. It was teen thing. I stopped doing LSD once I'd felt I'd got all I could from it. The Beatles did the same thing but I'd never recommend it because you have to have a strong mind and the right people around you. And it has destroyed so many, so quickly. This was the 80's and I was a big Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Beatle, Led Zep fan and I was kinda following in their footsteps. But eventually drugs just eat all your ambition and inspiration away.



Ha ha. I probably did suck really. As I never tried to do anything with that comic or improve on it once sober. I hid inside myself for years. And it is only in the last 4 years I have pushed myself as a writer and become successful.

I am interested to know, do you think that the drug more than inspiring you, is more useful for freeing your mind up from the "this is stupid", "this doesnt make sense", "people will laugh" nagging little voice that everyone who tries to write or draw has ?

I have always found it interesting that people on drugs often do great works...so I wonder what it is about them that gives that creative spark.

Any thoughts on that one ?

( hope I am not prying too much )

[Kara Zor El]

I am interested to know, do you think that the drug more than inspiring you, is more useful for freeing your mind up from the "this is stupid", "this doesn't make sense", "people will laugh" nagging little voice that everyone who tries to write or draw has ?

I have always found it interesting that people on drugs often do great works...so I wonder what it is about them that gives that creative spark.

Any thoughts on that one ?

( hope I am not prying too much )

Nope not prying. It all depends on the drug of course but hallucinogenics such as LSD, which is what I used doing the comic, definitely expands the mind and it unleashes your imagination. If you close your eyes for instance while on LSD you can see incredible things. And it's not just seeing but feeling. Music becomes something far more tangible, the water gurgling through the central heating system in the house becomes a link to God or the Devil etc... So yes, I think if you are already artistic and of a strong mind, then something like LSD will open doors and take you to knew places, and if it is a shared experience with like minded people then you really feel that you have tapped into something very powerful and profound. I think being young helps too. The Beatles were 26 -?, and I was 16 -20. Even bad trips, if you can survive them mentally are incredibly inspiring but also dangerous. LSD to an artist can be like manna from heaven.
What was stupid before may now appear breathtaking and mesmerizing. It definitely makes you temporarily mad and once sober you can't forget that you were once mad.
But then look at Syd Barrett, founder member of Pink Floyd, very psychadelic songs, but look at the cost, he went mad and stayed mad. That could have been me. And John Lennon was very fragile in later life. He took the most LSD of all The Beatles.

[Kara Zor El]

Found another one from a bit later on. Had to redoe the lettering in photoshop as they had faded for some reason. This was going to be epic, which is why I never got past page two. Oh, well, here it is, Earth Man.

[Roquefort Raider]

That's amazing stuff, Kara, and especially so for being so original. It's like the kind of strip Michael Moorcock could have come up with in his Jerry Cornelius days.

"The creator was a strange, strange thing indeed"... That's putting it mildly! Great concept.