Al Columbia
Encyclopedia
Al Columbia is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, photographer, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, and filmmaker
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

.

Big Numbers controversy

At the age of 19 Columbia was hired to work as an assistant to Bill Sienkiewicz
Bill Sienkiewicz
Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...

 on Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...

's Big Numbers series. When Sienkiewicz withdrew from the project in 1990 after completing the first two issues, Moore and his backers at Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.-Overview:Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values,...

 asked the young Columbia to become the series' sole artist. In 1992 Columbia himself left the project under a cloud of rumors and accusations, including claims that he received payment for work that he never delivered and that he destroyed his own unpublished artwork for the fourth issue of the series. Columbia himself did not address the topic publicly for several years, stating in a 1998 letter to The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...

 that "I could easily launch into a tirade about the extensive horror of my Tundra experience, but I much prefer the very entertaining and conflicting accounts already in circulation." In 2000 he posted a semi-facetious "definitive statement" on the subject to The Comics Journals online message board (reprinted here ), confirming that he destroyed his artwork for the series but disputing other aspects of the published accounts of the fiasco. He elaborated on this statement in a 2004 article published in The Comics Interpreter
The Comics Interpreter
The Comics Interpreter is a zine of comics criticism, published and edited by Robert Young. It focuses on alternative comics, and is characterized by interviews and reviews of greater length and detail than most comics-oriented publications, resembling the long-running Comics Journal in these...

 detailing the personal and professional turmoil surrounding the project.

1990s

Columbia's first solo comic book, Doghead, was released by Tundra Publishing in 1992. He contributed to three issues of the horror
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...

 anthology From Beyonde in the early nineties, initially under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

 "Lucien" and then under his own name. His stories "The Biologic Show" and "Tar Frogs" also appeared in the British magazine Deadline
Deadline magazine
Deadline was a British comic magazine published between 1988 and 1995.Created by 2000 AD stalwarts Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon, Deadline featured a mix of comic strips and written articles targeted at older readers...

. In these works, which focused on visceral and disturbing subject matter including mutilation
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...

, incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...

, and the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

, he moved away from the painterly photorealism
Photorealism
Photorealism is the genre of painting based on using the camera and photographs to gather information and then from this information creating a painting that appears photographic...

 of his time with Sienkiewicz towards a scabrous but virtuosic pen-and-ink style that emphasized grotesque
Grotesque
The word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...

 physiognomic details such as grinning mouths full of teeth and leering, reptilian eyes.

In 1994 Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...

 published Columbia's comic The Biologic Show
The Biologic Show
The Biologic Show is a comic book series written and drawn by Al Columbia and published by Fantagraphics Books. The first issue, #0, was released in 1994, and a second issue, #1, was released a year later...

 #0. It contained redrawn versions of his stories from Deadline along with new works. It received mostly enthusiastic reviews and accolades from other cartoonists including Mike Allred and Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring is a Seattle-based cartoonist, comic book author, artist and toy designer. He also produces fine art works in a variety of other media, including painting and charcoal....

. The Biologic Show #1 followed in 1995, featuring the first installment of a never-completed graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

, Peloria; an issue #2 was advertised but never appeared. Also in 1995, "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool
I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool
"I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool" is an 8-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in the fourth issue of Zero Zero...

" became the first of a series of two-color short stories by Columbia to appear in the Fantagraphics anthology Zero Zero. In these works, noted for their striking visual rhythms and their vivid atmosphere of dread, he adopted a more streamlined drawing style evocative of early animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

s, particularly the works of Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...

. In later stories such as "Amnesia" and "Alfred the Great" Columbia combined cel animation-influenced drawings of characters with minutely detailed chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....

 backgrounds and some use of digital illustration
Digital illustration
Computer illustration or digital illustration is the use of digital tools to produce images under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device such as a tablet or a mouse. It is distinguished from computer-generated art, which is produced by a computer using mathematical...

 techniques and photo manipulation
Photo manipulation
Photo manipulation is the application of image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception , through analog or digital means.- Types of digital photo manipulation :...

. "The Trumpets They Play!
The Trumpets They Play!
"The Trumpets They Play!" is an 8-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in BLAB! #10 in 1998.-Synopsis:After an opening title card describing the coming feature as "Seymour Sunshine and Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy's Big Budget Fiasco", the story begins with a televangelist reading aloud...

", a widely praised work in this style based on the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

, appeared in BLAB! #10 in 1998.

During the 1990s Columbia did ancillary tasks such as color separation for the publications of other cartoonists including Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...

 and Archer Prewitt
Archer Prewitt
Archer Prewitt is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois.- Music :...

. He also created artwork for the set design of comedian David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...

's 1999 television special The Pride is Back. Although he gave short interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...

s to several zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

s including Velour and Ain't Nothin' Like Fuckin' Moonshine during this period, the small quantity of his published output and the cancellation of several previously announced titles and anthology contributions, compounded with lingering questions about the fate of Big Numbers, made him an object of much speculation. "Whatever happened to Al Columbia?" became a perennial question on comics websites and message boards.

2000s

On November 19, 2001 The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 ran one of Columbia's illustrations. In 2003 he wrote two issues of The Pogostick, an unfinished comic book series illustrated by Ethan Persoff that was nominated for a Harvey Award
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...

. He created the artwork for The Postal Service
The Postal Service
The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...

's 2003 album Give Up
Give Up
Give Up is the debut album by electronic pop duo The Postal Service. Released on February 19, 2003, it was the second Sub Pop Records release to receive gold certification, and was Sub Pop's best selling album since Nirvana's Bleach. The album peaked at #114 on the U.S...

.

After a three-year delay, Columbia's website went online in late 2006. The Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...

-based site features a changing assortment of illustrations, photographs, music videos, and other multimedia content.

Columbia's comics and illustrations have been featured in anthologies including Mome
MOME (Comics)
Mome was a quarterly full-color comics anthology edited by Eric Reynolds , and published by Fantagraphics Books....

, The Best American Comics, and Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....

's Swallow series. His work has also appeared in the Seattle newspaper The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...

 and in magazines such as The Believer
The Believer (magazine)
The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...

 and Arthur
Arthur (magazine)
Arthur magazine, a free bi-monthly 50,000-copy periodical, was founded in October, 2002 by publisher Laris Kreslins and editor Jay Babcock. It has received favorable attention from other periodicals such as L.A. Weekly, Print, Punk Planet and Rolling Stone...

.

Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days
Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days
Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days is a 2009 book by Al Columbia. Subtitled "Artifacts and Bone Fragments", it is a scrapbook-like assemblage of illustrations, paintings, sketches, and pieces of unfinished comics featuring his characters Pim and Francie, drawn over a period of more than ten years...

, a book collection of previously unpublished work, was released in November 2009 to widespread acclaim.

Recurring characters

From The Biologic Show onwards Columbia's comics have featured a number of recurring characters. Like other traditional cartoon characters, some of them have continued to appear after being killed multiple times.

Seymour Sunshine

The most frequent protagonist in Columbia's early work, Seymour Sunshine is a passive nebbish menaced by bizarre threats. He first appeared in the story "No Tomorrow If I Must Return" in The Biologic Show #0. In most of his stories, including "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool" and "The Trumpets They Play!", Seymour is portrayed as being nearly mute, although in "Amnesia" he is more voluble.

Pim and Francie

A pair of mischievous waif
Waif
A waif is a living creature removed, by hardship, loss or other helpless circumstance, from his original surroundings...

s whose antics get them into horrific trouble, Pim and Francie first appeared in the story "Tar Frogs" and are the protagonists in "Peloria Part One" and Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days. The two have a loosely-defined sibling
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...

 relationship. According to Columbia, they originated as an attempt to draw himself and his former girlfriend as cartoon characters.

Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy

Described in the story "Amnesia" as a "childish icon for mischievous and filthy pleasures," Knishkebibble was first introduced in "Peloria Part One". In later appearances he acted as Seymour Sunshine's sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...

, serving mostly to drag both of them into dangerous situations. He is portrayed as greedy, conniving, and vulgar, and usually speaks with a hillbilly
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...

 accent.

Ruthie and Lucy

A pair of malevolent conjoined twins
Conjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...

 who appear as antagonists in several of Columbia's works, including "The Biologic Show", "Peloria Part 1", and Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days. They were first identified by name in the story "The Blood-Clot Boy
The Blood-Clot Boy
"The Blood-Clot Boy" is a 6-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in the sixteenth issue of Zero Zero.-Synopsis:The wealthy Count and Countess Borovsky give their lovely conjoined twin daughters' hand in marriage, along with their home and fortune, to a visitor who claims to be a distant...

".

Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great is a dwarf
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches  , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....

 with an enormous prehensile tongue
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...

. In his eponymous story he rises to fame and fortune as a circus sideshow performer before his decadent lifestyle and bad temper precipitate a fall from grace. Alfred also appears on the cover of Dirty Stories 3.

Cheapy the Guinea Pig

Cheapy the Guinea Pig is an experimental subject who is used by genetic researchers in a variety of pointlessly cruel tests, such as one intended "to determine the length of time Cheapy can endure being struck repeatedly about the head and face with a ball-peen hammer before he expires."

An animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

 character named Cheapy The Guinea Pig is mentioned in Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...

's 1932 Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 novel Kamera Obskura, in a passage that was deleted from Laughter in the Dark, Nabokov's 1938 English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 translation/adaptation of that book. Introducing his own Cheapy the Guinea Pig in the story "Vladimir Nabokov's Cheapy the Guinea Pig", Columbia described the character's origin in Nabokov's work, and emphasized that his Cheapy was "inspired by the [Nabokov character's] name alone and the many uses that a Guinea pig has to offer to the world of cartoons."

Music and film

Columbia was a founding member of The Action Suits, whose other members have included fellow cartoonists Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Buddy Bradley, Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth...

 and Eric Reynolds. His more recent musical activities, including songs and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s recorded with his partner under the name The Francies, have been sporadically documented on his website.

In 2009 he directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and appeared in the music video for the song "These Wounds Never Heal" by the American heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Unholy.

Influence

Gerard Way
Gerard Way
Gerard Arthur Way is an American musician and comic book writer who has served as lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance since its formation in 2001...

, the lead singer of the band My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...

 and author of the comic book series The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy is a comic book written by Gerard Way with art by Gabriel Bá, cover art by James Jean, colors by Dave Stewart and letters by Blambot's Nate Piekos. The six-issue limited series was released by Dark Horse Comics, the first issue making its premiere on September 19, 2007. It won...

, described his exposure to Columbia's work as "a turning point" in his aesthetic development. Tunde Adebimpe
Tunde Adebimpe
Babatunde Omoroga "Tunde" Adebimpe is an American musician, actor, and director best known as the lead singer of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio. His vocal method often involves improvisation, the use of effects and repeating sampled loops....

 of TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music....

 has also cited Columbia as an inspiration.

In a 2009 interview with Juxtapoz magazine, professional illustrator Aaron Horkey asserted that "countless successful artists continue to pillage [Columbia's] back catalog, propping up their half-baked careers on the well-worn spines of second hand copies of Biologic Show."

Solo publications

  • Doghead
    Doghead (comics)
    Doghead is a 48-page comic book by Al Columbia. His first solo publication, it was released by Tundra Publishing in 1992 while Columbia was involved with Alan Moore's Big Numbers...

     (1992, Tundra Publishing
    Tundra Publishing
    Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.-Overview:Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values,...

    )
  • The Biologic Show
    The Biologic Show
    The Biologic Show is a comic book series written and drawn by Al Columbia and published by Fantagraphics Books. The first issue, #0, was released in 1994, and a second issue, #1, was released a year later...

     #0 (1994, Fantagraphics Books
    Fantagraphics Books
    Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...

    )
  • 23 Skidoo, minicomic
    Minicomic
    A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term "small press comic" is equivalent with minicomic reserved for those publications measuring A6 or less...

     (1994, Wow Cool)
  • The Biologic Show #1 (1995)
  • Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days
    Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days
    Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days is a 2009 book by Al Columbia. Subtitled "Artifacts and Bone Fragments", it is a scrapbook-like assemblage of illustrations, paintings, sketches, and pieces of unfinished comics featuring his characters Pim and Francie, drawn over a period of more than ten years...

     (2009, Fantagraphics Books)

Works in anthologies and serial publications

  • "The Virus", 8 pages (artwork only); front cover and various illustrations, From Beyonde #1 (February 1991, Studio Insidio) [as Lucien]
  • "Clara Mutilarés", 11 pages; front cover and various illustrations, From Beyonde #2 (May 1991)
  • "Untitled", 4 pages; back cover, From Beyonde #3 (September 1991)
  • Untitled cover, Deadline #51 (May 1993, Deadline Publications)
  • [Unknown contribution], Madman Adventures
    Madman
    Madman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero created by Mike Allred and most recently published by Image Comics. He first appeared in Creatures of the Id...

     #2 (June 1993, Tundra Publishing)
  • "Johnny 23", 4 pages, Taboo #8 (1995, Kitchen Sink Press
    Kitchen Sink Press
    Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen owned and operated Kitchen Sink Press until 1999. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in...

    ); also published as a minicomic (n.d., Wow Cool)
  • "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool
    I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool
    "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool" is an 8-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in the fourth issue of Zero Zero...

    ", 8 pages, Zero Zero #4 (August 1995, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Jack never woke up", 1 page (inside front cover), Zero Zero #8 (March/April 1996)
  • Untitled front cover, Newbies Eclectica #6 (1997, The Graphic Cartel)
  • "Walpurgischnacht '97", 1 page (back cover), Zero Zero #15 (March 1997)
  • "The Blood-Clot Boy
    The Blood-Clot Boy
    "The Blood-Clot Boy" is a 6-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in the sixteenth issue of Zero Zero.-Synopsis:The wealthy Count and Countess Borovsky give their lovely conjoined twin daughters' hand in marriage, along with their home and fortune, to a visitor who claims to be a distant...

    ", 6 pages, Zero Zero #16 (April/May 1997)
  • "Amnesia", 8 pages, Zero Zero #20 (September/October 1997)
  • "The Trumpets They Play!
    The Trumpets They Play!
    "The Trumpets They Play!" is an 8-page comic by Al Columbia. It was published in BLAB! #10 in 1998.-Synopsis:After an opening title card describing the coming feature as "Seymour Sunshine and Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy's Big Budget Fiasco", the story begins with a televangelist reading aloud...

    ", 8 pages, BLAB! #10 (1998, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Alfred the Great", 5 pages, Zero Zero #26 (July/August 1999)
  • "Movie Magic", 1 page, and front cover, The Stranger
    The Stranger (newspaper)
    The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...

    , March 16, 2000 [as Jack Lazy]
  • "Vladimir Nabokov's Cheapy the Guinea Pig" (back cover) and untitled front cover, Zero Zero #27 (August 2000)
  • "Pim & Francie", 1 page, The Stranger, March 22, 2001; reprinted in color in Mome
    MOME (Comics)
    Mome was a quarterly full-color comics anthology edited by Eric Reynolds , and published by Fantagraphics Books....

     #9 (Fall 2007, Fantagraphics Books)
  • Drawing for the letter "As the Taliban Flee, Time to Send In Fido", The New York Times
    The New York Times
    The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

    , November 14, 2001
  • "See no evil", front cover, Hanging Like a Hex #16 (n.d. (published between 2001–2003), Hanging Like a Hex/Ryan Canavan)
  • Untitled wraparound cover, Dirty Stories Volume 3 (Spring 2002, Eros Comix
    Eros Comix
    Eros Comix is an adult-oriented imprint of Fantagraphics Books, established in 1990 to publish pornographic comic books. Eros Comix sells anime videos, DVDs, adult comic books, and books of erotic art and photography...

    /Fantagraphics Books)
  • [Unknown contribution], Madman Picture Exhibition #3 (June 2002, AAA Pop Comics)
  • "Chopped Up People", 9 pages, Mome #7 (Spring 2007, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Fucking Felix", 9 pages, Mome #8 (Summer 2007)
  • "Cheapy the Guinea Pig in Morning Glory", 1 page, Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology (October 2007, Evil Twin Comics
    Evil Twin Comics
    Evil Twin Comics is a small comic book publisher in Brooklyn. The company was founded in late 2004 when comic book creators Ryan Dunlavey and Fred Van Lente received a grant from the Xeric Foundation to publish the comic book series Action Philosophers...

    )
  • [Unknown contribution], The Evil Dead
    Army of Darkness (comics)
    Army of Darkness comics are based on the film of the same name published originally by Dark Horse Comics, and later by Dynamite Entertainment who initially published them through Devil's Due Publishing....

     #1 (January 2008, Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

    )
  • Untitled front and back covers, Mome #10 (Winter/Spring 2008)
  • "5:45", 4 pages, Mome #11 (Summer 2008); reprinted in The Best American Comics 2009 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • "Blue Apples", Arthur
    Arthur (magazine)
    Arthur magazine, a free bi-monthly 50,000-copy periodical, was founded in October, 2002 by publisher Laris Kreslins and editor Jay Babcock. It has received favorable attention from other periodicals such as L.A. Weekly, Print, Punk Planet and Rolling Stone...

     #29 (May 2008), #30 (June 2008), #31 (September 2008)
  • "Invasion", 3 pages, Mome #12 (Fall 2008)
  • Untitled, 16 pages, Swallow Volume 1, #5 (December 2008, IDW Publishing
    IDW Publishing
    IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

    )
  • "Toyland", 2 pages, Diamond Comics #4 (October 2009, Floating World Comics)
  • "The Happy Prick", The Believer
    The Believer (magazine)
    The Believer is a United States literary magazine that also covers other arts and general culture. Founded and designed in 2003 by the writer and publisher Dave Eggers, it is edited by Vendela Vida, Heidi Julavits and Ed Park...

     Volume 7, #9 (November/December 2009)
  • Untitled, 9 pages and back cover, GO FOR THE GOLD! 3 (December 2009, Meathaus
    Meathaus
    Meathaus is a comics anthology created by the Meathaus Collective. The Meathaus Collective is a group of artists who attended New York City's School of Visual Arts in or around 2000...

    )
  • "The Happy Prick", The Believer Volume 8, #1 (January 2010)

Comics with Ethan Persoff (writing only)

  • The Pogostick #1 (February 2003, Fantagraphics Books)
  • The Pogostick #2 (December 2003)

Other works

  • Sleeve art and label, "Glazed Donuts" b/w "Andy the Android", 7" vinyl single by The Action Suits (1997, Spot On! Records)
  • Stage set, The Pride is Back, television special by David Cross
    David Cross
    David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...

     (1999, HBO)
  • Album art, Canada, CD album by Loraxx (2000, The Orchard
    The Orchard (music label)
    The Orchard is a New York City based digital distribution and entertainment services company that works with independent artists and labels, and content providers...

    )
  • Portrait of Nick Cave
    Nick Cave
    Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

    , Book of Changes: Interviews by Kristine McKenna (2001, Fantagraphics Books)
  • Album art, Give Up
    Give Up
    Give Up is the debut album by electronic pop duo The Postal Service. Released on February 19, 2003, it was the second Sub Pop Records release to receive gold certification, and was Sub Pop's best selling album since Nirvana's Bleach. The album peaked at #114 on the U.S...

    , CD album by The Postal Service
    The Postal Service
    The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel and Headset.-Background:...

     (2003, Sub Pop
    Sub Pop
    Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...

    )
  • Illustration of the song "Toy Boy", 2 pages, Songs For Sorrow
    Songs for Sorrow
    Songs for Sorrow is the second extended play by singer Mika. It was released in digital form on May 15, 2009, and in a limited edition book & cd physical form on June 8, 2009. The song "Blue Eyes" was used to promote the EP, and was A-listed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist. The EP received the name...

    , EP by Mika
    Mika (singer)
    Mika is a British singer-songwriter.After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday EP, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit...

     (2009, Casablanca Records
    Casablanca Records
    Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...

    )
  • Cover art, This Side of Jordan, novel by Monte Schulz (2009, Fantagraphics Books)

Further reading

  • Owens, Annie. "Al Columbia", Hi-Fructose Magazine Vol. 15, April 2010, 92-103.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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