Dave Ex Machina

There’s nothing wrong with your screen. Luke Herr‘s Space Cabby is drawn on some kind of Lovecraftian shade of paper that has my scanner utterly baffled and is beyond my image manipulation skills to enhance. We’re going to say that Space Cabby has landed on a world suffused with an alien mist. Given his expression and thumbs-up, the mist seems to also have some kind of euphoric effect.

Luke has written a number of comics, including Socialfist (a superhero parody involving Soviet heroes), and the gothic horror romance The Tomb of Naomi. He blogs regularly at Nerdcenaries and is also active on Twitter.

The wing of the Space Cabby Gallery where Luke’s picture hangs will require special goggles and will also have a warning for ladies who are pregnant or breastfeeding. I’m not sure we know the long-term effects of that color on humans.

Are YOU an artist (or a writer, I’m not picky!) who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

There are a lot of artists I’d love to have sketches from, but as much as I love Space Cabby, I often can’t get myself to put down the cash to get it done. That said, there was one artist at Heroes Con I decided I’d get a sketch from no matter the cost, and that was Scott Wegener. I’m a huge fan of Atomic Robo, the comic he draws and Brian Clevinger writes, and knew his style would be a perfect fit for the character.

Clevinger, Wegener, and their editor, Lee Black, were not familiar with Space Cabby (most people aren’t) and let me yak on about how awesome the character was. By the time I was done, Clevinger was looking to swipe the character for the Roboverse. SORRY, WHAT I MEAN IS, CLEVINGER SAID, “HUH! THAT CHARACTER IS SIMILAR YET NOT ACTIONABLY SO TO A CHARACTER I HAD ALREADY COME UP WITH FOR THE ROBOVERSE.”

The sketch Scott did for me is utterly charming, as was Team Robo itself. Brian, Scott, and Lee were great to meet. Seriously, folks, check out Atomic Robo. It’s great fun made by swell people.

Are YOU an artist who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

(The Space Cabby Gallery)

I’m pretty sure that Jordan Witt was the first artist at Heroes Con I asked for a Space Cabby sketch. She’s a Twitter pal whose loose, friendly art style seemed like it would work perfectly for the guy. Sure enough, she caught his cocky, devil-may-care attitude that also says, “please hire my cab as I am so very hungry.” I also like the vary faithful “actual-cab-with fins”.

Jordan webcomics at 52nd Door with her comic “Scarred for Life”. She’s also started work on a bigger project, The Organization of Ghost Hunters, which is headquartered here.

At Heroes I got a couple of OGH minis (“The Pretzel” and “Haint Hasslers”) as well as a collection of her “First Meetings” comics. I liked them all, but “The Pretzel” made me laugh out loud, at one panel in particular.

Thanks for the sketch, Jordan!

Are YOU an artist who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

(The Space Cabby Gallery)

One of the comics I didn’t pick up at Heroes Con was Subatomic Party Girls by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, Erica Henderson, and Josh Krach. This is because it’s only available digitally and I already had it! It’s a rockin’ good comic and I recommend it. And what helps is Erica Henderson’s vibrant, dynamic artwork. So naturally I asked her to turn her talents to Space Cabby.

Erica’s Cabby seems to be in for the long haul. We always see him in the course of some adventure but let’s face it, most of his time is spent just flying some guy from Mars to Neptune. It’s not all crooks and mad scientists, you know. And I love the little pine tree air freshener.

Erica has worked as an artist with web game powerhouse Zynga, so she has to power to cloud men’s minds. She’s also done a number of freelance illustrations and comics, as well as artwork for the gorgeous World Bestiary book. You can see more of her stuff at her tumblr and her blog.

Thanks so much for the sketch, Erica!

Are YOU an artist who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

(The Space Cabby Gallery)

One of the long-time Twitter pals I was finally able to meet while at Heroes Con was Joe Hunter. It turns out the real-life Joe is full of style, grace, and wonder, and one of the absolute nicest guys you’ll meet. I bought the minicomic he had for sale there, Disarmed, and read it last night. It’s a tale of mystery and arm-wrestling and you can see samples of it here.

Joe’s done the webcomic “Ghost Bucket” and is working on The Paradoxicals with Andrew Ihla and Not So Super with Jacques Nyemb. You can see more of his artwork at his Tumblr.

Joe’s drawn a sort of Speed Racer type Space Cabby, dashing off to adventure, excitement, or possibly lunch. Look at the determination on his face! It’s a great sketch and I’m glad to have it in the Gallery.

Are YOU an artist who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

Here’s how the conversation at Heroes Con went:

Evan Dorkin: “So which character would you like?”

Me: “Well, I’m a big fan of the Silver Age DC character Space Cabby.”

“Space Cabby? Space Cabby?”

“Yep.”

“Why…what…Space Cabby? I think I put him in a book once.”

“You did! He’s in World’s Funnest!”

“But..really, Space Cabby? He doesn’t even have a costume!”

“He does! Look, he’s got a bow tie and a hat!”

The next day Dorkin presented me with this:

Man, look at that! Everyone I showed it to was floored by it.

I’ve been a huge fan of Evan Dorkin‘s for ages. I’ve loved the Milk and Cheese stuff, Dork, Pirate Corp$/Hectic Planet (I bought some Pirate Corp$ books at Heroes even though I was pretty sure they were in the Hectic Planet trades because what if they weren’t?), Bill and Ted, Beasts of Burden. I love his style, his sense of humor, and his willingness to challenge the medium that he really loves.

When I picked up my drawing we chatted a bit about having genuine love for these goofy Silver Age characters. He compared Bert Brandon of Interplanetary Insurance, Inc., to radio drama character Johnny Dollar, who I now want to check out.

Meeting Dorkin was great, and I love the sketch. His wife, Sarah Dyer was there and, having loved her book Action Girl, I asked if she as sketching as well but alas, it was not to be.

Are YOU an artist who would like to draw Space Cabby for me? Please let me know!

(The Space Cabby Gallery)