55th Birthday Art Show & Sale

I've posted some gorgeous Bughouse original art pieces from 1997 here.

I'm celebrating my 55th birthday with a showing of an eight page sequence.

Like most cartoonists (and chefs), I am very critical of my own work. I labored on Bughouse from 1993 to 2004. The result was a trilogy of graphic novels, almost 400 pages of comics. I went the extra mile to put my best foot forward and maintain a high level of craft, and here and there I was satisfied. Other times I'd look at the work and think it was lacking, a natural reaction for any serious artist.

From the present, I have to say I'm near astounded with Bughouse. It really shines. If you'd told me 15 years ago that I would write such an assessment, I'd be dubious, and maybe a bit appalled, but I stand by it.

With Bughouse, I created a singular, unique work in the history of comics that stacks up well with pretty much anything. A subjective statement, even audacious, but any opinion about comic art, all art, has a subjective element, so I'll just say it's true: Bughouse swings, baby!
I turn 55 tomorrow and I'm a happy man, some thirty plus years down the road as an auteur cartoonist.

These pages originally appeared in Bughouse #5 in June, 1997. They were reprinted in the Top Shelf graphic novel Scalawag in 2005. They are priced at $200 each. Of course, anyone who really digs the spread can buy all 8 pieces for $1200. These are potent, lyric works of comic art; a fine value for dedicated collectors.

Steve Lafler
503-213-3671

Dog Boy: One of the Best Comic Books in America

I first published Dog Boy #5 on my Cat-Head Comics imprint in September 1984. Back in the morning of alternative comics, I was exhilarated to get to a fifth issue out, slowing building an audience and gaining a toehold in the nascent indie/alt comics movement.
While the 5th issue continued my free-form improvisational approach, I also introduced the character Dr. Mainstream, a pastiche of super hero conventions.
At the time, there was a militant divide between mainstream and alt comics--I was squarely in the alternative camp, but felt like doing a super hero parody and indeed saw no problem with bridging the gap a bit.

Starting today, CO2 comics will reprint Dog Boy #5, posting a new page every Saturday. The cover is up today, along with the first 3 pages.
I highly recommend CO2, as founders Gerry Giovinco & Bill Cucinotta do a fantastic job of featuring comics on the web. The art looks excellent, reproduced in a large format, and the site is easy to navigate.
Click here to go to CO2 and read Dog Boy #5. Perhaps you will agree with critic Cat Yronwode, who in 1983 called Dog Boy "one of the best comic books in America".