FEEDING GROUND #5 _ Pin-Ups!

Seems that Issue 5 finally hit the stands this week after unexplained delays with the printer and distributor.  Titled FEVER DREAMS it's a particularly trippy issue that splits the Busqueda family, each member confronted with their own personal hell.


We were fortunate to get another batch of FEEDING GROUND-inspired art by cartoonists buds and comic luminaries.  Here's a glimpse at their contributions along with links and brief bios.


MIKE DAWSON
(artist/writer TROOP 142)
http://www.mikedawsoncomics.com/

Mike and I go back to college where we we both did strips for The Cartoonists' Association of Rutgers (which I co-founded) and learned to be lefty brats in lieu of a practical art education.  Mike was the guy who really stuck with it, developed tremendously, and delivered in full with his autobio tome FREDDIE & ME about his life as a fan of the band Queen.  His webcomic TROOP 142 will be collected and printed soonish and he is also the co-host (with Alex Robinson) of THE INK PANTHERS SHOW podcast (ostensibly about comics but actually a painfully funny talk between friends) and host of his own comic creator interview show on THE COMICS JOURNAL.


BENJAMIN MARRA
(artist/writer NIGHT BUSINESS)
http://www.traditionalcomics.com/

Self-published through TRADITIONAL COMICS and as a freelance illustrator for the likes of Playboy, Vice, and Rolling Stone, Ben is the modern master of pulpy drawings that leave you with the need to shower.  I'm friends with Ben and his co-horts at MAMMAL Magazine, one ridiculously talented bunch.  Ben recently got a lot of press for his comic THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (a work of fiction and satire) and was featured in Marvel's STRANGE TALES vol.2.  His take on FEEDING GROUND is a battle frieze of blood and viscera.


BLAKE SIMS
(artist/writer MELON MAN COMICS)
http://www.blakesimscomics.blogspot.com/

Blake's got one of those cartoon styles, like THE SIMPSONS, that immediately translates any person or idea into his own species.  You can check out Blake's caricatures and toons on his blog.  He's also a regular contributor to the comic anthology THE GATHERING and part of a new art blog LAY OF THE LINE.  He's just getting started.

FRED CHAO

(artist/writer JOHNNY HIRO {half Asian, all hero})
http://www.fredchao.com

Turn around, Fred Chao is behind you. Don't worry, it's a good thing. Brooklyn, NY is a hive of comic talent and I was pleasantly surprised to often run into Fred, particularly at BERGEN STREET COMICS.  JOHNNY loomed large for me alongside more overwrought heroes and, along with his freelance illustration work, Fred conveys a lot of power in a well-drafted line.  His FEEDING GROUND illustration ekes a fount of poetry our of a moment of our tale that I'm particularly proud of.

FEEDING GROUND _ Hardcover Cover

Although issues 5 & 6 of FEEDING GROUND have yet to hit the stands, we've been busy making revisions to the material and I've been working on book designs for the collected edition(s).  There will be two separate volumes, one English and one Spanish, collecting all six issues and due out this Fall.


All said, I'm pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish with the covers for the mini-series.  My draftsmanship on the interiors evolved over the course of six issues but the covers came out pretty much as I conceived of them and (I think) added something new to the comic wall.

That's why it's all the more consternating to find that I'm not 100% sold on my own image and design for the collected edition.  As with the mini, I needed an image that conveyed: Mexico, The Desert, Horror, and the general plot of the book.  What I arrived at is a vision of Santa Muerte, an iconic representation of the Virgin Mary as the saint of death, crying tears of blood that are being lapped up by a stray wolf.

Some moments this feels on the money, and others it feels forced and convoluted.


So, what say you, FEEDING GROUND fan?  Below, you can see the close to final art for the covers of the English (day) and Spanish (night) editions of the book.  Would you know or have a good idea of what this is about if you saw it on the shelf?  It is cool enough to tempt you to open it up?


I'm still feeling this out and exploring other options so any feedback is cool with me.