Blue Moon Blog

In the mid-’90s I was hired to do a series of illustrations for a radio ad campaign. REV 105 was an alternative station with an eclectic playlist, and this campaign was an effort to expand their base. For the first illustration, they purchased the rights to use a panel from a comic book story I’d done, “White Trash Romance,” for a book conceived by my Chicago pal, Steve Darnall, “Empty Love Stories.” (That issue and a few more are still available. Order now via the link for a great deal!) I had that first one colored up for a promo piece, which you can see here.

All originally appearing in black and white, another 3-4 pieces followed, running in a local weekly paper, The City Pages, which is still around. That’s more than I can say for REV 105. Though a better station than any around, the station lasted another year or two, after having been swallowed up, gutted and homogenized by the same company that owned their competition. All of this is a good example why I rarely listen to music on the radio.  Especially aided by digital music formats, it’s so much easier to make my own playlists, be my own DJ.

Anyway, this series of illustrations were meant to tap into retro comic book styles and genre, and they were a lot of fun to do, especially that zombie shot!