Wednesday 17 July 2019

The SUPER SECRET origins of ATTRACTIVE COUSINS


Benjamin Hobbs:

The Postcard From Hell No. 3 Kickstarter is going on now. A big THANK YOU to everyone who has already backed it! If you haven't backed it, now is the perfect time to do so!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1349357665/cerebus-postcard-from-hell-no-3/updates


Monday, in the Updates section of the Kickstarter, David Birdsong posted an extensive look at the Secret Origins of ATTRACTIVE COUSINS #1 (due out May 2020!)

What he DIDN'T show you, because he didn't know it existed, was the VERY FIRST draft of the cover, which appeared in my sketchbook, sometime in August of 2018:


The text reads:

Title: ATTRACTION COMICS
Super-Cerebus- Super-Cerebus is having a tingling feeling "down there" he's never had before!
Super-Cerebus Girl-It's SO exciting to finally meet my COUSIN!
Bottom Cover Blurb: LOVE in the Grand AV fashion!

At the bottom of the page the word "cousins" appears, possibly indicating that I had sorted out the title by then.  I have no idea why there's a line through the "O" of COUSINS.

The first design for Super-Cerebus Girl, in which she was an aardvark too, was quickly abandoned because the sight gag was too similar to the gag on GIANT SIZE JINGLES #1.

On the next page of my sketchbook is the first two passes at a human Super-Cerebus Girl.  By the second drawing she's in her now-classic Anti-Sexism costume.


Here's the original scan of the proposed cover for ATTRACTIVE COUSINS.

Finally, here's the cover without the images, but with some alternate cover text. There's some rough alternate dialog for Super-Cerebus and Super-Cerebus Girl. Also, I was trying to out-do the GIANT SIZE JINGLES cover with FIVE BIG FIRSTS for Overstreet to take note of... although there are only four BIG FIRSTS listed. That gag was dropped before the rough was sent to Dave.

Next Week: Hopefully you won't be having regrets for having missed the POSTCARD FROM HELL NO. 3.  The Kickstarter campaign ends soon... so hurry over to back it NOW!

3 comments:

Birdsong said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I like the quality of the drawing but I don't like the subject matter. It's off-putting to me. A female "supergirl" cerebus is nearly as off than the hybrid at the end of the Last Day.

What does anyone else think?

A Fake Name

Damian T. Lloyd, Esq. said...

By this point, AFN, they're preaching purely to the converted.

-- Damian