comics – Eric Myles Jones

“Give me land, lots of land, under starry stars above.

Don’t fence me in.”

-Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter

These lyrics are imbedded in the face of this bull above the eyes. I have sung these lyrics my whole life. I first heard Roy Rogers sing them when I was a kid. I would watch his black and white movies and escape to the wild west. In 2020, I felt the need to escape as well. I wanted freedom. Ironically, due to forced activity, I probably spent more time outside in early 2020 than most years of my life. Even though my body was active, my mind felt fenced in.

Sometimes fences aren’t real.

Sometimes fences make borders

Sometimes you want a fence until you need to cross it.

“Let me gaze at the moon until I loose my senses

Don’t Fence me in.”

Sometimes you get fenced in by doing the same thing, thus the introduction of the UFO into the painting. The UFO idea had been percolating for years. I felt the need to add to my cow mythology. Cows and UFOs just seem to go together. The beam of the UFO is comprised of clippings from two classic novels, Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey and Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Books have always been an escape for me. Science fiction was my genre but my step-dad got me reading westerns. They are not that far apart.

Gunfights happened in the old west because people would put up fences and others would cut them down. Usually, this is where the hero shows up. I like heros.

I also read a lot of comics (see other post.) Comics were an escape for me. As I got older music was an escape for me, especially punk rock. The symbol on the shoulder represented The Avengers and Anarchy.

There is also a bird (hummingbird/Thunderbird), a Flag, the play off the rebel symbol from Star Wars, and lots of faces, some intentional some by accident.

The “Free” in the sky just appeared. It wasn’t planned. Three of the letters just formed during my process. Once I saw it, I had to add the fourth. Sometimes free just happens. Especially in the west and in the stary skies

Fences

Acrylic on Canvas

30×40

My older cousin introduced me to the Legion of Superheros when I was 5 or 6. I was hooked instantly, who wouldn’t love books about characters endowed with powers beyond mere mortals. He also introduced me to comic collecting. I remember sitting in his room and pulling the comics from the storage box and carefully removing them from their individual plastic bag.

Soon, I had a comic book habit, not a bad one, usually a couple a week. I would walk or bike to the drug store, the grocery store, or the convenience store, (my town had one of each.) and spend my allowance. The X-men books were my primary weakness, but I also bought a lot of Spider-man, Superman, and The Legion of Superheros.

During one trip to Denver, my cousin let me tag along as he made a run to Mile High Comics. Ten year old me was beyond excited to be in a VW Bug hanging with teen boys, doing what teen boys do. And, then to add that we were going to a place I had seen an ad for in every comic I had ever owned. It was Awwsomeee!

In my teens, I gave up comic book collecting, though comics stuck with me. I even imagined being a comic artist. The first computer illustration I ever did was of members of the X-men. I still have my copy of Drawing the Marvel Way.

In college, I found that my fellow art students that wanted to draw comics, drew comics all day long (some of them succeeded!) I loved painting! The dream changed! I sold of my collection for a disappointing amount of money. Oddly, it turns out that everyone else was collecting those same X-men comics.

About a year ago, I had an Uber driver whose day job was at Mile High Comics. He told me their main store was now on the edge of my neighborhood. I was intrigued.

About a month ago, I saw a newsfeed about Mile High Comics in my hood. I decided it was time to go! I grabbed the kids and drove to their warehouse location.

It was Awwwsomeee! Rows and rows of comics! Great art everywhere! My kids had fun! I even bought them a couple of comics. I saw issues of comics I once owned. They were now worth more than I sold my collection for. So it goes!

I no longer want to draw comics, though I do see their influence in my work. Dark outlines and large color fields. Plus, the characters in my paintings are often endowed with powers beyond those of mere cows and chickens, at least in my mind as I paint them.

Tag: comics

Fences

See Ya in the Funny Papers