This novelty project was described to me by Dark Horse Comics’ publisher and sometime movie mogul, Mike Richardson while we were attending a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game along with our buddy Beau Smith. I asked if he had an artist… and the rest is… well, goofy history.

Mike Friedrich went from comic writer to publisher (Star*Reach Comics) to talent agent. Mike’s Star*Reach agency represented me during the early ‘90s. Mike put together Within Our Reach… a Christmas-themed comic to benefit AIDS research. This Spider-Man story was part of that book.  

I wasn’t excited about drawing a “slasher” comic. Editor Renee Witterstaetter prodded me to re-read the script. In spite of my ambivalence, I began seeing potential for some really dark humor. I ended up having so much sick fun drawing this mini-series, my neighbor thought I would need some de-programming!  

Time Travel was the theme for this and the following Marvel RPG module covers. I’ve always enjoyed comic book Western characters, so it was a guilty pleasure to finally get a chance to draw a few of Marvel’s.  

As a kid, I couldn’t have been a bigger fan of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his earlier incarnation as Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. I loved John Severin’s inking of Dick Ayers! Beautiful military stuff! Combining Fury with the Invaders was a fanboy’s dream!  

Western Publishing asked me to do a couple of frame tray puzzles based on Marvel characters. It was fun to have a young child at the time. We’d smile knowingly when we’d see these puzzles pop-up when we were out toy shopping with our son, Joe.  

These puzzles were in the stores for many years. It’s always fun to encounter someone who tells me, “Hey, I had that puzzle when I was a kid!”  

Mug shots of the head sculptures for the younger and older versions of the character.

I’ve gotten a lot of offers for this little novelty piece from Badger fans, over the years. I did this for fun. It seemed to be appropriate.

Here’s a scary little critter. On the left is the high-poly model sculpture in progress. On the right is the final, low-poly model with hair cards and textures applied.