Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: cartoons, kickstarter, Mark Russell

Mark Russell Crowdfunds His First Ever Book of Cartoons

Mark Russell is crowdfunding his first book of cartoons, drawn by himself as well, titled Bunkbed Mishaps, on Kickstarter/

Published Fri, 07 Apr 2023 10:58:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Mon, 10 Apr 2023 08:16:17 -0500

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I'm a big fan of Mark Russell's comic book work, especially his ability to bring something out of a commercial property that I had long since mentally discarded such as Red Sonja or The Flintstones. Who know that one of the greatest pieces of modern political satire and prophecy would be in a Flintstones comic published by DC? You didn't but now we all know. Then there was his Second Coming and Billionaire Island titles which also aimed straight at the heart of modern culture with impeccable aim. Not to mention the likes of Prez, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Not All Robots, Superman: Space Age, My Bad, and more. And now he's a cartoonist as well

Mark Russell is crowdfunding his first book of cartoons, drawn by himself as well, titled Bunkbed Mishaps. Somewhere between The Far Side and Vic Reeves, Russell tells Bleeding Cool "Ever since I was a kid, it's been my dream to impose my cartoons on the world. But I never really tried that hard because I always thought of myself as a pretty subpar artist. But now when I look at the cartoons in Bunkbed Mishaps, they seem pretty good to me. I'm not sure whether that's due to my declining standards or that I've simply grown more tolerant of my own eccentricity, but either way, I'm quite proud of these." "Bunkbed Mishaps collects nearly a hundred cartoons, drawn over the course of three decades, as well as several mini-essays in which I open up about my life and what was going on with me while I was drawing them," said Mark Russell. "It's as close to a memoir as I've ever written, though most of what it captures is the danker recesses of my mind, which gave birth to these cartoons. I'd be lying if I said that I understood them or why I drew them. But it meant a lot for me to do so and even more now to share them with the world."

"These cartoons span decades in the making and, while difficult to describe thematically as anything other than 'weird,' I think they (God help us all) will give fans and readers of my work an even deeper look into my psyche than my writing," added Russell. "Along with this one-of-a-kind collection, I will be offering books, original artwork, and deep-cuts from my career as rewards for those willing to help me make this dream project come true."

Bunkbed Mishaps has raised $5,487 against a $5,000 goal. Russell states "This book is pretty much already finished, so I plan to start shipping as soon as I know how many I need to get printed and receive them from the printer. Delivery dates and completion, therefore, are subject to the speed by which the printer can produce the ordered books."