Rarities Dept: The Pirate Corp$!/Milk & Cheese Crossover From Munden's Bar Annual #2 (1991)

One of the more successful indy comics from the 80's was Grimjack, conceived by writer John Ostrander, with the series credited to Ostrander and artist Tim Truman as creators. Grimjack, a.k.a. John Gaunt, was a gun and sword-toting mercenary who operated out of Munden's Bar, a dive located in a slum area of Cynosure, a city where all dimensions intersect. 

Munden's Bar was also the name and setting for a back-up feature in the comic, often involving appearances by other  creator-owned characters who have found their way to Cynosure. Some of the guest stars included The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Usagi Yojimbo, Sam and Max, E-Man, Eddy Current, Nexus, among others. The back-up feature became popular enough that two Munden's Bar Annuals were published, featuring several new and reprinted crossover stories along with other stories. 

I was asked to contribute a story to the second Annual, if I remember correctly editor Anina Bennett contacted me about using Milk & Cheese and I asked if I could also throw in the Pirate Corp$! characters. I was worried a six-page Milk & Cheese comic without much of an "attack" idea beyond some alien bar patrons might spread things a bit too thin. I hadn't done a ton of M&C strips by 1991 and most of them were one or two pages long. I figured the PC$! crew would give me some characters that could comment on things, be in harm's way and react accordingly for some extra business. Plus, it would be a fun crossover of my own characters, and a paid ad to hopefully get some new eyes on two of my projects. And as a bonus, it would be the first time M&C appeared in color. Exciting! 

No, honestly, every small step forward was exciting. Appearing in a known-quantity anthology? M&C in color? Working on something for First Comics and adding them to my resume? Seeing your name with other creators in the solicitations? Knowing it would sell better than the things you're usually in? Feeling like you were welcomed a little bit more in the industry? Yeah. Exciting.   

So, I wrote and drew a six-page comic. Yay! My friend Robbie Busch colored it. My art was still primitive (especially my lettering, still in my lower-case period) and my writing clunky and it printed badly and didn't look so hot but it was still exciting. People seemed to like it. Yay!

Unfortunately, things were shaky at First Comics by the time Munden's Bar #2 was happening. There had been rumors going around, apparently people weren't getting paid, staff had been cut, the usual signs of an outfit in trouble. I knew a couple of people involved with First at one time or another so I had heard some things about some of the things that were going on. I was fortunate to have Anina in my corner, because I had very little trouble getting my (much-needed) check, unlike some other folks. I'd had very few problems getting paid in my career, a combination of luck and staying away from certain publishers and people. The only real issues I ever faced were early on in my career, owing to my being green, and there being a higher number of iffy publishers, in regards to financial backing and ethics. I'd lost money due to several companies collapsing before I could get paid (and my work seeing print), and had to physically threaten the idiot behind Now Comics for my check (something I could never have followed through on, and have never had to resort to again). 

So, I got paid, but I didn't get away scot-free, unfortunately. First Comics ceased operations later that year and officially shut down early in 1992. It was messy, and along with the usual issues after a company goes under, there were legal issues between the publisher and the creators of Grimjack over the rights to the character and series. I don't recall the exact details, but the question of whether or not the Munden's Bar stories were involved or not was raised. I didn't feel like trying my luck with a cease-and-desist or cease-publication, or dragging myself or SLG into anything, so I decided to not reprint the story. I thought about filing off the serial numbers, renaming everything and altering some of the art, but at the time it wasn't worth it for these six pages of comics. I buried the story, recycled some of the Milk & Cheese jokes, and sold off the art. Some of the pages were bought by the late writer and editor Kim Yale, who was John Ostrander's wife and collaborator, which was pretty neat. I was glad they enjoyed the story enough to want to have some of the art. 

Some years ago the rights issues were worked out, some entertainment group or whatever owns the material and Ostrander and Truman have participation in it or something screwy and complicated like that. At least the creators are still involved with their creation and not "First Comics, Last To Pay". 

I don't have the greatest scans of these pages, they came from xeroxes, and I didn't really care how solid they were due to my basically putting this story out of my mind. I did a little reading and apparently at least one creator reprinted their Munden's Bar story. So, who knows, I might clean this up for posterity and a collection some day if the situation allows/calls for it. In the meantime, here's the comic, in scritchy-scratchy black and white. Most of you have probably not seen this dried-up little chestnut before, so enjoy.