A NEW discovery, video, and NYCC
A Classic Comic Book IS Back! NEW video! And a FREE comic for NYCC!
On July 9th, I found a copy of Leo Derek in a New Dimension Comics magazine box. I had been looking for it for almost a year, ever since Chris Pitzer showed it to me. The most exciting part of digging through unsorted comics is when you find that gem that you’ve been searching for.
I love finding awesome comics that I didn’t know existed, and then sharing them with friends. Of course this goes both directions. When Chris showed me Leo Derek, my jaw dropped. The cover looked so good. And the interior lived up to it! Even the Wrecking Row logo was sharp. How did I not know about this book before Chris showed it to me?
Written by James Stewart. Illustrated by Joshua Stewart. What other comics did they make? It was way too good to be someone’s first attempt at comics. The line work features luscious brush inks. The story has beautiful women, dangerous criminals, high-speed car chases, and exotic locations. It’s a graphic novel in a 112 black-and-white magazine pages. It reads like a men’s adventure paperback. Shades of Gil Kane’s Savage as well as Ken Landgraf’s NYC Outlaws come to mind. Leo Derek Is in the Heart of Danger was published in 1984 (same year as NYC Outlaws 1, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1, and Richard Sala’s Night Drive). Maybe it was a year or two ahead of its time – the black-and-white explosion was so close.
After reading Leo Derek Is In the Heart of Danger, I wanted more. I needed to know who made this incredible book.
Searching online yielded very little information about the comic. Occasionally, I’d see a copy on Ebay but mycomicshop.com never had it in stock. I asked my comic book friends if they knew the book. Not a single one said yes.
It seemed like Leo Derek was yet another comic book treasure that had been lost to the unforgiving back issue bins of history. Eventually, I got lucky and tracked down the artist!
I spent a wonderful afternoon talking with Joshua Stewart about the book. He grew up in a big family that was very creative. Another brother, Isaiah Stewart was also part of Wrecking Row (and apparently made a bunch of unpublished comics that Joshua says are even more wild and exciting than Leo Derek – Isaiah, it’s not too late to publish them!). The book sold about 1000 copies when it was initially published. Bud Plant distributed some of the print run. They even set up at San Diego Comic Con, catching the eye of Jaime Hernandez (that guy knows good comics when he sees one).
After creating Leo Derek, James’ and Joshua’s artistic journeys led them to music and film. Here is a link to one of their films, She Lives By Night,
(this video is available double click it and you can watch it on Youtube)
As we talked, I learned that they still have copies of Leo Derek available.
I told Joshua about Power Pulp Comics – a new distributor of self-published comics. Long story short, I am thrilled to inform you that you can now buy an autographed copy of Leo Derek (heck, you can buy more than one copy and share it with your comic friends) at https://powerpulpcomics.com/ and 100% of each sale goes to Joshua Stewart.
If you love comics, comics history, and original stories and characters – Leo Derek is for you! And please spread the word. This is a great piece of comics history from the early days of self-publishing, graphic novels, and the Direct Market.
Thank you, Joshua, James, and Isaiah Stewart for making this comic and making it available to a new generation of readers, fans, collectors, and historians.
Long live Wrecking Row and Leo Derek!
GRAB LEO DEREK TODAY at PowerPulpComics.com
POWER PULP COMICS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
I conducted a great interview with Joshua Stewart on our NEW Power Pulp Comics YouTube Channel! Go watch it and learn more about this unearthed gem!
NYCC
I’ll be at New York Comic Con this weekend. Artist Alley, table K-10 between Tom Scioli and Michel Fiffe.
I will have FREE copies of my new comic book, find me if you want one (either at VeeFriends Booth or Artist Alley table K-10):
Have a great week!
Thanks,
Jim Rugg
Jim, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I cannot believe this book has flown under my radar for forty years. I think you were right in the assumption that they were too early to the party back then. Excellent write up and video.
Looks outstanding. Thank you for finding this and making it available. Just purchased!