The first appearance of Dr. Oculus

originalbaxter

This is one I've been intending to do for a few months, and finally got around to:



This was just his first appearance. He guested in several other books, including "Face Off" and "40 Lashes", but it was to be a little over a year before he got his own comic book.

Selected covers of the series may be found below.

biffsmackwell

Nice. How did you do the crosshatching? It's a step beyond the usual filters people apply to screenshots.

You should check out blambot.com for fonts that are more appropriate to comics stuff.

(Also, a little tip, in comics, you only use the capital i with the serif when you're using the "I" pronoun.)

originalbaxter

It's not a screenshot.

I did cheat on the crosshatching, though. Basically, I did three versions of the picture, one with the line art and basic colors, then two with greyscale shading, one more severe than the other. I then used a filter to turn them into lines, one at 45 and the other at -45 degrees, then composited all three and aged/dirtied it up.

biffsmackwell

Oh cool. The lighting on those fallen pillars made it look like a lot of screenshots-turned-illustration pics I've seen. Pretty cool!

agentcanada

Yeah, it a pretty neat picture and really captures the oddball comics you sometimes find in the bargain bins.
AC

iamrune

Thar's pretty great~!

Love the extra details too, like the Bea Arthur centerfold blurb, makes it feel like a real '70s sci-fi / fantasy pulp rag. Someone enjoys Deadpool and had to toss in an easter egg.

originalbaxter

Lol, love the positive feedback, and yes, I also like sticking Easter Eggs in stuff I do. There are in fact five of them in this piece.

Also really glad the pulp 70's vibe got through. This is a bit out of my comfort range, I usually do more photo-realistic images, but this was great fun.

Again, thanks for the compliments

themightyzenith

Awesome stuff Baxy! I really like this style and I wanna see more of these.

jonsills

I'm also a fan of the Gloria Steinem article about how pulp women are obviously physically superior to pulp men, given that all they need to survive on an alien world is a bubble helmet and a silver bikini... ​​

originalbaxter

After a little more than a year, in November of 1974 the first issue of the Dr. Oculus comic was released:



The Dr. Oculus comic has the distinction of being the first to use a UPC code, however since the code chosen was completely unreadable by any barcode scanners, it rarely receives recognition for this milestone. Nevertheless, a copy of issue #1 is in the Smithsonian. It has fallen behind the display and lies beneath the first packet of Wrigley's gum sold with a barcode, where it has been gathering dust for a couple decades.

The publishers felt that Oculus' macho style left the "reader-types" out, and demanded a talkative side-kick. Therefore, in April of the next year, Exposition Lad was introduced, as well as Dr. Oculus' secret identity as mild-mannered optometrist Len S. Orbwell:

biffsmackwell

originalbaxter said:

I really like this one. The hatching on it is spot on, and I love the dialogue and the villain. Good stuff!

agentcanada

Me too, and I like your write ups for each books history.
AC

themightyzenith

Love the latest ones Baxy!

pallas0001

These are great!!!