One of a Kind: A Glen Brogan Christmas Gift

Now this is what I call a crossover.

This was my Christmas gift from good buddy and oft-linked [I'm starting to worry "oft-linked" isn't going to seem like a thing anymore] artist Glen Brogan, depicting two of my heroes/writers I get flak for liking. It's one of those truly unique gifts, I think, not just because it's by someone as hugely talented as Glen, but also because even referencing something, it is a truly original, one of a kind, no one has anything like it in the world work. Because look at the subject matter! It's like me -- it's like all of us really, I don't believe anyone has interests that ever fill a single niche, interests that may not seem contradictory or opposite of ourselves, but also don't line up, or fit in a comfortable little box. And this is, from Glen, my meeting of those elements, the culmination of my stranger, perhaps most disparate interests from the other things I like. And whether you see me as a geek, or an intellectual, it's still pretty safe to say that these two of my interests could not, on the surface, be farther from one another.

Glen goes into greater detail on his site about his inspiration:


"The interesting thing about the drawing for my buddy Randall was that it took a while to come up with an idea I was satisfied with. I tired to make the drawings in this series [Note from the Management: Glen did a whole series of these neat little juxtapositions for our circle friends for Christmas, which you've probably seen me linking on Twitter] fit each of my friend's specific interests, and one of the best compliments I got was from my friend Mike who said that he appreciated how nobody would want any drawing more than the one they received, and you could tell who each one was for. Randall is a fan of so many things and has a great knowledge of all of them: comics, movies, books, TV shows, cartoons, video games, you name it. Even though I felt like I had a wealth of subjects I could choose from I still wanted the drawing to seem tailor made for him.

I finally settled on Kevin Smith and Mick Foley, two people whose work has meant a lot to Randall and his own work, and I know he has met or seen both of them in person. Obviously I played with the cartoon license a bit and bulked up Mick, who really isn't fat as much as just a big guy, and trimmed down Kevin, who is in fact a pretty hefty dude. (Though I can't tell if those giant shorts he wears helps or hurts his perceived appearance versus his actual size.)"


The end result is this absolutely brilliant portrait, a weird slice of what goes on inside my head and with my work, not to mention some heretofore unconsidered influences on my wardrobe that Smith and Foley might have had. And while I'm showing off the digital version here, my gift from Glen was a beautifully framed print which I one day hope to have a wall in which to prominently display it on. I really want to thank him for this amazing gift, and also the many words of praise for me and my writing I didn't quote from his post about the piece.

And if you like Glen's stuff [how could you not?], go check out his SplitReason store, where you can get prints, shirts, stickers and hoodies of his work, and as always, check out his blog, Albino Raven, to get the most up-to-date info on what he's doing, whether its for the Autumn Society, Gallery 1988, Front Magazine, or just neat things like this for his friends.