who's responsible for this?!
Spaced was my first genuine venture into writing and drawing a full-length comic book, as opposed to 2 to 8 page gags. Anthony Smith and Ken Donnell were the driving force behind the comic's existence, publishing, promoting and printing the first four issues; without their encouragement and eager participation, I probably never would have had the confidence and nerve to create my own series. After the fourth issue, Anthony & Ken strongly recommended that I get a loan and a printer and self-publish the book, for varied reasons, though I suspect my severe misfolding of the entire run of issue #4 was a BIG factor...
Anthony & Ken remain active in comics to this day; while Ken runs one of the best comic shops in town, Anthony has created, with Eric Vincent, the inspired and mesmerizing ALIEN FIRE, which was published by both Kitchen Sink and Dark Horse.
I decided to ask John Williams, who seemed to share my oddball humor and love of weird movies, to assist me in plotting and writing Spaced. Although John had no previous experience in comics, he jumped right in and raised the quality of writing a few notches. His lack of comics background proved a benefit insofar as he was not driven by comic book cliches and pop culture parody, at least not as severely as I. John's work on Spaced was hilarious and clever; his decision to abandon comics after Spaced's initial run was a great disappointment to us all.
A crew of expendable underacheivers is assigned to the spaceship U.S.S. Pragmatic for it's first demonstration. Given the likelihood of horrible disaster, the ship is intentionally understaffed and remotely controlled. Sure enough, things go wrong and the ship heads into deep space, hurling our admittedly unheroic cast into the very strange universe. Their adventures include encounters with a bloodthirsty teddy bear, a giant alien potato head, various exploded science fiction cliches and and comic book parodies.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Captain Orson GrokA sincere but hapless underachiever who won command of The USS Pragmatic on a TV game show. Hard to respect, easy to forget, impossible to hate. |
Science Officer LipThe only alien crew member, Lip hails from the planet Inebria. Cynical and sarcastic, but very intelligent and practical, except when he's being stupid and foolish. |
Data Officer Barbara AmpleUnpredictable and overemotional, yet loyal and compassionate. Pretty much smarter and braver than any male on board. Plus, enormous breasts. |
A Teddy BearHuge fangs and a homicidal temper are only part of this alien's charm. Deranged director of The naked Abe, the biggest movie never made - and a recurring thorn in our heroes' sides. |
Security Chief SniktTerminally over-testoseroned and unflinchingly clumsy, usually drunk and always dumb. A poster child for WWF dependency. |
