Swivil Man: The Cartoon That Never Was

Set the Scene:
It's the early 80s - My school buddies are successful cartoonist, inkers and colorists... I've dropped out of art school, own a skateboard for my transportation, and work as a carpenter. I'm living in Philadelphia, and trying my damnedest to break into a scene... any scene.



Enter, Swivil Man. I owe much to the humor of Tobias Grosz, my old housemate, close friend and sounding board. We often drew screwy little characters, showing them to each other and laughing way to hard. Swivil Man seems to be a variation on Toby's "Mr. Big", who was a broad three-piece suited figure with no neck and sunglasses. I riffed a version of this character at a party, dancing and spinning (published in 83/84 in the Signal, the Trenton State College newspaper, during my year at TSC).



Swivil Man took off in a different direction than Mr. Big, becoming a force of his own. Testosterone overload... similar to me at the time. Lots of attitude, pissed at everything.

I began an epic adventure of "Swivil Man vs. the Terrorists" (1985... prophetic) - but floundered... just nails, screws, concrete and bricks - day in, day out.

I was looking through my archive and came across these pages and sketches. Some are merged bits on one sheet for display, so don't expect a storyline.

I give you, Swivil Man...
Clickity-Click to Enlarge the Pic.