LONG LIVE JIM OSBORNE!

Jim's Demon.

Rosenkranz hustling books before his amazing master level slideshow lecture on horror themes in underground comix, and me probably attempting to describe Hazel Court's cleavage (just kidding...I'm signing books...and wishing my pal Tim Goodyear a very Happy Birthday!).

Dread and Rosenkranz ride again!

Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to our Jim Osborne book release celebration and secret satanic matinee at the Hollywood Theatre yesterday! It was moving to see Jim's name up in lights on the beautiful marquee, something he would've never dreamed possible before his untimely death in 2001, and it was amazing to see so many knowledgable underground art freaks in attendance for Patrick Rosenkranz's hour long slideshow retrospective on the Black Prince's life and work. Books are now sold out through Rozenkranz and myself, but are still available through Fantagraphics here. Thanks to the entire team at the Hollywood Theatre for being awesome as usual! Until the next time we trod "through the cruel light into the velvet darkness" of weird wyrd art...LONG LIVE JIM OSBORNE!

THE LUCKY ONES WERE THE FIRST TO DIE!

"The Bronx is burning." - Howard Cosell

WYRD WAR roars back to the big screen at the Hollywood Theatre with a rare 35mm presentation of Enzo Castellari's post-apocalyptic masterpiece 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS, aka 1990: I Guerrieri Del Bronx (1982). Starring Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, George Eastman, Vic Morrow, members of the Lower East Side chapter of the Hells Angels and the mysterious Marco Di Gregorio, who boasts one of the most uncomfortably erect postures ever immortalized on film, the true star of this distinctly Italian future dystopia might be the real life urban wasteland of pre-Giuliani New York City. Shot on location in Rome (interior scenes) and the Bronx (exteriors) at the height of "white flight," landlord abandonment, widespread arson, crime and crippling poverty, Castellari's highly stylized mash-up of The Warriors, Escape From New York and The Road Warrior offers a sleazy glimpse into a burnt out America we may never see again. Come for Trash's skin tight jeans and the random five minute jazz drum solo on the banks of the East River...stay for the cabaret inspired tap dancing gang and The Hammer's tiger skin rug! ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!! Tickets on sale HERE!

Friday September 7, 2018

7:30pm

Hollywood Theatre

GROSS ANATOMY (part 22)

Welcome back to GROSS ANATOMY, Wyrdos! By now you've no doubt seen the pics from our latest celebration at Enchanted Forest a few weeks ago, which we slyly codenamed Wyrd War Meets the Phantom of Enchanted Forest, in homage to both KISS and Travel Channel's recent episode of Ghost Adventures which took place at Enchanted Forest. Today we take a look at the very limited edition shirt I created to commemorate our second record release concert event at the Pacific Northwest's most amazing handbuilt roadside attraction. Hope you grabbed this shirt, because we only printed 65 and will never produce another run of this design. Most of this drawing was done in one sitting from idea to ink, while Meadow went out to see some 80s band called Book of Love that I had never even heard of, but the solid black background came the next day once I realized I didn't want this produced as a negative image on black shirts. Check it out...

Once the drawing was done, I delivered a raw scan to my friends at STENCILITIS who immediately set to work getting them ready for the record release party just a few days away! We used soft Gildan black shirts with a beautiful metallic silver ink. They turned out even better than I expected and, as usual, the real joy was seeing people's faces light up when they arrived at the park on Friday July 20th and saw them for the first time! Thank you to everyone who purchased a shirt. Wear it with pride. You are one of 65! Until next time, remember...

Magic wins!

JIM OSBORNE: THE BLACK PRINCE OF THE UNDERGROUND Book Release Event!

A few years ago, I embarked on a mission to document the strange life, perplexing art, premature death and lingering legacy of underground comix misfit Jim Osborne. My brief introductory biography has just been published by Fantagraphics Books as part of my friend Patrick Rosenkranz​'s latest installment in his ongoing chronicles of the wild, wild bygone era of the underground comix movement from roughly 1963-1975. 

On Saturday August 25 at 2pm, Wyrd War and Fantagraphics join forces with Portland's historic non-profit Hollywood Theatre to celebrate the release of JIM OSBORNE: THE BLACK PRINCE OF THE UNDERGROUND with a slideshow retrospective of Osborne's work, followed by a suitably sinister cinematic classic that perfectly reflects the dark Osbornian aesthetic. What kind of movie would inspire a deceased former High Priest in the Church of Satan? Hmmm. Come find out!

Books will be available in the lobby during the screening. Tickets are only $6 ($5 for Hollywood Theatre members) and are available HERE. Tell your wimp friends to support real underground art!