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” The first sighting of the Loveland frogman was in May 1955 by a local businessman. While driving home for the evening he saw three, four foot tall frog-faced creatures squatting near a bridge. One of the creatures held what seemed to be a metal rod in it’s hand that threw sparks at it’s tip. He immediately drove away to report what he had seen.
Then again in 1972, a Loveland, Ohio police officer was patrolling at dawn and reported seeing something in the middle of the road. As he neared , a creature lept up and jumped over a guardrail, fleeing down an embankment it dove into the Miami River. The officer described the creature as being 3 or 4 feet tall, with wet, clammy skin and a face like a frog. He and another officer returned later that day but all they found were scrape marks going down the hill and into the river.
The second sighting occurred two weeks later when another police officer was driving into Loveland and saw a creature in the road. As he approached, it suddenly stood up on two legs. The officer, shocked at the creature’s appearance, pulled his gun and fired at it but the frog man escaped over a guardrail and vanished into a marshy area.
The policeman’s description matched that of the first officer.
Later that year a farmer reported sighting 4 strange creatures in his field by a river. He came upon them while inspecting his crops. He noted their wide mouths filled with sharp teeth, big round eyes and pale greenish grey skin. As he turned to run he said the 4 foot tall creatures jumped into the river and disappeared.”
— X
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!["MAGGOT MAN" design by S.R. Bisstette (( 1989 )) [[ Courtesy of SRB ]]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3460/3922232939_eee4ce853d_o.gif)
” Hey, look what I found this weekend! This is a blast from my checkered past, a 20-year-old monster movie design for a movie that was never made.
Back in early August, TMNT fan, Myrant reader and artist in his own right tOkKa wrote my old Mirage Studios friend Ryan Brown, asking about one of the many snapping turtle monster designs I’ve posted on Myrant this year.
Ryan recalled, “My memory is sketchy about this but… The proposed film Steve mentions was by my friend Jon Killough (Skinned Alive, 1990; Robot Ninja, 1989; The Dead Next Door, 1989)…”
Ryan continued, “I was asked by Jon to create a mutant leech monster for the never-produced flick and I mentioned to Jon that I might be able to get Steve Bissette to design for the film.”
Ryan indeed got a design sketch or two from me — and it’s the best of ‘em I’ve put on sale here today.
Ryan adds, “Jon had worked on The Dead Next Door (1989) and was proceeding with new film projects with his friend J.R. Bookwalter. In mid-1985 Sam Raimi put up some money for Jon’s 19-year-old friend J.R. Bookwalter to film The Dead Next Door. Bookwalter shot the film in Akron, Ohio during the summer of 1986 with area residents playing zombies. Fangoria wrote about the film in the March, 1987 issue. Jon was involved heavily with this film.”
!["MAGGOT MAN" design by Ryan Brown (( 1989 )) [[ Courtesy of SRB ]]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2552/3923018718_2b8128c87d_o.gif)
But Maggot Man was never made, to the best of Ryan’s and my knowledge.
Thanks to tOkKa’s email, though, I got to thinking about that project and just this past Sunday turned up this wormboy. Thanks, tOkKa and Ryan, for reminding me of that which was long forgotten!
Just to be clear, my Maggot Man sketch is what’s for sale here; I’ve included a scan from the photocopy I kept of Ryan’s sketch for historical purposes only (I am not selling Ryan’s artwork, folks).
This uber-rare Maggot Man sketch is huge — the original measures 14″ x 22″, drawn with black pen and marker, some pencil underdrawing is visible; it’s on 2-ply board that is slightly discolored with age around the edges with a very minor 1/4″ tear at the bottom, center. This is vintage work, and goes for $135 plus shipping — first to email me at msbissette@yahoo.com can forever gaze upon this maggot, man.
Per usual, first Myrant price is forever the best price — in a day or two, I’ll be taking this off its Myrant debut slot and moving it to the sketchstore archives and Comic Art Fans Gallery at a higher price.
**2009 sketches and much vintage art can be snapped up 24 hours a day in the Sketch Store section (click this link), which offers a monstrous menagerie of still-for-sale Bissette sketches — Swamp Thing, Godzilla, Tyrant, Constantine, Vermonsters and many published original art rarities — for your pleasure.
Maggot Man created by Jon Killough and Ryan Brown, 1989; Ryan Brown’s Maggot Man artwork ©1989, 2009 Ryan Brown; my Maggot Man artwork and design ©1989, 2009 Stephen R. Bissette, all rights reserved.
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Greetings!
Our newest issue of Tales of the TMNT takes a step into the twilight zone…
“Adventures in Bunnysitting” has a blend of Old toon antics and B-movie horror. Our story involves a grieving Michelangelo as he pines for his beloved Klunk, which we were reminded of his untimely demise in Dan’s story recap. A friend’s attempt to ease the mourning turtle’s pain only proves to be more trouble than the original intention…
AS always, if you don’t want a lot of spoilers, skip the next couple paragraphs…
We’re first re-introduced to the Utrom Klag and our dear ally Leatherhead. Preparing for a weekend trip, Klag visits Leatherhead in the laboratory to check on the recent findings with their experiments involving mutagenic nucleotides. They may be just steps away from discovering a cure for cancer. Break out the champagne! The revelry comes to a halt as Klag gets a call from Michelangelo. Mike’s feeling sentimental over lost friends, and just wants a shoulder to lean on. Eager to mend his friend’s broken heart, Klag gets the idea to have Michelangelo baby-sit for him for a couple weeks. Plus it would be a good break for the test-sbject: a fluffy, doe-eyed lil rabbit worthy of being called ‘Bunny’.
For most of the duration, Mike has coddled Bunny and let her run rampant around the lair, must to Raphael’s dislike. The final straw comes when Bunny steals Raph’s seat for the football game. Probably left him some presents while she where t0 here. Raph tries to grab her, only to get bitten in the process. Bunny has drawn blood… which seems to have set something off. The once precious bunny evolves into a blood-thirsty monster that attacks Raphael at every turn. The battle moves out to the sewers, leaving the lair a disaster.
Mike returns to the mess after getting Bunny’s dinner, and recieves a call on his cell. Apparently, Leatherhead checked the findings, and it seems that there might be some problems with little Bunny. Problems that Raph is currently dealing with. The monster even tries to copy Mike’s form, though unsucessfully. Bunny mutates into a multi-headed, tentacled beast with teeth and claws coming out of every orifice. Just seconds from Raph getting eaten, Mike’s arrival halts the attack – Bunny reverting back to her adorable, furball self.
Mike scolds Raph for tormenting the poor rabbit and carries her away, leaving Raph steaming. Leatherhead soon retrieves Bunny, and Mike comes to the realization that nothing could Ever replace Klunk.
On the back cover, we see a happy Michelangelo cuddling his precious Bunny. Hearts abound..
Okay, you’re safe to read now…
Now, according to the recap, this was a continuation from the Michelangelo Mini-series from a few years back. Not to mention, based on real events that happened involving Ryan’s own pet bunny and some traumatic misadventures involving Steve Lavigne and Kevin Eastman. That I’m not sure where to go with it…
But in all, this was a cutesy cornball story (I think) written merely for the creation of some exciting (and bizarre) battle scenes. As I’d said at the start, it reminded me a lot of the old toon with the stand-alone incidents with the ‘monster of the week’ kind of flavor. Some craziness that doesn’t amount to anything significant in the near future. Unless Brown and Gonzalez have something hidden up their sleeves…
The drawing style isn’t the usual blood and gore and dark kind of stuff. It looks almost like a Looney Tunes episode, up until Bunny goes crazy. And you can really see something Disney-esque in the art style – particularly in Bunny and the way the eyes are drawn. Even Klag looks like something you want to hug and squeeze and call George. The cover and Frontispiece are not overly complex, but definitely worth a look over.
But in all, this was a pretty off-the-wall issue, probably better appreciated while under the influence of some substance – caffeine, sugar, who knows… 😉
Thanks for Reading!
~MachiasB
–>> Who’s your bunny ?!
~ t