Click here to read Part 1, click here to read Part 2, and click here to read Part 3.
Here’s the final installment of my look back at a book I created—and shelved—25 years ago, way back in 1998. If you’ve been following along for the past three parts here, you already know it was called Tails of Two Kitties, and featured the Innocent Bystander cats, Stan and Ollie, who were also—at the time, but sadly no more—my roommates and constant companions.
This is the chapter that feels the most dated. I was a big fan of David Letterman’s Top 10 lists, but not necessarily one of Larry King, the stilted, awkward CNN talk show host (look online for his interview with Jerry Seinfeld, if you want an idea of how clueless Larry was), so that reference feels like it’s from another century (hey, I guess it really is), as does the Top 10 list concept.
Here’s the chapter:
The Top 10 chapter would take me through pages 90-100 or so of a 122-page book, but it was the fourth and final chapter I had completed. I would move onto other things, taking some of this book with me, like to the “Stan & Ollie Christmas” story in Geeksville #3, the final issue Rich Koslowski and I co-published before Image Comics picked up the book. I folded the first chapter, “This Is How We Met,” into that story, which involved Stan and Ollie having their own TV Christmas special, hosted by Merv Griffin. It would pretty much be the last time I drew them, except for the occasional sketch. Stan passed on to the big cat farm in the sky in 1998; Ollie in 2002. I still miss them, but not enough to get more cats … they were pretty irreplaceable, but I turned out to be allergic to cats (who knew? … not me, evidently) and to be honest, the loss of both of them after they were such an integral part of my daily life for almost 15 years (more with Ollie), broke my heart.
So there you have it, my “lost” book, or at least part of it. Will I ever finish it? Sorry to say, no. I just don’t draw anymore. I wish I did, but I prefer writing and creating graphics and photography to fulfill my creative urges these days. I look back fondly on my Innocent Bystander comics days, but I know they’re gone—and thankfully not forgotten.
By the way, a few copies of Innocent Bystander #4, the first “Tales of 2 Kitties” issue are still available. Click here for details.
Click here to read all the other parts of “My Life in Comics.”
@innocent-bystander.com 
Leave a comment