Mudwogs from March 2006

'Mudwogs' by Arthur Suydam

from Heavy Metal magazine, March 2006

In 2005 Kevin Eastman, creator of the comic strip 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' and owner and publisher of Heavy Metal magazine, decided to reprint the classic 'Mudwogs' tales that Arthur Suydam had provided for HM in the early 80s.

Eastman also commissioned new Mudwogs strips from Suydam, with the first of these appearing in the March, 2006 issue.

For 'Old School' HM readers such as I, seeing the Mudwogs again was great, despite finding Suydam's distinctive artwork nestled within pages and pages of cheeseball T & A 'portfolios', advertisements for Japanese cartoon porn DVDs, and something called 'The Erotic Library of Priapism'.

Here is 'Mudwogs # 8'. Continuing installments will be posted here at the blog in the coming weeks.

Arthur Suydam's Mudwogs

Arthur Suydam's 'Mudwogs'  

from 'Echo of Futurepast' issue 5

Issue 5 of 'Echo of Futurepast' arrived in April 1985 and it contained the last installment of the 'Mudwogs' saga, a brilliant tale titled 'Fat and Skinny'.

Featuring demented humor, and artwork modeled on the best of the 19th and early 20th century children's illustrators, 'Fat and Skinny' was a memorable finish to the series.

(detail of page 3)

Arthur Suydam's 'Mudwogs'

from 'Echo of Futurepast' issue 4

A bedtime story featuring an unpleasant incarnation of Humpty-Dumpty.

Suydam's artwork in this comic is outstanding, calling to (slightly warped) mind Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, or Maxfield Parrish. 

The double-page spread of pages 24 and 25 must have taken Suydam over a week of careful draftsmanship and coloring to complete. The detail (below) of the fat woman scooping egg into her mouth, including the bracelets on her wrist, the ruffles of the sleeves of her dress, and the vertical slats of the back of the chair she is sitting in, gives some idea of the careful penmanship at work here.

 

Arthur Suydam's 'Mudwogs'

from 'Echo of Futurepast' issue 3

With the giant defeated, our hero now contemplates his pending Fatherhood.....

 

Arthur Suydam's 'Mudwogs'

from 'Echo of Futurepast' issue 2

Issue two (1984) of ‘Echo of Futurepast’ features another installment of Arthur Suydam’s Mudwogs, titled 'Croona, Moona, Joona'.

The loathsome giant continues to wreak havoc on the town and its people, now in an effort to impress ‘Blue Lady’, girlfriend of our diminutive hero. 

How can a tiny Mudwog defeat such a monster ? The result is some of weirdest, most inventive humor I’ve ever seen associated with the ‘funny animal’ comics genre…..