Nick Gazin's Comic Book Love-In #87

Dear VICE Comic Lovers,

My drawings were in an art show called the Sketchbook Show at the Ashmore Gallery in Savannah, Georgia, and it was wonderful. I was surrounded by talented little Savannah College of Art and Design students and ex-students who were nervous to meet me, and I don't think I disappointed them in how much of a tremendous dick I was. The thing about Savannah is that it is the prettiest place in America and also the most haunted. They've got a lot of great cemeteries like the one pictured above, plus SCAD, of course. I'd like to share with you some of the pieces by young artists who are doing good work there.

I would like to give a mention to local Savannah comic stores. This is the proprietor of Planet Fun, a store that sells old toys, comics, and video games. I got some old issues of The Tick for a dollar each.

This is the person who was running Homerun Video, a store that sells mostly comics and rents videos. I got some Walking Dead and Deadpool comics here.

I was greeted with this crazy sign made out of a pizza box.

My number-one fan, Clay, gave me this awesome Batman trading card from the very violent 1966 Topps series. These things aren't cheap, so that was no small gift.

This one guy, Ben Tollefson, did about 20 different drawings that were all of Joan Rivers. I bought a couple. This one was only $20. The thing that blew my mind the most is that the artists were selling their work for less than it must have cost to make most of the pieces.

I bought this. It's a Joan Rivers cuddle pillow. It was five dollars.

Jesse Balmer drew this. At $80, it was probably the second-highest-priced piece before mine. Everyone was charging between one and ten dollars for their art, with the highest-priced pieces averaging around $30. Meanwhile, I had my stuff ranging from $500 to infinity dollars. I didn't sell any.

These $40 drawings are by Wishcandy. I like this, but I also have seen about five female artists who do work very similar to this. Fafi was the first one I saw. My friend Deb is kind of like this. Maybe Tara McPherson. Female artists who seem to be drawing the same pretty girl over and over, surrounded by cute things.

This drawing is by Mike Force, and it was $29. This reminds me of Jay Stephens's and Paul Pope's work.

One of the strongest talents at the show was Brandon Loving. He really can master inky, brushy illustration. This guy is a clear talent to watch out for. This drawing of Chewbacca was only $15.

These three heads are by Gordan Rabut and they were $40 each. They look like a schizophrenic drew them.

I'm not sure who drew this but it's pretty. All the cheap talent in Savannah made me nervous. I don't know how I can compete with people who can sell their stuff for so little. Fortunately they are trapped in Savannah, and I am up in New York. I hope they do not hear about traveling to places.

I forget who did this, but it was one of my favorite things I saw in the show. Beautiful stuff.

This is by Alan Chiang, and it was probably pretty cheap, unlike the humor exhibited herein, which is very rich.

This is a really good Steve Martin by Brandon Loving for $8. Why didn't I buy this? Damn. Brandon Loving can really nail likenesses.

This nauseating drawing is by Chelsea Swift. It was $5. I like that we're in a place where women are doing art celebrating the grossness of their bodies instead of trying to do cute stuff.

This piece was by Julia Yellow and was only $45. In my day we called art students like this "show offs," and this kind of work would usually only come out of Asian or Israeli students. This reminds me a lot of Koren Shadmi's work.

I'd like to take a break from the art to discuss the babes at this show. There were very many pretty girls. Here they are. The girl above just had great hair and overall style.

This babe looks like a young Mapplethorpe to me. Good face.

This girl is both pretty in the face, but also she is wearing the chain from the nose to the ear, which is something you normally see punks do when they are fictional adult punks in 80s movies.

There's something cute in the gawkiness of the girl on the right. Good hair, good dress.

I thought this girl looks like a drawing of a wholesome, pretty girl.

Nerdy young anime fans with silly hats! These people are a staple of art school and are typically very sweet. Babe intermission is now over.

This is by Douglas Biccleta and was $30.

Here's a drawing by me for $250 next to a drawing by Patrick Kyle for $30.

This is a detail of a triptych by Sean Morris, and they were $50 each. His stuff was very pretty and teeny.

This is one of mine that I wanted $500 for. I didn't get it.

This is by Darin Schuler, and it was $20.

This is by Clay Walsh, and it was $10. I bought this one.

This one reminded me a lot of Mike Allred's stuff. It's by Douglas Biccleeta and was $40.

This is by Daniel Guerrero Fernandez, who is a very strong up-and-comer right now. His stuff is great. This piece was $10.

This is another image by Clayton Walsh, and it was $10. Good job, Clay.

This is what we in the art-school world call "a brain esploder." It's by Lucas Ruggiery and was $50.

These girls are looking at a watercolor of mine called "Serious Boning."

I really hope I don't turn into this guy who you see at art shows, but I fear I'm him already.

People lined up and bought piles of art at a time for next to nothing.

The next day I went to the SCAD Museum of Art.

While I was there I saw these two gothic Lolitas, and I thought, Oh, that's neat.

THEN A WHOLE GOTHIC-LOLITA SQUAD SHOWED UP! When I asked to take a photo with them, they automatically posed symetrically around me without having to say anything to one another.

Savannah is an amazing place. If you find yourself in the South, you should go there and make your way over to the Ashmore Gallery. I had a great time meeting some very talented and sweet kids who made me nervous about my ability to keep making a living at art.

Previously: Nick Gazin's Comic Love-In #86