There once was a second Space Bum story, which was actually much better than this one-- this being my first published comic-book story. I had to improve, and I did: number 2 was better drawn (shades of grey Zipatone!), better story all the way around. I was dedicated to doing a good job on it because I had a "semi-arrangement" with the Print Mint in Berkeley, who were interested in publishing another Space Bum© follow-up in Spaced Out Comics #2.
This was back in the era of those notorious "Underground Comics", and their kind of stories had to be rather anti-establishment, at least somewhat rude, pornographic even better-- right? --so it was. Hey, I could be as cheeky and geeky as R. Crumb or Gilbert Shelton, just watch.
After working them perfection I proudly sent my 8 pages off to Berkeley, California, and waited to become a famous cartoonist. Months went by, lots of them. I was living in Bellingham, Washington at the time, so I couldn't just go over to the Print Mint and see how the next issue was coming along, as when I drew the first story, while staying at my dad's house in Mill Valley.
Well, Spaced Out #2 was never published. And due to a little mix up in addresses, the un-publisher returned my drawings-- but to my dad's house, evidently because that had been my address when I did the first story.
Those days featured not only Underground Comics, but also The Generation Gap. Not that my father and I were ever really deeply conflicted, but he was kind of religious and old-fashioned: he was offended by the drawings and burned all 8 pages up in his trash bin. So I won't be posting Space Bum #2 here. But Man, it was really great. My best work ever, woulda made me a star. You shoulda seen it.
