Ink Stains 27: Mindworks

Brent Anderson did not only produce work for Venture, but his own fanzine as well. Welcome to Mindworks!

Frank Cirocco

Mindworks 1: 1974
Horizon Zero Graphiques/Brent Anderson ​

Brent Anderson

I am not going to add a boatload of hyperbole this time out...I think I might have tired a few of you out last time! This fanzine is composed almost entirely of Brent Anderson’s early work, including an eight- page story (written by Eric Toye, a frequent Anderson collaborator) called Exile. This story stars a character possessing the fearsome name Animas Slayman, who bears a striking resemblance to tough guy actor Charles Bronson. See what I mean below. 

Anderson

When I asked him how this came about, Brent told me via email: 

Charles Bronson was one of my favorite movie celebrities in the day (as the deaf mute in House of Wax, countless uncredited cameo appearances in many early movies as Indians, gangsters, henchmen, laconic cowboys, etc.). I liked him even before I knew what his name was! I identified a little bit with his hard scrabble childhood and tried to model for myself a strong, silent, thoughtful, stoic male philosophy of life based on the person I thought Bronson was. As an aside, check out the Bronson Mandom commercial on YouTube. It’s hilarious, and a real treat for Bronson fans. 

The pages you will see in this story are obviously done by a young Brent who is still learning the ins and outs of storytelling, anatomy, and other essentials of comic book making. But, if I am correct, he was only about 23 or so at this time (Venture 3 mentioned inside as “still being available”). And Brent surely did not plan to make his living as a letterer! But there is an obvious love for the medium and care taken in all facets of the process. 

Anderson

There are several very nice passages in this parable about racism (or in this case, species-ism), such as the close up of the alien’s face seen above (complete with reflections in the creature’s eyes). All in all, it is a good exercise in the practice of making a comic book story.
Brent’s Venture buddies make a few appearances in the zine as well. Gary Winnick pencils a pin-up that Brent inks, and Frank Cirocco contributes a nice back cover (see both below). 

Gary Winnick/Anderson, Cirocco, Anderson, Anderson

Anderson

Both artists contribute a few more pieces as well. Anderson’s humorous space character, Grimmley, also makes a few appearances. above. 

A highlight for me (or a series of highlights) are the illustrations of Bruce Lee and David Carradine (from the Kung Fu TV series). Both Brent and I were/are huge Bruce Lee fans (as referenced in last month’s column). In fact, I did a large poster sized illustration long ago that, totally independent of Brent, looks very much like his Bruce Lee pin-up above. I actually have a photographic memory of the poster we both referenced as well! 

When I asked Brent to expound on his love of all things Bruce and how he was introduced to the late superstar, he said: 

"I discovered Bruce Lee through a couple of friends in the early 70s who were enjoying the newly-imported “kung-fu” flicks from China (Five Fingers of Death and Hammer of God come most immediately to mind). I wasn’t much interested in these “chop-socky” films, but when my friends told me about The Big Boss and Chinese Connection they noticed something very different about this Bruce Lee guy. He was GOOD! I vaguely remembered Lee as the cool karate guy from The Green Hornet (Lee as Kato was the only reason I watched TGH, but there was never enough of him and too much Van Williams for my taste, so I wasn’t sad when the show died). I saw TBB and CC, then Enter the Dragon and I was big-time hooked. A week later, as I recall, Lee died, and I was crushed. But not deterred. I took up martial arts, began drawing a Kung Fu story starring Lee instead of David Carradine [see the end of the column for an Ink Stains exclusive of these pages!], did other unrealized comics projects, featured Lee in art projects and paintings and generally wanted to point out the lost potential of Lee’s immense talent. I believe he would have become as successful a filmmaker as Jackie Chan. Interesting side note: I unknowingly met Bruce Lee’s son Brandon at a Wonder-con in Oakland. Brandon was friends with Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer of Seduction of the Innocent, a band who frequently played the con. Miguel hadn’t brought his drums or something and had called Brandon to drive them up to him, which he did, but the deal was no one was to know who he was. Brush with greatness, indeed! ​"

Seeing that Carradine image gives me cause to gloat a tiny bit over a similar thing I did many years ago. Sterling Silliphant (Enter the Dragon screenwriter, among other films) somehow contacted me to do an illustration of Carradine as the character in the Lee screenplay, The Silent Flute...I wish I still had an image of the art!

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If you have ever been lucky enough to meet Brent Anderson at a convention or some other occasion, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that Brent is one of the nicest, most approachable guys you will ever meet. Humble in general, and filled with a love of comics and the process of making them. Brent is no aging Luddite, either. Recently he has started using the digital program Painter, to ink his Astro City work. Not too long ago I asked him how that was going and he told me he was very happy with it, noting how it helped him speed up considerably (and if you know his work, you know how detailed it can be).
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Also, as I said earlier, Brent was kind enough to send me large scans of the “Bruce Lee as Kung Fu” pages. Brent told me that these pages were done five years before his Ka-zar comic in 1980, when he was living in the back of a comic book store in San Jose. A year later he took his first trip to the Big Apple. He also told me the pages were very large, about 12 x 18. So, get your first look at this oddity below! 

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Brent would most likely do much more dynamic fight scenes today, with his many years of experience, but there is certainly some very nice rendering going on here!

So, there you have it. Mindworks 1. I don’t think there ever was a number two. Maybe Brent can do a modern version? Brent? Can you hear me, buddy?

For now, though, you can download the pdf of Mindworks. 

Ken Meyer Jr.
​[email protected]