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Sally Forth Steve Bissette

Sally Forth Jam Session With Horror Master Stephen Bissette

As the Sally Forth Halloween story kicks into high gear this week, I have something kinda cool to help promote it. A promo piece with art by none other than horror master Stephen Bissette!

Drawing of Hillary by Jim Keefe – Background demons by Stephen Bissette

Stephen Bissette is an award winning cartoonist, teacher and publisher. He’s most notably known for his iconic run on Swamp Thing, Tyrant and the comics anthology Taboo.

And how did this creepy collaboration come about you may ask? Well earlier this month I posted a Sally Forth panel that I had drawn that had a wall full of demons (as sometimes happens).

The panel being part of writer Francesco Marciuliano’s Halloween story where weird things are happening inside the Forth home.

Sally Forth comic strip from October 4, 2018

I also mentioned online that the inspiration for the panel came from a Stephen Bissette/John Totleben comic book page drawn during their award winning run on Swamp Thing (in collaboration with writer Alan Moore).

Shortly after that post I got the following message.

Followed by my reaction.

I immediately gave a thumbs up and then sent Stephen a rough of Hillary in the foreground with a demon doll and horrific creatures slithering in the background. In short order I was sent the following inks.

And THAT in a nutshell is how Francesco and I ended up with a very cool promo piece for the current Sally Forth Halloween story.

I want to give a special thanks to Stephen Bissette for taking time out of his busy teaching schedule at the Center for Cartoon Studies to do this – Greatly appreciated!

And with that said – Hope everyone stays tuned as our Sally Forth Halloween Story continues…

By Jim Keefe

Jim Keefe is the current artist of the Sally Forth comic strip. From 1996-2003 he was the writer and artist of the Flash Gordon comic strip. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School, Keefe likewise teaches Comic Art. Teaching and speaking engagements include SVA in Manhattan, Hofstra’s UCCE Youth Programs, and most recently the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.