Welcome to the Oblivion Suite
This book is better than the bee's knees, it's the goddamn hornet's shins.
“1977, Figgy Pudding is the biggest prog rock band in the world.
But their success came at the cost of their former leader Vix Bixby’s sanity…
Now the remaining band members have been given the chance to save Vic from the clutches of his own creativity by entering the realm where ideas come from…
…the Oblivion Suite.”
This is the long awaited second printing of my and Catalina Rufin’s comic book Oblivion Suite. Basically, I did a super small print run for Boston Comic Con and sold out in three days and then had no more copies. Then it took me a while to pony up the funds for a larger second printing, plus I had to get on the ball as an artist myself and produce my own color pinup to desecrate the pages within. But now it’s all done and dandy and it’s a damn fine looking funny book, folks.
The book is 75 pages of pure prog rock madness featuring the expressive, whimsical and dreamlike artwork of Catalina Rufin.
Working with Catalina on this book has been a blast. Their imagination and boundless love and knowledge of all things prog is sprinkled throughout every page of this work.
And just to put a little extra mustard on it, we’ve got 5 color pin-ups included within the Oblivion Suite proper. These are from a small menagerie of comic book artists, each with a distinct style and feel that allows you to see the world of Oblivion Suite through a drastically different lens.
Sort of like cover songs.
But only the kind that DON’T suck.
Here’s Jesse Lonergan's version of the lads from Figgy dropping prog bombs on some adoring crowd:
Here’s some chicken scratch from an eight year old with a moustache named Tony McMillen that’s maybe refrigerator worthy if you squint your eyes hard enough:
Spencer Hawkes shows us the Figgy boys checking out a real stare case. (Shut up, that was funny):
Ryan Quackenbush’s conjures Bowie meets Blade Runner alchemy for this concert poster for Frankie Gideon:
Patt Kelley gives us a peek at the boys swimming for the stars, preparing to pass through the black:
Lastly, I have to give a special thanks to my friend and frequent collaborator Dan Singleton. Dan designed the logos for this book and they class the joint up something fierce. That dude is a snazzletooth tiger and I’m not afraid to tell him that to his face. Or type that on the internet.
So you’ve checked out the dreamy art, laughed or scoffed at the Spinal Tap meets Velvet Goldmine dialogue. Now that just leaves getting to know the band and the cast of our story:
Wyatt Sink, the control freak lyricist and keyboard player.
Zachary Rai, guitar god and voice man, though he can’t write a decent tune himself to save his life.
Ruford Gibbons, the drummer. In Catalina’s own words: “Precious manchild, stoner extraordinaire.” Yeps, that’s our Ruford.
Frankie Gideon, the outrageous glam rocker and possible adversary to Wyatt and the Figgy lads. Frankie is a cocktail with equal doses of Bowie, Bolan and Peter Gabriel for added spice.
Vic Bixby, the shattered and strung out genius at the heart of the Figgy universe.
And finally, Mista Bizness, the moustached, bowler hat donning sinister gentleman replete with snakes for fingers who has leapt off the album art of Oblivion Suite, Figgy Pudding’s latest concept album, and into the real world offering the band an invitation to save their former leader and dear friend Vic. But of course, with Bizness there’s always a price, so what will it cost the band?
Dunt dunt dunt!
But in all seriousness.
Dunt.
Oblivion Suite, 75 pages, 15 Bucks; which includes domestic shipping. To get your copy email us at tonymcmillen@gmail.com
Thanks.