Celebrity Car Crash Corner!

« You gave me so many problems
You made me crash in my car
I’ll have a martini cocktail
And then we’ll see where we are… » — OMD, Bloc Bloc Bloc

In the year 1995, crafty budget movie maven Roger Corman somehow wound up with a comics line bearing his name, Roger Corman’s Cosmic Comics. Around 20 issues of various titles saw print, consisting of graphic adaptations of current (Caged Heat 3000, Bram Stoker’s Burial of the Rats) or classic (Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, Little Shop of Horrors) Corman-directed-or-produced films… and one sequel (Death Race 2020, after Death Race 2000), which is the one that concerns us today, after a fashion.

Death Race 2020 managed to be a pretty good series… for three issues (read ’em here!) The original creative combo was aces, three veterans from Brit SF institution 2000 AD, namely Pat Mills and Tony Skinner hatching the plots and Kevin O’Neill conveying them to visual glory. O’Neill scampered off after three issues (returning only to craft the series’ final cover), and things just weren’t the same without his sordid, madcap touch. It takes a special talent to depict compellingly *and* with a finely-tuned, subversive tone, this level of carnage and mayhem. Such talent, obviously, is ever in short, and possibly dwindling, supply.

But… we’re not here for the main feature. Buried in the back pages amidst the ads (mostly touting the alt-rock of the day) was a regular one-page hi-concept feature crafted by a succession of young (or young-ish) artistic iconoclasts. I suspect it was the fevered brainchild of former The Comics Journal managing editor Robert Boyd (1989-1990), also the editor of Death Race 2020. If this were Facebook, I’d show you my favourite example and move on to the next pretty shiny bauble. But through the pixie magic of blogging, I can afford to be utterly profligate and fling the whole delirious jumble your way. And so…

CelebCarCrash01A — Story and art by Dave Cooper, from **Death Race 2020 no. 1** (April, 1995).

CelebCarCrash02A — Story and art by Pat Moriarty, from **Death Race 2020 no. 2** (May, 1995).

CelebCarCrash03A — Story and art by Bob Fingerman, from **Death Race 2020 no. 3** (June, 1995).

CelebCarCrash04A — Story and art by Shane Oakley, from **Death Race 2020 no. 4** (July, 1995). As everyone… used to know, the Girl Can’t Help It.

CelebCarCrash05A — Story and art by Jay Stephens, from **Death Race 2020 no. 5** (August, 1995).

CelebCarCrash06A — Story and art by Fábio Zimbres, from **Death Race 2020 no. 6** (September, 1995). In these troubled days, I imagine many a Brazilian pines for the halcyon days of JK, faced with the reality of JB.

CelebCarCrash07A — Story and art by Jaca Weiss and Robert Weiss, from **Death Race 2020 no. 7** (October, 1995). For a look at some actual Rick Griffin art, look no further than here.

CelebCarCrash08A — Story and art by Matthew Guest, from **Death Race 2020 no. 8** (November, 1995).

VIPWomanDriverA — To wit… a prime example of the aforementioned. By now, I’d *like* to think that most people have come to realize that the gendered driver question is a complex and fraught one. Here are some relevant statistics, if that’s your thing. You guessed it, things aren’t fair.

Drive safe, folks, and keep your eyes and mind on the road. The rest of us will appreciate it.

« Technology is constantly improving our lives. Look at the cellular telephone. Just ten years ago, virtually nobody was able to get into a car crash caused by trying to steer and dial at the same time; today, people do this all the time. » — Dave Barry

-RG

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Panning the murky old print stream for the odd glimmering nugget