-SO, FUNNY BACKSTORY... i was asked to contribute a pin-up for the hellblazer john Constantine special. they wanted a shot of him facing down the killer bulldog who was the villain in the first issue i’d drawn. Cool- so i thought I’d have the dog fly over the heads of the reader like the opening shot of Star Wars, and Constantine be framed in his front legs. anyway i draw Constantine, the front end of the dog, then doodled away the rest of the day having fun with the mutant dog anatomy, getting the paws right, figuring out how ribs go from that angle etc. i fedex it off, stash my photocopies, and crack on with the next job. Yeah, so on monday, editorial rings me up, and he’s looking at the art, and i’m looking at the photocopies and the top left of the page, (the place all western readers start from) is dominated by a huge set of mutant dog balls and sinister canine bumhole “Well,” says the editor, wearily, “we showed it to Karen, and she says, “ok we can print it, but just don’t get them coloured bright red or anything!” " to this day, i am unbelieved that i didn’t see what i was doing while i was drawing it, and that it wasn’t all some kind of Brit-artist, crazy train, power trip prank. ... Me and Oppenheimer- too lost in the work to realize what we was Unleashing
