The Great Ape Gallery 10

By Anastasia Catris

Happy coincidences don't crop up nearly enough in real life, but I encountered one moments after walking into the main convention hall at the 2012 Bristol Comic Expo. Strolling to the end of the first row of tables, I caught a glimpse of something so unexpected that it actually caused me to do a double-take in the manner of a surprised Daffy Duck. On display was a portfolio full of original hand-drawn comic pages, and it just happened to be lying open on a page featuring an obscure but unmistakable character by the name of Sugar Ray Finhead, an alien boxer who was the eponymous star of a series of comics produced in the 1990s (and who continues to appear in the ongoing anthology series Jump Back Adventures) by Doug Baron, who has his own DA page here. Despite being entirely fab, Ray isn't a hero known to many folks on this side of the Atlantic; indeed, I was only introduced to him a couple of years ago thanks to a chum in the States, and I'd never in a million years have imagined that I'd happen upon a drawing of the little guy during a visit to Bristol. So, naturally, I had to ask the owner of the portfolio how the piccy had come about.

The portfolio-owning person turned out to be Anastasia Catris, the outstandingly ingenious mind behind Subo's Cat and heaps of other artistic cleverness. A cheery chat revealed that she had, in fact, studied at The Kubert School, a place dedicated to teaching the ins and outs of working in comics and commercial illustration, located in New Jersey – and Mr Baron, who has taught cartooning at the school for many years, was one of her tutors. Small world, innit?

Ms Catris kindly took the time to conjure up the above bit of gorgeousness; it's a sketch card, drawn in ink and coloured with marker pens (a talent I remain wholly in awe of. How does anyone use pens to do shading like that without the paper disintegrating? My sinister agents shall have to investigate), in delightfully distinctive Sugar Ray Finhead style (particularly apparent in the twinkly eyes and toothy grins). I absolutely love it to bits, and urge you all to drop in on Anastasia's DA gallery to see more of her totally terrific creations.

Here's a handy pictorial link. Now fly, art-lovers, fly!