The History of:The Adventures of Tad Martin (Average American Teenager)

In the summer of 1990 I attended the annual Chicago Comicon. I brought along Xeroxed copies of two finished stories to hand out to publishers. I ran into the Caliber Press table and met Gary Reed (publisher), and handed him the samples. One year later I received a call in Lubbock, TX that Caliber would like to do a one-shot comic of my creation. I had total creative-control. That was how Tad Martin was born. The first issue sold well enough that Gary offered me a five-issue contract. Over the next 4 issues my style clarified and I learned by doing.




With the second issue the title was simply "Tad Martin". I hit em with 52 pages this time. Everything I didn't put into the first issue, plus new stories that were thinly-veiled autobiography, and my first attempts at using a brush. This didn't sell as well as the first issue. I don't think the readers knew what to make of it, plus $3.50 may have been a lot of money back then. I don't remember.
With the second issue the title was simply "Tad Martin". I hit em with 52 pages this time. Everything I didn't put into the first issue, plus new stories that were thinly-veiled autobiography, and my first attempts at using a brush. This didn't sell as well as the first issue. I don't think the readers knew what to make of it, plus $3.50 may have been a lot of money back then. I don't remember.

The Adventures of Tad Martin, Average American Teenager #3 was drawn in the Winter of 1992. More experimentation and autobiography went into this issue, but all I seem to hear is, "How did you get Dan Clowes to do the cover?". The answer is simple, I had him do it before he was famous. Before there was a Tad Martin comic book there was a couple of stories, and a fan of a comic book called Lloyd Lewellyn by an obscure young artist named Daniel Clowes. Daniel was living with his grandmother in Chicago's Hyde park neighborhood and one day I strolled up to the door and introduced myself. He was nice enough to invite me in and show me around. About a year later I gave him a rough layout and $110.00 to draw this cover. He later became a big deal and when Tad #3 was published I heard he wanted a cut of the profits, which honestly was nothing. I was so upset by this that I wound up selling that cover. I couldn't deal with one of my favorite artists being so cut-throat. There was a problem with the print-run on this issue so it all looks a bit washed-out.
I made a mistake with issue #4 in making it mostly text, but more than made up for it in issue #5.
The Adventures of Tad Martin, Average American Teenager #3 was drawn in the Winter of 1992. More experimentation and autobiography went into this issue, but all I seem to hear is, "How did you get Dan Clowes to do the cover?". The answer is simple, I had him do it before he was famous. Before there was a Tad Martin comic book there was a couple of stories, and a fan of a comic book called Lloyd Lewellyn by an obscure young artist named Daniel Clowes. Daniel was living with his grandmother in Chicago's Hyde park neighborhood and one day I strolled up to the door and introduced myself. He was nice enough to invite me in and show me around. About a year later I gave him a rough layout and $110.00 to draw this cover. He later became a big deal and when Tad #3 was published I heard he wanted a cut of the profits, which honestly was nothing. I was so upset by this that I wound up selling that cover. I couldn't deal with one of my favorite artists being so cut-throat. There was a problem with the print-run on this issue so it all looks a bit washed-out. I made a mistake with issue #4 in making it mostly text, but more than made up for it in issue #5.


Tad Martin #4 was an experiment. It wasn't a comic-book at all, but an illustrated short-story. I'm sure it killed sales for issue #5, but it was worth it to be able to call myself a "published" author.


Issue #5 was the final Tad Martin. Sales were low and Caliber Press was having some business difficulties. It was a shame because this was the first issue that I was really satisfied with the art. After experimenting with a 90% text issue (#4) I got back to actual drawing with a vengeance. #5 was drawn in Austin Texas in the summer of 1992. I was living in an unair-conditioned house infested with mice fleas and giant cockroaches. I was the final house before the airport landing-strip. I made a studio in the hall closet and drew this comic in a sweating, chain-smoking haze. It was a good time.