This series ran for 40 issues, from 1991 through 2004. Like many creative endeavors (ask Donna Barr about her Desert Peach!) it started out as a bit of a joke and then took on a life of its own, turning into the contemporary epic of Midge McCracken, aka Bitchy Bitch. (And the story still goes on--I am writing a graphic novel of Midge’s life even now!)
Bitchy began as a rather rude story about a date-from-hell in Issue #1, (which is where the “Naughty” title came from) --Fantagraphics offered to publish it as a series and their output was pretty cutting-edge and ‘adult’ at that time, so I decided this was a great way to let it all hang out and tell some gritty-but-hilarious urban fiction stories from an unabashedly female point of view, (which nobody else in the industry seemed to be doing) with a scratchy, exaggerated art style that was just a joy to draw (a break from the tight, realistic art I was trying to draw in Winging It).
Many of my current readers were shocked, and I was not quite sure myself what to think of these stories except that-- I thought they were the funniest stories I had ever read-- and I was writing them! (This has been the story of my creative life, it seems.) Then I began to write about Midge’s background, her troubled childhood, introduced her dysfunctional co-workers at the job she hates but is not motivated enough to leave... and it just would not quit. Readers have followed Midge through many hair-raising everyday adventures and difficult choices--sometimes told with very dark humor. These stories earned me many Eisner comics industry award nominations, for Humor, Best Cartoonist, Writing, Best Short Story, etc.
In the issues, I also included stories by other cartoonists, autobiographical stories, cat and travel stories, and biographies of creative people I thought were very interesting and not widely known: Dr. Mary Walker, Opal Whiteley, Remedios Varo, and Louis Wain (this last one is now only available in Real Cat Toons)--and pages of letters and commentary by my highly appreciative (and sometimes highly critical) readers. It was the kind of comic book I would love to eagerly anticipate and then pick up when the latest issue was published--loaded with a variety of hilarious and thought-provoking stuff, unlike many current comic books which you could read through in ten minutes and then forget.
If Fantagraphics had not canceled the series for poor sales, I would still be writing and drawing it. But many of the stories have been collected in some of the paperbacks they have since published (many of which I am also selling) so, if you have not met Bitchy, this is as good an opportunity as any. Many of the later stories have not yet been collected in print, and who knows if they ever will. Eventually I may put some of these up on the web, or put out a book of my own, but that is all down the road.
As you will see below, some of the issues are sold out, or nearly so, but I still have copies of the others, though some issues are running very low, and when they’re gone, you will have to try to search the web for them. (I will keep a handful, of course!)
So, what it boils down to is, this is the best place to get the remaining issues, while they last, fresh-out-of-the-box, and I am offering them at a tremendous discount, in batches.
(Warning: NOT for the easily-offended!)
For five assorted issues, your choice, $10
(a savings of five dollars!)
For twelve assorted issues, your choice, $20
(a savings of sixteen dollars!)
For twenty assorted issues, your choice, $30
(that is half price)
And if you want everything that remains (all the ones listed below not sold out) the full set is $40-- Warning! Some may sell out before I can change list.
Once you have decided which issues you want and ordered the quantity, send me a separate email listing the ones you wish by their number.
I HOPE this is the non-complicated way to do it!
