Like most rational sentient beings (such as yourself), I love classic Golden Age Hollywood comedy teams. And when I was able to work with Biffle & Shooster a few years ago, I thought that they’d be just as funny in comic books as they are on the Silver Screen – just like the 3 Stooges, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, and Abbott & Costello (not to mention those great film/comic book stars Bob Hope and Phil Silvers)!
Luckily, Benny Biffle and Sammy Shooster agreed. So I became their editor and a deal was struck with the great Mike Kazaleh to be their comic book artist and writer. You know Mike from all those Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, Captain Jack, Mighty Mouse, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic books!
Mike was actually on the set in Hollywood while the boys were filming one of their classics, “The Bride of Finklestein”, so he had a head start: He already knew which guy was Biffle (“the funny one”, who a lotta people say looks like the Broadway star Nick Santa Maria) and which guy was Shooster (“the other one”, who a lotta people say looks like me, the cartoon and radio voice guy).
And now, after years in the making, the FIRST BIG ISSUE is finally ready to ship - and it coincides with the Kino-Lorber Films DVD release of Biffle & Shooster classics and rarities! The first issue of “The Adventures of Biffle & Shooster” is 28 big pages of cool art (featuring the epic saga of Biffle & Shooster entering the sub-atomic particles of an onion bagel), with a smattering of text and photos, a personal message from Benny and Sammy to You the Reader, and more. And the interior pages are all in genuine black and white, just like most of Biffle & Shooster’s movies!
Mike Kazaleh and I have already started working on the second issue – with some major surprise guest artists! But we won’t publish the second Biffle & Shooster comic until we’re sure the first issue is a hit with the fans - of comic books, of classic comedy teams, of swell comic art and writing, or of just plain wacky ideas. The proceeds from sales of the first issue will go towards the next issue – and, if all goes very well, towards the issue after that!
If all this sounds like your cup of ambrosia, please join our campaign and help keep the presses rolling! Let’s keep seein’ Biffle & Shooster in the Funny Pages, as well as on the Silver Screen! And “Thank You in Advance” for your kind participation in this delirious enterprise!
- Will Ryan, Editor in Chief
