Welcome to the next installment of a look into my scrapbook of oddball photos from the San Diego Comic Con, 1990s edition. Malibu Comics started publishing Evil Ernie, written by Brian Pulido and illustrated by Steven Hughes, in December 1991. Ernie was a fantastically psychotic character and it was easy to see that Brian had dreams of an empire – taking Ernie and growing it not only into a series of spin-off comics, but also creating a publishing company that could spread out into movies. I think Ernie started out as a screenplay, but I could be wrong.

At that time, Malibu was mostly a company that published only creator-owned material. Evil Ernie was a creator-owned property - Brian retained all rights and Malibu just had publishing rights. Once Brian’s Malibu contract was completed, he launched not just Evil Ernie but a slew of other projects through his own company, Chaos! Comics.

And that’s the important rule, kids: if you’re creating stuff, retain those copyrights. Those are the valuable things to keep filed away.

Anyway, it was always fun to see Brian’s Chaos! Comics booth at San Diego with its mix of comic books, heavy metal music, leather-wear and tattoos. He always put on a raucous display. The photo on the right isn’t dated, but my guess is it’s probably from the San Diego Comic Con, 1992. On the right is Brian Pulido and on the left is Steven Hughes, Evil Ernie’s artist. Hughes was a terrific artist, and even if you didn’t like the subject matter of Evil Ernie (and its splatter-movie horror roots), there was no denying that he could draw. He brought a real rock-and-roll/horror/sex mash-up to the page with energy and enthusiasm. I think he would have become one of the great success stories of independent comics and it’s a shame his life was cut short. Back in the pre-digital era, it was always a kick to see his original art up close and hold it in your hands.

Brian Pulido is still active – writing comic books and making movies.

Previous installments of Old Convention Photos can be found here:
Jim Balent and Lita Ford
Sergio Aragones and Joe Kubert
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Alexander Siddig

[Photo © Tom K. Mason]