Death, drugs and rock and roll! World-wide fame did not save the life of this anguished punk rocker. Perhaps celebrity was the last thing he really needed…or even wanted.
The black-and-white art was created in 1996, and first colored digitally in October of 2008. The retooled, full-color version of the comic finally came out in October 2015.
To create the painting I drew upon photos that came out in the media at the time of Kurt Cobain’s death, combined with reference photos I took of a model, posed in the position in which I supposed the body may have been.
In the roman à clef, the character based on Cobain is called Luke Mandrake. In the comic, his name is “Nurdt Nobrain.” Not long after, I came across another parody comic about Kurt and Courtney that used the last name Nobrain. It depicted Courtney at Lollapalooza, suddenly realizing that she didn’t know where Frances was, and then finding her at the grocery store on the checkout conveyor belt, like Maggie in The Simpsons.
Nobrain has become a fairly common term used by detractors to refer to Kurt. I have never considered myself a detractor, but sometimes people assume that my comic is meant to poke fun at him in a cruel way. I hope as you read the pages the true sensibility will come through. It is derived from that of the punk scene at the time: searing honesty, and self mocking-humor mixed with genuine compassion.
If you can’t wait to read the whole thing, the comic book is currently available for purchase on Indiebound.