Ralph Snart is the tragic story about a beer-guzzling lout who drifts in and out of sanity. Readers bare witness to the depraved and silly life of a pathetic, victim of society. However, in his "fantasy otherworld", Ralph is able, or at least attempts, to fight back against the forces that oppose him. We're not talking about anything deep here, just a day-in-the-life of a drunken moron.

I created Ralph Snart in the Fall of 1985, but not until June, 1986 did the first issue, under the NOW Comics banner, get published by Tony Caputo. NOW published all of the RSA books sporatically until 1993 when the company went bankrupt for the second or third time (I forget how many times). In 2003, yet another iteration of NOW published some reprint volumes of my work, but that ended in a NOW dissolution this year. NOW's website blames "creators who don't want to publish" as it's reason for quitting. The truth is that "creators don't want to publish" for Tony Caputo, or at least I didn't. I wouldn't count Caputo out though, even after he's dead and buried, he'll find some way to resurrect NOW Comics for just one more shot at the big money.

Through the years, after a few dozen issues, with over a million copies in print, in the direct market and on newsstands, some issues by

other artists and writers (scabs), on the cover of Advertising Age (bizarre), and with flirtations from Hollywood, Ralph Snart has remained true to it's original premise - a comic book that's not another stupid superhero book. I'd like to say there were a lot of fond memories through the years, but there weren't many. Perhaps brief, fleeting moments when the work was good, NOW wasn't screwing up the quality of the books, and I wasn't worrying if Tony was ever going to pay me the damn money he owed me.

Since 1998, Ralph Snart has had a presence on the web, and currently all of my work is available to view for free online. Over 1,300 pages of old and new comic art, and with a new book coming out for the anniversery. Entitled "In Your Farce", we meet a Ralph Snart who is disgruntled with the world (same old).

Everything seems to go wrong after trying to force the U.S. government into giving away free beer to all of it's citizens. His buddy Doofus co-stars, and you'll be surprised to see his new anarchist side. Long-time readers of the comic series will note the absence of Ralph's co-horts, Mr. Lizard and Dr. Goot - those two were merciously murdered off in the last volume.

So, what's Ralph going to do for his big Two-Oh birthday? Just keep on keepin' on. I still enjoy writing and drawing the series, so I won't retire RSA any time soon. Even though my publishing outlet is digital-based, it's still nice to pick up the brush, dip it in india ink, and draw it the ol' fashioned way. Here's to another 20.