Toronto, 1983. Bill Marks, Paul Rivoche and myself were sitting in the Beverly Tavern on Queen Street West a few blocks from the studio I shared with Paul, Ken Steacy, Rob MacIntyre, and a bevy of musicians and photographers. We were toasting our deal with Vortex to produce a line of comics based on my character, Mister X. This was long before the Hernandez Brothers, Seth or the others joined the cause. We were excited, but we didn't quite realize we were looking at more than a year to develop, produce and market the book. We did, however, decide to give the readers a taste of the character on the cover of Vortex comics' flagship title.

Our instincts were correct and the image of Mister X being pursued by a hover-coupe generated interest and curiosity. As it became apparent that we were looking at several months to get the book into shape, it was decided that we would release a succession of posters for the nascent direct-market comic book stores. While getting wall space wasn't quite as difficult as it is today, most comic shop posters at the time were really just large magazine ads. We chose to concentrate on producing compelling images--trying to evoke mood and attitude rather than product announcement.

They disappeared from the stores at a frustrating (from an advertiser's point of view) though flattering rate. Folks seemed to like them. Quite a lot. The initial print runs for each of the four posters were upped with each release.

Over the course of 1983-1984 Mister X became one of the era's most popular titles without having published a single book.

To this day the posters remain sought-after rarities, with fans often approaching those of us associated with the title in search of any surviving copies. They often regail us with accounts of expensively framed copies proudly displayed in their designer apartments or being sold for surprising amounts.

So it is that, in order to commemorate the thirty years since Mister X's comic book debut, we are preparing to issue a set of gallery-quality framable prints that include some of the most memorable poster and cover art from the past three decades by Paul Rivoche and myself. (Watch the newspage on this site or the Mister X facebook page for X Prints release and ordering information.

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