The Definitive Idyl And I'm Age!

Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an enigmatic artist. Part of "The Studio", she was most famous at the time for her incredible paperback covers. Many are on par with the best of Frazetta. Her comics work was sporadic and most of it was not in the usual venues. Idyl, her most personal work appeared in the "Funny Pages" of National Lampoon, and was work not intended for the typical comic book buyer. 

It was in the pages of National Lampoon that I first fell in love with Idyl. She was a lovely naked woman who mused about life and death and such stuff. She lived in a strange world in inhabited by talking animals. 

She's a bawdy Alice in Wonderland, if Alice was nude and mysteriously pregnant. 

Above is the very first "Idyl" installment. It was first published in National Lampoon November 1975 in their first and very distinctive section called simply "Funny Pages". 

Above is the final Idyl. It is marked by the singular panel and expansive thought balloon. 

 

One had to be observant in those wilderness days of comics to find your favorite artist's work. In addition to National Lampoon, Jones had work appear in Swank magazine, one of Playboy's lesser imitators.  

Some of that even more eccentric Jones material was gathered up in Ravens and Rainbows from Pacific Comics in 1981 and I only mention it for completion's sake. It is not included in this collection. We need another one for sure. 

A few years after the National Lampoon gig, Jones found another home for his musings. In the pages of Heavy Metal he introduced the strip "I'm Age". Once again, we are treated to a single page filled with obscure musings. 

His style has developed, away from his crunchy roots into a more relaxed look. He has said that the lush brush failed to connect with his hand and fingers in the same way that a pen did, so the change.I can't say I like it as well, but it sureain't bad. The messages of this series don't feel as opaque to me for whatever reason. 

I'll mention this here just because I can, but I highly recommend Jeffrey Jones - The Definitive Reference from Vanguard. My only complaint is that to fit in all of the many Jones paperback covers and such, the images are postage-stamp size for the most part. If I ever thought of trying to collect all of these (and I have quite a few) I realize the futility of that effort. Still and all, an instructive and pleasurable tome. 

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