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A Man and his Monkey
By Etta | May 12, 2008
Thanks to Lying in the Gutters, and it’s writer, Rich Johnston for this exceptionally rare piece of information. It seems that once upon a time (or in this case, 1982) famous comic book writer Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) penned and illustrated a brief section in the “BJ and the Bear Annual”. That’s right, the man who Time magazine has as author of one of the 100 most influential works of fiction of the 20th century, not to mention a shining example of comic’s literary hopes, once wrote and illustrated for a comic about a man and his monkey. BJ and the Bear has got to have one of the best concepts ever to grace television. Here you can see the “high concept” via Wikipeida:
B.J. and the Bear was a comedy/adventure television series which aired on NBC from 1979 to 1981. It starred Greg Evigan as B. J. (Billie Joe) McKay, a professional freelance itinerant trucker who traveled the country’s highways in a red and white Kenworth K-100 cab over semi truck with his pet chimpanzee, Bear (named for Bear Bryant, the famed college football coach; this explains the chimp’s choice of headwear). He was constantly harassed by sheriff Elroy P. Lobo (Claude Akins, who eventually spun off onto his own show, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo).
All of this just proves everyone has to make a buck, even men who will one day grow up to write some of the best comic books of all time. Forget Watchmen, or V for Vendetta or Swamp Thing-this may be Alan Moore’s greatest work.* So for all you completionists out there, now you have one more thing to find of the great Mr. Moore’s-a tale about a man and his monkey.
Rich even has a copy of the annual conveniently for sale here.
*Not really his greatest work
Topics: Comics |
Tags: alan moore | bj and the bear | monkeys.