Josh Neufeld, Ages 18 & 19

Comics journalist Josh Neufeld is the author of A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge and A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories From Southeast Asia & Central Europe), illustrator of The Influencing Machine, and co-editor of FLASHed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose. This collection of drawings of dormitory roommates was composed while he was in college.

* * *

— Josh Neufeld, Ages 18 & 19

“I did these my freshman year at Oberlin College in Ohio. They’re of the various pairings of roommates on my dorm hall (including myself and my roomie Cory). They were drawn in pen-and-ink and colored with markers. At that time I was still totally focused on superhero comics, and these drawings are all set up in that clichéd dynamic of two heroes posed antagonistically. In the comics, the heroes battle it out and then become friends—unfortunately, I don’t think it worked out that way for most of these roommates! I’m not really sure why I did these—I think I was just trying to make an impression on people. I don’t know what else to say about these illos, except they definitely capture the hair and clothing styles of the mid-1980s. (And dig the Prince poster and the clip-on shades in my photo.)”