Category: Comic Book Artist

Original Couch Tag #2 mini with Gocco cover, hand-assembled, limited edition, published in 2005. This is the version of the story “Thirteen Cats of My Childhood” that appeared in Best American Comics #1.

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“This is the Real Shit!” Harvey Pekar shouted to me and the audience when I handed him a copy of My 2 Brats at the panel/signing for the first volume of The Best American Comics (in which I had a 20-page piece called “Thirteen Cats of My Childhood”). This comic book, published in 1989, was written by my father, and drawn by me during my Junior and Senior years of high school. It wad my first paid work as a cartoonist! Influenced by Harvey Pekar’s quotidian comics and Charles Bukowski’s antisocial humor, this is a true product of the 80s and a wincing glimpse into Boomer parenting technique.

Black and white, 41 pages of comics, self-cover. 8.5″ x 11″. Published in 1989, not sure of the print run (1000? 600?). But I do recall tossing several boxes full of these into a landfill in the early 90s (recycling wasn’t a common option then). Anyway, these 5 are the last copies I have left.

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Original Couch Tag #1 mini with silkscreened cover and early comics, some of which were adapted for my book of the same name.

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A three-month comics diary, reflecting on the ten years since the author’s last diary comic (Ten Thousand Things to Do, self-published, 2019), and a therapeutic tool to navigate life’s current challenges. The result is a poignant window into the tension between restless creativity, quotidian routine, and mental wellness.

Published by Fantagraphics Books under their Fantagraphics Underground imprint.

“Reklaw has the chops to draw anything, and the skill and taste to write with an understated grace that allows emotions and experiences to well up and breathe on their own.” — John Porcellino, author of King Cat

“[S]olid evidence of Reklaw’s commitment to using his art to not just document his life but, more importantly, improve it.” — Ryan C., Four Color Apocalypse

Buy a signed copy of Keeping Score.

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First collection of Dear Diaries strips. 40-pages, full color, wraparound cover, 4.25 x 5.5 inches, self-published.

Reklaw’s use of thematic contrast intensifies as the human storyline unfolds. Depression, alcoholism, homelessness, and psychotic breakdowns are told against a narrative of a cat’s natural self-importance. “Dad” (Reklaw), as many of us are, is going through some life struggles, perhaps worse and more harrowing than those of others. And while Littles’ life concerns are understandably blown out of proportion, what’s actually going on in the larger, human world is largely minimized. Like some sort of existential cantilever, it’s the tension that ties the entire thing together. And most interestingly, the genius of it all is that the backstory is actually the main story

— November Garcia, in her Solrad review

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Second issue of N.Y.D.I. (No You Do It) minicomic, with the LOVF book tour diary and comics about chronic pain. 20-pages, color cover, black and white interior, 4.25 x 5.5 inches, self-published.

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The sketchbook companion of a man literally losing his mind. Homeless and broke after giving all his stuff to punk-rock heroin dealers, he ends up off his meds and on a secret quest from Portland to Brooklyn, DC, LA, San Francisco, and Seattle. Jammed with cartoons, mad schemes, psychedelic portraits, and notes from the road, LOVF is a travel journal and a mirror of the post-traumatic dreamworld its author can’t escape from, a Kerouacian meltdown of cross-hatching, spattered marker, crayons, glitter, tape, nail polish, Wite-Out, finger-painting, rain, wine, stickers, and word balloons.

Published by Fantagraphics Books. Funded by Kickstarter.

“Alive with color and collage, conveying the joy of the highs that come with bipolar disorder without minimizing its downside.” — Paste, from their review and interview.

“For those who brave its shattering pages, this book offers a twisted exploration of the furthest reaches of the comics medium—and the catacombs of the human spirit. — Publishers Weekly

The interior art for this book is all drawn and painted directly in one sketchbook. This original art book is for sale; please inquire if you are interested.

Buy a signed copy of LOVF. (Sorry lovf isn’t free.)

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This tragicomic graphic memoir is presented through inviting conceits like cat histories and card games, in a series of comic novellas that together comprise a thoughtful, sometimes dark and often hilarious memoir about childhood, family, death, mental illness, sex and drug use. The graphic novel is told in five parts: In “Thirteen Cats” (featured in The Best American Comics), Reklaw discovers coping mechanisms that mimic his family pets; “Toys I Love” relates the author’s pre-pubescent brushes with deviant sexual activity, and the way innocence converges with real sexual trauma; “The Fred Robinson Story” tells the story of Reklaw’s period stalking perfect strangers; “The Stacked Deck,” in which hereditary influences towards criminal behavior, drug use and depression are explored via card games the author played with his family; and “Lessoned,” a family history of mental illness.

Published by Fantagraphics Books.

“Reklaw has a truly special intellect and keen sense of humor.” — The Comics Journal

“The way the book’s separate stories fit together is much like the way most of those smaller tales produce a bigger picture, piling up blocks slowly and unobtrusively until they form a larger point in the reader’s mind. It is, basically, the way we make sense of life as we grow older and gain distance from our early years, which is an impressive task for a comic book to undertake.” — Paste

“Reklaw’s work cuts deep as it reminds us that the darkest elements of humanity can be found in our own backyards, but it also reminds us that through that darkness we can persevere, somewhat damaged, through art and expression.” — Entropy

The cover art for this book is for sale.

Some original art pages from Couch Tag are for sale. Please inquire if you are interested.

Buy a signed copy of Couch Tag.

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The second Slow Wave collection turns the dreams of strangers into the most insightful, humorous, and clever four-panel comic strips you have ever read. This hardcover volume captures the sublime pleasure of tumbling through the freewheeling narrative of our sleeping lives. Each strip is an adaptation of the many dreams submitted to Reklaw from all over the world, every one a unique and compelling journey into a landscape to which we all travel. The Night of Your Life is a testament to the ability of comics to illuminate the corridors of the imagination, with wit, sincerity, and joy.

Published by Dark Horse Books.

The San Francisco Chronicle calls them “delightfully surreal morsels… as sure-handedly and lucidly drawn as the subject matter is crooked and curious,” and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies says the comics have “that rare blend of pointed humor and specially brewed whimsy.”

Anyone who has ever had a weird dream—and the desire to tell it to others—will enjoy this collection of dream cartoons. It features the best of a weekly comic strip illustrating dreams that real people from all over the world have sent to artist Jesse Reklaw. Reklaw takes written descriptions of dreams and turns them into three or four cartoon panels. The result is a surreal excursion into the underworld of the psyche—just for the fun of it. These concise, hilarious little stories are strangely familiar, showing that whatever our external differences, at night we were all united in the absurd world of dreams, where we can quietly and safely go insane.

Buy a signed copy from the author:

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See what no one was supposed to see again: pictures of hopeful students, accompanied by unflattering, behind-doors quotes from their professors and employers. Distills the essence of a bygone era from a dumpstered stash of confidential biology applicant files circa 1965-1975. 48-page booklet, published as a zine in 1998, and then with a spine by Microcosm Publishing.

Buy a signed copy from the author:

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Limited – original zine edition from 2002:

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