Rick Veitch & Steve Bissette’s Stolen Heavy Metal Artwork Turns Up

Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: 1941, eteven spielberg, Heavy Metal Magazine, heavy metall, rick veitch, steve bissette

In 1979, the cover art for the Heavy Metal graphic novel adaptation of 1941 by Rick Veitch and Steve Bissette, was stolen from the offices.

In 1979, the original cover artwork for the Heavy Metal graphic novel adaptation of the movie 1941 by Rick Veitch and Steve Bissette was reported as stolen from the publisher’s offices. In 2021, artwork collector Jimmy Willis posted it on Comic Art Fans. And today, Rick Veitch noticed, posting on Facebook, “Stolen from the offices of Heavy Metal in 1979, the cover art for the 1941 Graphic Adaption by Steve Bissette and myself has reappeared! “.

Fellow collector Richard Halegua posted, “To anyone commenting negatively on Jimmy Willis, 1) Jimmy is a totally stand-up guy. As good a person as you can find anywhere, 2) Jimmy wouldn’t have had any idea that this art was absconded with from the publisher’s office after publication. 3) it’s no surprise that an art collector might wind up with this piece some 45 years later. apparently, this piece was listed on eBay in 2020. EBay is going to have records, even though the piece cannot be found by web browsers. So hopefully ebay will co-operate with any investigation into how this piece wound up on its platform, and it can be traced back, but there are limitations to claims on the art, which are best worked out between the parties.”

Rick Veitch added, “Yes, Jimmy is in no way responsible for the theft of this piece. He has gotten in touch and is ready to help track down the eBay seller he purchased it from. So please, cast no shade on Jimmy Willis. He’s a victim of this crime too.”

Then Jimmy Willis himself turned up in the thread and said, “Thank you so much, Richard Halegua and Rick Veitch!! As you just said, I bought it on eBay in May 2020, where it was for sale for a while. And, of course I didn’t know anything about it.”

Also, because, why not, Veitch added, “Believe it or not, I still have copies of the book available for purchase on my site!”. Note it had to be called an “illustrated story” rather than a comic book because that was 1979 for you.

1941: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY This might not qualify as the craziest comic book ever created but I bet it’s in the top ten. It is certifiably the most insane movie adaption ever done. Don’t ask how or why Stephen Spielberg entrusted the graphic novel version of his summer of ’79 blockbuster to underground cartoonists Veitch and Bissette! Buy one before they disappear forever! 64 pages. Full color. Signed by Rick Veitch.

Here is a record of the eBay sale in question. And in for a penny, in for a pound, Adrian Olivera goes for a “Separated At Birth” file, posting “, speaking of stolen, someone owes Frank McCarthy’s estate royalties for swiping his artwork.”

That would be Frank McCarthy’s poster for the Burt Lancaster film from the sixties, The Train… and here’s the final version.

Separated At Birth used to be called Swipe File, in which we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences, or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you cannot do so, we ask that you please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. Separated At Borth doesn’t judge; it is interested more in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously as if their time has just arrived. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit, where writers and artists collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from the Comic Journal, which initially ran a similar column and the now-defunct Swipe Of The Week website. However, Separated At Birth is considered a less antagonistic title.

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