Berkeley Con was the first underground comix convention. It ran from April 20 through April 22, 1973 at the UC Berkeley campus and featured Jaxon, S. Clay Wilson, Trina Robbins, Greg Irons, and Larry Todd, among several other now-legends. (Bob Foster posted several photos from the con here.) The Irons button—punk before punk—was actually the three-day pass to the event.
Greg Irons, you might remember, illustrated the hell out of The Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Coloring Album (1979) for Troubador Press, one of TSR’s first licensed products. I like to imagine an alternate universe where TSR hires Irons, who collaborates with Erol Otus on a series of trippy modules centering on raucous, transdimensional pirates and the sentient treasure they’re chasing. The duo eventually take over the company by sheer force of guts and talent. TSR is bankrupt by 1983, but Christ, who cares?
Irons left behind a huge body of work—he’s revered as a tattoo artist as well, so ‘body of work’ carries a significant double meaning—for someone who died so young (37).
(Image via Hake’s)
2 Warps to Neptune 
0 Responses to “Greg Irons Art: Berkeley Con Button, 1973”