Kim Deitch's Jersey Devil sketch.

I'm crazy happy to have a legend of underground comix contributing to Beasts, Vol.2, but especially thrilled that it's Kim Deitch, a fascinating and hilarious guy who I feel lucky to have chatted with for hours when he came to Seattle last fall. I really like Kim and his work ethic is unmatched: He not only agreed to be in the book but is the only artist yet to have sent me a sketch to look at!

AND it gets better. Kim happens to be the son of Gene Deitch, the cult hero of Terrytoon animation, the artist behind the 1950s Record Changer magazine comics featuring "The Cat", and the manic creator of the short-lived-but-unforgettable Terr'ble Thompson newspaper strip of the '60s. Gene is now in his mid-80s and as passionate about art as he ever was. Time-allowing, Gene will be making a lot of us fans ecstatic by contributing a sea serpent illustration for Beasts!2. (Count among those excited fans: Kim, Gary, and Eric of Fantagraphics Books (which has so far published two collections of his work).)