Poopsheet Foundation

I was reading through a collection of 'Chuck Chicken and Bruin Bear' strips, put out by Brad Foster's Jabberwocky Graphix in the early 1980s, and I was struck by how bizarre and oddly powerful it was. Funny, too. The strip, featuring an abusive Chicken and a submissive Bear was, I believe, drawn in the late 1970s and early 1980s while Turville was living in Berkeley. After around 1984, he seems to have disappeared, having sent a large portion of his original work to Dale Luciano for publication.

Does anybody have any information on Mike Turville before he (apparently) stopped drawing, his time publishing the Chuck Chicken/Bruin Bear strips, or, indeed, what happened to him after he finished drawing?

The internet seems short of information, so I wanted to write a piece to help remember the work.

Any help greatly appreciated

Simon

Simon, I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier. I don't know much about Turville but it is a shame he apparently gave up on comics.

You might ask Brad Foster about it if you haven't already. He's at www.jabberwockygraphix.com or (here at PF) poopsheetfoundation.com/jomsocial/your-profile/163-brad-foster.

Wish I had more info. Dale Luciano would probably be the guy to ask but I'm not sure how to contact him...

Hey Rick - thanks for the response! I've been in touch with both Brad and Dale who were both really helpful, but sadly weren't sure what happened to Turville. Ace Backwords thinks he moved to Santa Cruz in the mid-1980s (which fits in with what Turville told Luciano about wanting to leave Berkeley), but that he died around 10 years ago.

I can't find any record of that through online searches of obituaries etc., but there's a thread on the old TCJ forums that suggests he may have taken his own life. Sort of hit a bit of a brick wall, really...

Wow, that's unfortunate. If you do end up finding more info and writing about it please post a link here (and, of course, a piece like that is always most welcome at this very site!).