

Cartoonist Josh C Lyman, a full time illustrator working the convention circuit across the USA, has a tale of woe to share with Bleeding Cool and its readers.





I flew back from Phoenix Fan Fest this past weekend to my apartment in Austin; and exhausted from the aforementioned, I decided I would take a nap before unloading the car…as I've done this numerous times before during the last couple years in the same complex.

I'm sad to say that during the hours I slept and the short hours I was awake the day following…my car was broken into and everything from my traveling was taken. I live a fairly spartan life with being on the road so often, so I typically take as much of my artistic materials and miscellaneous equipment with me in the event of any delays in returning home. Now in this particular instance hit a bit harder than expected, as for this show I brought a portfolio of my originals with me along with the prints, display stands, several client commissions, as well as some new originals I had not had the chance to save to my home computer yet. And it was all completely stolen. 3-4 Years of some of my best work, along with new pieces I'll have to redo for both the coming year and clients.

Naturally I've had the police out for fingerprints and I am dealing with the insurance company as I write, but losing all of those originals and tools that has put me at a loss. The worst part? Over 300 dollars of pencils, pens, and markers…along with so many hours of work just completely gone. Clothes, headphones, random art-tools, Prints and display stands I can slowly regain, it's really the livelihood being taken almost completely taken in the blink of an eye. The police have been honest, and albeit the more negative side of things, there is a high probability that nearly everything will be thrown in the trash. Ironically, I checked every single dumpster in the surrounding apartment complexes just to be safe with no luck. The local comic shops have been notified, the pawn shops are required to notify police but i will still have to check with them myself.

I apologize for the rambling above..it's truly the most concise version of this I could muster. I would like to mention that several of my friends and fans have been very supportive in the last three days. Some have offered to send me replacement covers for the sketchcovers stolen, those whose pieces were taken very understanding and given more time for me to redo them, and a friend of mine has even set up a gofundme to help me recuperate some of the losses. I'll be posting a facebook folder tonight listing every pieces stolen, as well as many of the images from the 1,200 plus stolen posters. I've attached photos from the breakin, as well as a couple photos from me at shows. Thank you again for reading this, as well as any help you may be able to provide.

Bleeding Cool readers, if you do see any of Lyman's work below popping up elsewhere, do please get in touch.