Back in early Spring I stopped in the LA mega-comics store, Meltdown, with some time to kill. It was an eye-opening experience… In addition to the super hero, muscle-y, action-adventure joints I was expecting, there was also a rash of surprisingly delightful, small-run indie comics that challenge the tradition of fantastical, flashy graphics and exclamatory story lines.

One that stood out in particular was Leah Hayes’ “Holy Moly.” My boyfriend bought it and it has since made the circuit amongst friends and coworkers. It’s simple (ballpoint on lined paper) and artful with themes/concepts as opposed to cohesive plot lines. It’s also really fucking funny and sweet, dealing with basic human emotions like love and loneliness. In other words, it’s the shit.

So, as you can guess, we had already fallen head over heels in love with Leah (a fellow-Brooklynite) before we contacted her about doing a piece for the next issue of JAM. Meeting her in person sealed the deal. Absolutely stunning (who else can pull off a beret and red lipstick like that?), smart, and mega-talented (she’s in a bunch of bands and throws legendary acoustic jam sessions at her house)–we’re super psyched that she agreed to do a two-page spread for us!!

In order to show our gratitude, we want the whole world to know how rad this chica is! So, check out her work at www.leayhayes.com, hire her (if yr in a position to do so) cause she’s awesome and keep your eyes peeled for her work in the next issue of JAM!

This is another sample of her work, not for JAM.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.