While perusing eBay recently, I happened upon the work of Vernon Grant.  Not Vernon Grant the wonderful graphic artist (and father of Kellogg’s Snap, Crackle, and Pop) but Vernon E. Grant the wonderful cartoonist, whose work has never been reprinted to my knowledge, and which seems to be all but unavailable.  I’m not a scholar, historian, or ravenous collector of comics and cartoons, but I definitely more than like them, and I know what I more than like when I see it.  Fortunately, I was able to snag (for a reasonable price) the second issue of The Love Rangers,  a black-and-white ‘zine Grant self-published from 1978 through 1988.

Born in 1935 in Cambridge, MA, Vernon Grant began his professional cartooning career as a child, and later spent a year at the Vesper George School of Art, until 1958 when he enlisted in the army.  While living in Tokyo during and after his military service, Grant wrote and drew for Stars and Stripes and the Mainichi Daily News, and published several graphic novels.  (He also survived two tours of Vietnam.)

Grant’s developing interest in Japanese cartooning and manga took a new direction after his introduction to The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers; it’s all reflected in the narrative, composition, and stylistic detail of The Love Rangers.  In fact, Grant is credited with introducing aspects of manga to the American underground cartoon scene.

Back in Boston, Grant started work on The Love Rangers, and later produced a line of post cards for the Boston Computer Museum.  He died a little more than three years ago, after a heart attack and fall.  His wife Betsy organized a retrospective of his work in 2007.

You can find Vernon Grant’s Boston Globe obituary here.

(Posted by Lisa Hirschfield)