GARBAGE MAN won’t go to waste
Many moons ago in MICRO-FILM 2, I briefly chronicled the life and times of underground comics publisher Hart D. Fisher through the filter of his then-dormant horror film, THE GARBAGE MAN. Shot on a proverbial shoestring in Champaign-Urbana during the summer of 1993, this moody and gritty exploration of a black serial killer’s exploits has been screaming to be unleashed ever since. You might want to buckle that safety belt and lock up the children, dearie, because Fisher recently told C-U Blogfidential that he’s back on the war path to make sure this comes to fruition.
Having spent the last near-decade improving his production skills in Los Angeles‘ porn industry, Fisher seems bent on attempting to one-up his notorious Bonyeard Press imprint which survived bankruptcy and the indecency witch-hunters that buggered the comics industry during the Nineties. Through his other company, CPI Home Video (of which the acronym stands for “Crime Pays, Inc.,” in typical Fisher hyperbole), the GARBAGE man has just finished up post on THE BUNKER, a collaboration with fellow publisher/director Joe Monks, as well as resumed pre-production on other media projects including his own long-delayed sophomore feature, 13 BLOODY KISSES.
Fisher also revealed to CUBlog that he’s created a new introduction for THE GARBAGE MAN, the content of which has yet to be revealed, and renewed his hunt for a distributor. About five years ago, several video labels expressed interest in the film – one even jumped the gun and trumpeted G-MAN as an “upcoming release” of theirs to Fangoria magazine – although nothing came to fruition at that point.
A new MySpace site called Optimum Wound Comics has posted a massive four-part interview with Fisher, in which he discusses the circumstances surrounding THE GARBAGE MAN as well as a plethora of indie scene drama and personal strife that has not been made public until now. It’s certainly a heavy-duty read that proves not every University of Illinois graduate gets to live the publishing high life like a Hugh Hefner, but there’s no denying that he works hard for what he wants and aggressively calls “bullshit” when he sees it.
You can sneak a visual peek into our sordid C-U past right here courtesy of three GARBAGE MAN trailers, circa 2001. Marvel at the barely post-Eighties fashion! Rock to the likes of Mole Temple, The Trees, and Third Stone! Witness such long-gone establishments as Mabel’s and an earlier Johnstowne Centre incarnation of That’s Rentertainment! Dare to look into the eyes of … the Garbage Man.
~ Jason Pankoke
[Updated 11/26/07, 01:30 a.m. CST]