When Richard Sala passed away in 2020, he left behind a uniquely eldritch body of graphic novels and illustrations, fueled by macabre whimsy and a love of dark mysteries and vintage monsters. Like David Lynch, Sala was a painter who turned to a storytelling medium that allowed him to create inventive narratives inspired by such disparate influences as French crime fiction, the grim humor of Charles Addams, the surreal poetry of Jorge Luis Borges, and his own penchant for all things gleefully ghoulish and sinister.Originally self-published in an edition of 500 copies in 1984, Night Drive collects several short stories inspired directly by pulp magazines, film noir, and Andre Breton — sinister and creepy pieces heavy on the atmosphere and signaling the creative emergence of a singular talent finding his footing with the surety of an artist equipped with the innate mastery of his craft and vision. Night Drive directly led to Sala contributing to Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly’s Raw and the adaptation of Night Drive’s “Invisible Hands” for MTV’s Liquid Television, sparking an almost 40-year career as one of comics’ finest creators and idiosyncratic creators.Edited by longtime Sala friend Dana Marie Andra (Web of Horror) and designed by Sala’s friend and fellow cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Monica, Ghost World), who also contributes the Afterword, this graphic novella is rounded out with rare artwork, interviews with Sala about the book, and an essay by Andra.
