Lynda Barry’s Illustrated Covers for The Rocket and the Seattle Sun

Artist Lynda Barry is having an giant exhibit at the Adam Baumgold gallery in New York City. It opened May 13 and runs through July 11, 2014. Check out the gallery website for a huge collection of Barry’s work.

Back in the day (that day was the late 1970s and early 80s), I worked with Lynda Barry in Seattle at several alternative publications, The Seattle Sun and The Rocket. (I was the art director of the Seattle Sun and the art director and later editor of The Rocket). Both published Barry’s early comics, as well as her illustrations for stories and the occasional advertisement. Barry also illustrated a spectacular series of covers over the years. Generally there wasn’t much art direction involved; we just told her how much space to leave for the logo and what size to make the art.

Here are five covers from the Seattle Sun and The Rocket, illustrated by Lynda Barry in the late 1970s and early 80s.

(Above): The Seattle Sun, March 28, 1979. Art director: Robert Newman.

The Rocket, January 1985. Art directors: Dennis Eichhorn, Charles R. Cross, Robert Newman

The Seattle Sun, December 19, 1979. Art director: Robert Newman.

The Rocket, July 1983. Art director: Helene Silverman.

The Rocket, June 1980. Art directors: Steven Bialer, Mark Michaelson.