SPBURKE

As I’m sure most of you know by now, Davy Jones, former frontman for The Monkees, passed away from a heart attack at the age of 66.  He was a star of stage, screen, and advertisements for almost 50 years.  And yet, he was taken from us far too early.

I’m a little late to respond, because I’m honestly not sure HOW to respond.  I’m in a bit of an awkward position with Davy Jones’ passing, for a specific reason.  I made him the villain in last year’s Halloween comic.

I’ve had to explain to a few people since I’ve been doing “Eddie Van Helsing” that I don’t have anything against most of the musicians I include in the stories, and just use their public personas as launching points for parody and satire.  I love Frank Zappa, but I also thought making him a Frankenstein reanimated by a vampire David Lee Roth would be a funny idea.

Same with Davy Jones in the “Spiders From Mars” story.  That story was all but a love letter to David Bowie, but Bowie was born David Jones.  He had to change his name because of Davy.  I thought that was a trippy concept, and took things from there.

It was never meant to say anything bad about Davy Jones the man.  By all reports, Davy Jones was a class act and a genuine talent.  He shouldn’t have been taken from us at 66.  And when I’m promoting “Oh Goodie! Vol. 2” this spring (which contains the “Spiders From Mars” story), I intend to say the same and hopefully share memories with fans and well-wishers.

And right now, here’s MY favorite Davy Jones memory for you guys.  Hope you enjoy.