We have a strong, almost scary affinity for comics - good. imaginative, well-drawn comics - and we're fond of art as well. So when we heard that publisher Max Hopper commissioned local artists Jim Hall and David Bromley to redraw the comic strip Art in Shambles for an exhibit, we were thrilled. The circa 1990 local strip began as a comic book starring real-life artists recreated as fictional characters. It soon morphed into a biweekly strip (with appear-ances in Throttle, Articulate and Punchline) upon the entrance of Bubba, Pablo Picasso's illegitimate son, into the mix of well-known artists like Basquiat ("Raphael X"), Willem de Kooning ("Duke Kooning") and Walter Keane (as himself).

Hall and Bromley have redone the first eighteen strips, which will hang alongside never-been-shown paintings of Bubba. On its Tenth Anniversary, Richmond welcomes the revival of its comic baby Art In Shambles, proof positive that comics are indeed an art form. - LH