A few minutes ago, I moved an almost empty box onto the couch. This was the second of two boxes full of fanzines. Some were edited by Stu, most were sent to him. The idea was to find every bit of Stu art that exists.

Now here's a surprise: I did not realize how concerned I was that I would miss something. This is a painstaking task, to go page by page, finding lists of "art credits", checking signatures (especially when you find something that doesn't seem to be one person's work) Collaborations are commonplace, art jams and the fun of sharing ideas is woven into fan art.

Stu began drawing as a kid. His work has appeared hundreds and hundreds of times in fanzines that were mimeographed or photocopied, comic books and cartoon anthologies that were printed paperbacks. He drew for at least forty years. I have, in the past several weeks come across cartoons dated as far back as 1979. This is a job that requires me to pay attention.

It may seems silly that I worried that I wouldn't know Stu's work. I mean I lived with the guy for over 25 years, and during most of that time, he created art. I already knew his work and thus some of his style (which, yes, changed and evolved but you can always tell a Shiffman drawing, I think, yes?)

It was gratifying, then, to realize that I was recognizing his work from the git-go, the second I turned a page. There were a few times I was mildly confused until I saw, say, Ken Fletch's signature as well. But like many of you - well lots of you who knew Stu for so many years - I know his work like that. Why was I worried?

This is only the first pass. I know that it will take another painstaking amount of time to see what I missed. And of course, a mere two boxes of zines is just the beginning. But phew. Of the hundreds of fanzines and flyers and magazines I went through, I would say somewhere between 10% to 25% had art by Stu Shiffman. It will be turned over to Alex Bear who is currently scanning in everything we find. I would love to spend all day doing this- looking and giggling, feeling nostalgic, remembering that article or that event, wanting to put so many zines aside to read. But The Wretched Shoulder insists that I stop often. I've said before, doing this is pretty much the only thing I do that brings me joy.