MY NAME IS JOHN "COMET" RUSSO AND I BEGAN PAINTING SUBWAY TRAINS AS A VERY YOUNG BOY, JUST LIKE MOST GRAFFITI WRITERS. WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT ME WAS I STARTED WRITING BACK IN 1971 AND AT THAT TIME GRAFFITI WAS IN THE BEGINNING STAGES.
I BELIEVE THAT I, ALONG WITH OTHERS, PAVED THE WAY FOR NEW WRITERS OF THAT ERA AND GAVE THE GRAFFITI COMMUNITY A SOLID FOUNDATION TO BUILD ON. DURING MY RUN PAINTING THE TRAINS, I HAD 4 VERY ARTISTIC PARTNERS "SILVER TIPS", "BILLY 167", "CLIFF 159" AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST "BLADE 1".
DURING MY RUN WITH BLADE WE TOOK OVER THE #2 AND #5 TRAIN LINES BACK IN 1974 (YES 1974). WE BECAME THE KINGS AND THAT REIGN LASTED FOR 7 YEARS TO 1981. NO OTHER WRITER EVER HELD THESE TRAIN LINES THAT LONG. WE WERE TRUE KINGS. WE PAINTED MANY, MANY TRAINS. I CONSIDERED MYSELF THE DRIVING FORCE AND I CONSTANTLY PUSHED MY PARTNER TO DO MORE.
NOW, AT THE OF AGE OF 50 , I HAVE RETURNED TO MY PASSION ONCE AGAIN BUT INSTEAD OF PAINTING SUBWAY TRAINS I TURNED TO THE CANVAS, TO START MY NEW BATTLE ABOVE GROUND.
EMAIL: MRCOMET1971@YAHOO.COM
