Kenny Be's Comic Colfax: A Strip Down Memory Lane

Artwork by Kenny Be

     A wise and personable man once confessed that by choosing to live on Colfax Avenue, he doesn't have to incur the cost of having a TV. He explains that no matter the time of day, an interesting drama is always in progress on the street below.
      In my thirty years of drawing the souls and scenes of the city of Denver, I have often returned to Colfax Avenue for inspiration. The East Colfax Avenue drawing above first appeared in Westword in 1983 to illustrate a feature detailing the Denver Planning Department's new round of ideas for a main street makeover.
     The armless model at the top right was the mannequin propped over the front door marquee of Sid King's Crazy Horse Bar. Though the seedy strip club at 1201 East Colfax Avenue is long gone, the Bourbon Square building stands today and is home to the Irish Snug.--- Kenny Be.