Drug Task Force goes after art school students for Slang Gang posters

This week's cover story, "Buzz Kill," profiles Jesse and Corey Knapper, 24-year-old twins and students at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, who created a gang of cartoon characters -- and the trouble stemming from that inspiration.

Design: Jay Vollmar

View an animated version of this week's cover.

The original design that made its way onto posters and stickers around Denver.

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More About

• Saul Gud
• Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design
• Corey Knapper
• Slang and Jargon
• Psychoactive Drugs

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Playing off the slang phrase "It's all good," the twins wondered what kind of character Saul Gud would be like. For a while, a drug-addicted but chipper homeless man Corey had met on East Colfax was the top contender. But when the pair decided that Saul sounded biblical, it clicked instantly. Jesse Google-imaged "religious Jewish man," then vectorized one of the images that came up. Saul Gud, a Hasidic Jewish man with a strong nose, a snazzy hat and an impressive beard, was the first member of the Slang Gang.

When they returned to RMCAD the next semester, Corey signed up for a street art class. And the twins got serious about posting the Slang Gang around Denver-metro.

They began wheat-pasting posters as big as eight feet with images of the Slang Gang on buildings and making stickers. Soon, they caught the attention of the police, including the West Metro Drug Task Force at the request of the Wheat Ridge Police Department.

How did the Slang Gang of characters become a real gang and why did a drug task force go after a couple art-school students? Read "Buzz Kill: A gang of cartoon characters landed these art-school students in double trouble" by Jenny An in this week's Westword.

Also view these web-only sidebars:

- Police Reports: "Saul Gud" streets artists: How police tracked them with Facebook

- Saul Gud cover: View the animated cover for this week's feature story

- Slide show: Meet the Slang Gang

- Buzz Kill: The Knapper twins' favorite street artists