 During the turbulent 1970s scene in San Francisco, Colwell worked as an illustrator for the underground paper "Good Times" and joined the commune that produced this weekly.Colwell left the "Good Times" after the paper ceased publication and concentrated on doing paintings and a few comic books until the mid 1980s.After this creative period marred by drug abuse, Colwell worked for Rip Off Press as a colorist, also contributing stories, artwork, or production to many underground comic book titles and anthologies.