Another black-and-white series from 1981-1982 worth looking at is
ISMET, about a galaxy-spanning war with an evil empire fought by a dog named Ismet and his other anthropomorphic animal friends, in a brief 5-issue series.
The amateurish early issues improved at a remarkable pace up through issues 4 and 5, in both story and art. And I think it's safe to guess that artist Greg Wadsworth was a student of Dave Sim's CEREBUS series, that largely explains the series' rapid escalation in quality.
The last work by Wadsworth I know of was a short backup titled "Night of the Living Teddy Bears" in CEREBUS 54 (Sept 1983). Unfortunately to my knowledge, ISMET was never concluded. Too bad, a great rising talent in those years.
