Saturday, October 16, 2010

Little Snowjob









It took awhile to track him down, but Marc Myers was finally located, contacted, and has given his permission to have this minicomic jam scanned and posted.

This is one of the more unusual jams in my experience. Marc came clear from Nebraska and stayed as our house guest during a snowy time in Pullman, Washington in early 1986. We sat at a table and passed this back and forth. Living in an isolated spot like Pullburg made it a rare treat to draw with another comix comrade in person and not via the Postal Service.

The title was one of those beautiful accidents. We both came up with a different word in secret, and then let Dada combine them. Marc came up with Little, I with Snowjob. When we put them together I remember laughing with delight. And, I believe I did go to get hamburgers in a snowstorm, as Marc wrote in the caption.

The comic was printed on both sides of a single letter-sized sheet and then folded with no cuts. The folded finished product measured at 11 x 7 cm. I have provided a scan of both sides of the side to display the way it was pasted up.

I published the 1st ed. in early 1986, 40 copies. My copy is blue.

Little Snowjob was offered as a print-on-demand title for awhile in my Reprint Series, starting in September 1994.

Marc has been one of the more overlooked and least understood of the Newave cartoonists. Rather ironic considering he embodied so many of the qualities we liked to champion. His work was totally original, he had no commercial motives, and he was ultra obscure. His print runs made mine look like Newsweek or Time. He was more of a visual artist than a storytelling cartoonist, frequently using collage techniques.

No history of the Newave comix movement would be complete without seriously considering the work of Marc Myers.

I always enjoyed his sense of humor. One time in 1983 he wrote to me about box elder bugs in the Cornhusker State. That is not an insect we see around here, so I asked him what sort of insect this was. Next thing I know he sent me one, taped to the back of his Selective Service notice, with a notice "Box Elder Bug (Dead)."

In Pullman, I recall Marc could do a pretty dead on imitation of Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. He even had the hat, I think.

Marc and I also jammed on Morty Comix #1430, 1431, 1433, 1439. Along with Pullman cartoonist Clint Hollingsworth, the three of us produced Morty Comix #1432.