Artpaper: The Activist Librarians

Chris and Jan put this together for the December 1989 issue of Artpaper. Today the idea of an academic library comic collection is taken for granted. Public libraries are even giving workshops on how to make your own books-- Newave style. And little library zine collections are everywhere.

But back in the 1980s this was still considered a bit on the edge. The comic art librarians are mentioned in the last part of the article, taking special notice of the amazing Randall Scott, Michigan State University librarian and, I'm happy to say, one of the gang who subscribed to the old City Limits Gazette. Jim Danky, the Wisconsin librarian (an co-editor of Alternative Library Literature) in this piece, was especially helpful to Jay Kennedy when the Guide was assembled.

Phone photo 400

Something Funny's Going on at WSU Library

I'd characterize this as fluff piece. It's from the Lewiston Tribune, April 15, 1991, five years after I stopped working at WSU. Lewiston, Idaho was not far from Pullman, home of Washington State University.

Notice the covers of then ultra rare titles Reader's Digest X and Ill Comics in the photo. It's also amusing that out all those titles to choose from the author highlighted One Normal Guy Talking With a Nut.

He also mentioned John E.'s hilarious President's Proctologist, one of my favorite comix of all time.

Phone photo 399

Missing Persons

This was another WFMU giveaway as part of a fund drive. Compiled in 1996 by Hank Arakelian, these were actual playing cards.

The theme concerned missing persons. I was given the diamond number cards and assigned to come up with missing persons in the Pacific Northwest. My subjects were Jacko the Sasquatch, Harry R. Truman, Hale Boggs, Butch Cassidy, Wesley Everest's grave, victims of Billy Gohl, flying saucers over Mt. Rainier, me, and D.B. Cooper.

The artists in this project were: Sam Henderson, Deirdre Kennedy, Justin Green, William Graef, Dave the Spazz, John Schnall, Kaz, Hank Arakelian, Harry S. Robins, George Erling, Doug Skinner, Krystine Kryttre, Diane Farris, Chris Ware, Bob Powers, Steve Willis, Nisa Rauschenberg, Mack White, Robert Armstrong, David Chelsea, R. Sikoryak, and Dorian.

The set was accompanied by a small booklet presenting the biographies of the subjects.

Wes Everest's grave is now a well marked IWW memorial to the 1919 Centralia Massacre. I never met Harry R. Truman, but I remember seeing his lodge when I visited Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake a year and a half before the eruption.

Missing

Phone photo 398

Crackpots and Visionaries

Crackpots and Visionaries was a cardset giveaway as part of a 1992 fund drive for WFMU radio in New Jersey.

The cartoonists in this project: Byron Werner, Drew Friedman, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Stephen Kroninger, Hank Arakelian, Roy Tompkins, J.R. Williams, Steve Willis, Joe Coleman, Mark Beyer, Gary Panter, Charles Burns, J.D. King, Harold S. Robins, Julie Doucet, Jim Ryan, Scott Cunningham, Mark Newgarden, Steven Cerio, Carol Lay, Mack White, Doug Allen, Lennie Mace, Sean Taggart, Krystine Kryttre, Richard McGuire, Glenn Head, Jayr Pulga, Ned Sonntag, Jim Woodring, Peter Bagge, Mary Fleener, Jonathon Rosen, Jimmy Piersall, and Kaz.

As tempting as it might be to say the title of this set concerns the cartoonists themselves, it actually refers to the content. Hank Arakelian gave us a list to choose from of various names throughout history. We then drew a portrait, and WFMU supplied the biography on the flip side of the card.

I chose William Jennings Bryan. His career from being a Populist champion and presidential candidate in his 30s to ending up as a Bible-thumping creationist clown at the Scopes Trial is a fascinating and sad descent. But through it all he was always an amazing political actor and showman.

Hank didn't particularly care for my portrait of Bryan. He thought the image was too simple-- not busy enough. But he used it anyway and I was glad to be included in the company of so many great cartoonists. I have an uncut sheet of all the cards on display in my studio.

Bryan also had an indirect role in our family names. His first, and most highly charged, run for President was in 1896. Out in the silver fields of Colorado and Nevada he was practically a God. It was in August of that campaign that my grandfather, William Jennings Bryan McDowell, was born in Ouray, Colorado, a silver boom town.

My great grandfather, Ben McDowell, had dragged his whole family up there from Illinois in the 1880s as he chased silver and gambled away two fortunes (so they say). Several of his brothers lived there too. Ben deserted the family and spent his last years chasing gold in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

Meanwhile, my grandfather's name was shortened to Bryan. The labor violence he witnessed during his formative years turned him into a lifelong Socialist in political philosophy.

The McDowells were never big on preserving family history. About 30 years ago down in Centralia, Washington one of my Mom's cousins gave me a big puffy Victorian era McDowell family photo album, saying "Here kid, I'm not into all this gynecology stuff."

Lots of pics of Ouray, plus some from the Midwest, including tintypes. We think my great grandfather Ben is in a group portrait with his brothers in one shot (nothing is marked), probably the one on the upper left.

And today the name Bryan lives on through my brother.

Sort of strayed here, eh?

Phone photo 397

Olympia, Washington

Norwescon 20

I have not been much of a con attendee, but I did go to this one in 1997, held at SeaTac, Washington, for the the express purpose of meeting special guest Brad Foster. I think this was the one where I also met Steve Gallacci. Also in attendance were the usual gang of familiar local troublemakers: Mark Campos, Bruce Chrislip, Roberta Gregory, Donna Barr, Edd Vick, etc.

If my memory is correct, I think Edd roped me into a panel discussion about comic art and publishers, and I championed the Newave philosophy of do-it-yourself. At the time I felt pretty lonely up there.

Phone photo 396

Cincinnati, Ohio

Morti Resurrectus

While rummaging through a trunk to begin scanning the oversize items for this blog, I ran across the original art of "Morti Resurrectus" by George Erling, Jim Ryan, Bruce Chrislip, and J.R. Williams.

This is from the mid-1980s and initially appeared in, I think, Cartoon Loonacy. Later I responded with a four-panel page (reproduced here but not the original).

These three pages also appeared together in Retreads 4.

Phone photo 395

Near Summit Lake

Thurston County, Washington

T-shirts

Actually I've covered the story of the OlyBlog t-shirt earlier this year. But it belongs in the gallery of t-shirts anyway.



Michael Dowers made this t-shirt in the 1980s (I think) using the Starhead Comix logo I drew.



From the 2002 AIE Summer Program, including Bezango WA 985 on stage! The images are from the comic series.

A page from Cranium Frenzy # 3 which was captioned "Three seconds in the life of Rindo Bloch" inspired this play by my brother, Bryan, and the original image was used in the t-shirt.

Cast member Jeff Kingsbury went on to be elected to the Olympia City Council for one term and his name became an Oly household word-- and not exactly in way anyone would choose.












I first drew the image for Woofer the Psychic Dog (co-written by Bryan) back in 1986 and it just keeps living on whether it is performed in New York or Olympia. To publicize the 1988 Oly premiere I created a long banner which spanned 4th Ave. about where the Danger Room is today.