Mike Hill Covers the Obscuro Bezango Show

Mike Hill of Worker Poet fame also performed a bit of photojournalism for the Rehm/Traffic/Buzzizyk Obscuro Bezango show in Pittsburgh's Future Tenant gallery. But unlike me, Mike uses a real camera and is an accomplished photographer! He has graciously given me permission to select a few of his photos. None of the artists wished to have their faces posted online, so I have to dance around that as I select:

Tom had cleverly hidden the part of the exhibit with my own comix art under that red covering until the last minute. I was touched-- and impressed by his stealth. It didn't make me feel so bad about hiding all those Morty Comix in his house!

That twisted face has scrawled on the reverse side something about the mysterious "Borpo Deets," who I am convinced was the mentor to all three artists in the show.

 

A break during the final stages of setup. My West Coast sensibility was prepared for massive humidity, but it actually was pretty nice the week I was there. Notice the Big Eyed Bean From Venus in the window. It was fun watching folks react to it as they walked by. 

 Opening night. Willis, Wayno, Chrislip

 Willis, Chrislip

 It's the shirt that draws these beautiful women to me

For your readers in the Pittsburgh area, this show is continuing to September 1st

More Original Art!

Michael Dowers just sent me a huge package of original art I had apparently lent to him since the 1980s I had forgotten about. Thanks Michael! What an unexpected arrival in PO Box 390! A treasure trove of memories!

This work will probably be made available for sale very soon, as in starting today or tomorrow.

In taking an inventory here's what I find:

Stories (I will eventually track down the original publication source for all of them):

"No Cigar" (12 p.)
"Dredging" (4 p.)
"Rainmaker Painraker" (12 p.) from Storm Warnings. Conventional mainstream minds liked this piece, but I hated it. Go figure.
"Slim Chance and Fat Fate" (7 p.) also from Storm Warnings.
"Chow Time" (4 p.)
"I Love, Er, Like Seattle!" (2 p.) This was the only piece I drew as an original work just for the Seattle Star that was not a reprint aside from a cover for one issue.

Entire books:
Cranium Frenzy # 7 (1994). (19 p.)
Bezango (1994). (24 p.). I am torn about offering this art for sale for three reasons. First, this comic was later reprinted as a nationally distributed comic under the Starhead label with the title Bezango Obscuro. That jacks it up a notch. Second, as a nationally distributed comic, it left the fold of the obscure and my character Floating Baby Head was widely read. This character is now used in the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb, and I am still interested in investigating possible legal action against Walt's regime for stealing my idea. I know, it's a David v. Goliath scenario, and if I try I'll be crushed like an insect in a manner that will ruin me. But that concept was mine first in a national commercial comic and the original art can serve as a court exhibit. I feel very ripped off, even if it was possibly unintentional. Third, the upcoming documentary on NW cartoonists is called Bezango WA and I suspect this "Bezango" term will not go away. If that is the case, I now hold a precious primary source document that should reside in a public depository, like the Washington State University Comix Collection.
Xenophobic Knives and other Love Songs, Pt. 2 (1991) (12 p.) 

In addition, Michael sent three pages of an unpublished work called "Outside-In, the History of a Comix Series." Looks like it was drawn in 1989. Michael says he left p. 4 in a scanner, so when he sends that one I'll post the whole thing here. I must admit I have no memory of drawing this thing or why I drew it.

Still deciding whether or not to sell each page individually or as a set. I'm open to offers before I post. You can check out my other art and comix for sale here:

 http://www.mortythedog.com/p/comix-art-25-sale-includes-new-items.html

[Update: "I Love, Er, Like Seattle!" is no longer available]

[Another update: "Dredging" has been spoken for]

Attention Phineas and Ferb Fans: Meet the ORIGINAL Floating Baby Head

It came to my attention that a popular animated cartoon has a character called Giant Floating Baby Head.

I wonder if any the folks behind the show saw my Floating Baby Head character comix in the 1990s? And if not, what sort of collective memory were we tapping into?

State of Beings # 1 (1991)

Bezango / Bezango Obscuro (1994)

What is "Bezango"?

Last October 9th, when I posted the Bezango/Bezango Obscuro story I made a stab at the etymology of the word "Bezango."

It was just a word I made up. I liked the sound of it. I had used it as an expression of joy for awhile, perhaps starting as early as the 1980s. The first instance of this word seeing print, so far as I can ascertain, was in the 1994 comic of the same name. But perhaps I used it in City Limits Gazette 1991-1993. When I post those I'll keep my eye out for it.

Later "Bezango" became a geographic place in the Bezango WA 985 series, an 8-issue run that began in late 2001. Bezango was another name for the weird and unusual people and places tucked away in these moss-covered hills of Southwest Washington.

The word was revived for the Olympia Power & Light column in 2009. To me, the word has evolved into some kind of catch-all for the stories that fall between the cracks, the oddballs, the weirdos, and the celebration of frivolity. We'll get into the story behind that last descriptor in good time.

Bezango WA 985 has also been on stage and shown as gallery art.

Bezango / Bezango Obscuro

My first comic of 1994 (January), 100 copies. Rose colored covers in enlarged digest format.

2nd ed., around Feb.-March 1994, 50 copies with a salmon cover, also enlarged digest size.

Starhead Comix reprinted the comic in commercial form later in 1994 and retitled it Bezango Obscuro. I'm not positive, but I think Michael Dowers told me he printed somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 copies.

The cover color was supplied by Art Penn, an amazing artist chiefly known under another name as an illustrator of children's books.

Because the comic was originally drawn for the digest size, there happened to be extra space in the margins. This was filled by employing an academic Michael had met in a bar. Dr. Whidbey interviewed me once on Michael's front porch. I recall he was drinking something that smelled like high octane mango, and wore black socks with his sandals. Howerton College, a private school somewhere up north, went under awhile back due to bad investments. Or maybe the whole thing was just a dream.


My only comment on his comments is the use of the word "claim." I know not this "claim," it just is.

There was more padding by including part of Morty Comix #2018, and three issues of State of Beings, which were initially released as comic supplements with the biweekly City Limits Gazette during my editorship, 1991-1993.

The 1st Danger Room Reprint Ed. of June 2005 was a return to the original form, except the 5 copies with red covers were printed in digest form, not enlarged.

"Bezango" is a word I just made up, I like the sound of it. "Obscuro" was a term I began to use frequently while editing CLG. By the early 1990s the Newave was dead and I started using "Obscuro" as another word to describe the kind of comix we produced. Michael picked up on that and added it to the commercial release. I'm not sure if Michael himself or Art Penn created the second part of the cover title logo.

I'm including a scan of the enlarged digest cover, the original color of the cover (a gift from Michael which I prize) with and without the acetate overlay, and commercial comic itself. Whidbey has saved me the trouble of adding trivia notes.