Fifteen Heart Attacks, p. 18-19

Two more pages for the ongoing online jam, Fifteen Heart Attacks.

Page 18 has spot illos by Jim Siergey, Chad Woody, Larned Justin, and Bruce Chrislip!

Page 19 is by yours truly.

[I can't seem to find Larned's email. Anyone out there have it handy?}

Favorite Movie Quotes: Stakeout

"Alright, take this down. I think we got something to check out. He apparently has a buddy with the initials 'B.C.' right here in Seattle ..."

This is never fully explained in this 1987 movie, but it should be obvious the man they were looking for was a guy who lived in that city at that time named "Bruce Chrislip"!

Congrads to our old friend, Bruce Chrislip!

SPACE Prize

Life Time Achievement &

Official Historian

Bruce Chrislip 

City Limits Gazette

Presented at the 

Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE)

April 13, 2013

Columbus, Ohio 

Morty Comix # 2526

Morty Comix # 2526 was drawn on the skin of my right hand (I am left-handed) and Hettie breezed by to inspect the artwork before I washed it off. This might mark the first time Morty Comix was presented as body art, although it was very temporary. I suspect this is as close as I'll ever come to a tattoo, an adornment which has become a widespread fad for the last couple decades but I must confess is an art form I find unappealing. I'm not knockin' it, it just isn't my deal.

Why? Because I see the creation and consumption of art as ever evolving. Something that captivates me at age 18 will become lame and stupid by the time I am 35, 40, 50. Plus, and believe me I know, our bodies change shape like silly putty as we hurtle through time. And that changes the presentation of the tattoo.


I understand there are at least two people running around out there in the world with Morty the Dog tattoos, although I have not seen them. One of them gained his Morty body graphic long before tattoos became hip. That was a real radical leap and I do respect him for that. But what if I subsequently had suffered a severe head injury and became a member of the Tea Party or the NRA and allowed Morty to be an icon of these hater un-American movements that stand for nothing but fear, greed and ignorance?


But, that being said, apparently the late great underground cartoonist Greg Irons, an artist I admire very much, was a tattoo artist in Seattle working in the city at the same time I was a graduate student at the University of Washington over 30 years ago. And this was before tattoos became fashionable for middle class kids. Back then, the radicals got tattoos, but these days the radicals don't get them. If I had known Greg was in town I would've been very tempted to get an Irons tattoo. The guy was the Durer of our time, a gifted artist, and a big influence on my own cartooning. I loved his work.

As I recall, Bruce Chrislip (who was hosting), Michael Dowers and I were downing a beer or two (er, or more) next to Lake Union late 1984 when Bruce gave us the news Greg had been killed by a bus in Thailand at age 37. It's not fair. We were robbed of several more decades of work by a great artist. Very funny Mr. God, thanks a lot!    

Morty Comix # 2494

Morty Comix # 2494 looked like the kind of comic art that needed to travel, so I turned to my online card deck to help me decide where to send it.

The 5 of diamonds. Five. Our 5th President was James Monroe, the first of the subset of Obscure Presidents. Since this blog is basically an online Obscuro Comix, Monroe was the perfect choice Fate decided to use.

There are 17 counties in the United States named Monroe County, and I am guessing each one is named after the President. I whittled the list down to the counties residing in states I have visited: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. I've been in Missouri, but only in the St. Louis airport changing planes and I won't count that.

Next card, 6 of hearts. Six. Ohio was the 6th state I listed. Hearts starts with "H" so I searched for a place in Monroe County, Ohio that starts with that letter and found the small settlement of Hannibal, on the Ohio River across from West Virginia.

I've actually been within about 40 miles or less of Hannibal in 1999 when I was driving north on I-77. Nearby Cambridge, Ohio was the home of Henry McCleary, who founded McCleary, Washington. The McCleary family farm now sits under an artificial lake created in the 1950s and is part of an Ohio state park.

Hannibal is nestled in some nice country.

I also visited Ohio during SPACE 2011, with my friends Bruce and Joan Chrislip as my hosts. In both visits I was impressed by how welcoming the natives of the Buckeye State were. My own ancestors lived for a generation or two in the northeast and southeast corners of pioneer Ohio on their way West.

Anyway, it turns out Hannibal is unincorporated and about a quarter of the size of McCleary (we have a bit over 1600 people here). So I simply searched for Hannibal online and chose the first place that popped up with an address, which turned out to be a vacant place of business up for sale. So I'm sending it care of the "Art Director," with a brief note, and hope whoever receives it has a sense of humor and an appreciation for the unexpected.

I submit that there will be no other comic art title harder to collect than Morty Comix. In March this serial will be 30 years old. And in a weird twist, it is the later issues that will be much harder to find. I am sure most of them have been thrown away since I have created this art form of Obscuro random distribution.

Buttons - Comic Art - 1994

Richie Rich

On the curl: Character "Richie Rich, The Poor Little Rich Boy" (R)&(C) Harvey Publications. (C) 1994 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved

I believe this button was presented to me by a cartoonist who many of us suspect used to run around comic conventions in a giant Richie Rich head. I won't say his name but his initials are Bruce Chrislip.

Fifteen Heart Attacks, page 6

From this point on, all the pages are entirely written and drawn by the amazingly incredible creative ball of energy we know as Maximum Traffic. Students of Newave and Obscuro will notice what care he took to  mimic my drawing style in certain instances in order to have some sort of continuity in the inevitable anarchy of the open jam.

Max is a brilliant star in the comix universe. I am so glad I got to meet him in person last year at SPACE in Columbus, thanks to Bruce Chrislip and Bob Corby making my trip possible.

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 6

Although he unfortunately no longer resides in Washington State, our old pal Bruce Chrislip in McCleary's sister-city of goetta-rich Cincinnati (Henry McCleary was from Ohio, so it isn't so far fetched. Plus, I have actually met and shook hands with the mayors of both cities. Who else can say that?) participated in McCleary Mini-Comics Day from afar! We love you Bruce!

SPACE Interview Reposted

The Jim & Frank Podcast somehow found audio from my visit to SPACE 2011 when Bruce Chrislip interviewed me. Mostly this piece of comix history is valuable for hearing Bruce's incredible rendition of a couple Bil Keane Watch columns.

Mortymail 5/9/12

OK, I admit I have become a terrible correspondent to those of you who contact me via USPS. And I have been for a number of years. Burnout is liberating yet guilt-inducing.

Anyway. It is not my intention to make this a regular feature of Morty the Blog, but I thought I would report on some of the stuff I get in the mail before I send it off the to the Washington State University comix collection. In no way is this making up for Richard Krauss basically suspending Midnight Fiction, and I am not reviewing. If you are looking for a networking place, send your comix to Rick Bradford at Poopsheet.

I let my mail pile up quite a bit before I even look at it. Then I get out the jack-knife, slice those babies open after they have collected dust for a week or more, and mostly pay bills while some old movie is in the VCR. Yes, you heard me, I said VCR. Occasionally some comix stuff slips in there.

Here's what arrived this week:

Kel Crum sent me his latest, Scribbles. I'd like to know how he found legal sized paper to print this work in the classic enlarged digest size which I loved. I finally got to meet Kel at SPACE last year and admired his performance skills during the comix reading show.

Bruce Chrislip sent me a big packet of material. Included were copies of a couple jams from SPACE 2011. I found his reprint (20 years later) of Thurber of Ohio to be especially wonderful. Before Bruce and I left SPACE in Columbus last year to head for Cincinnati, we visited the Thurber House. I really enjoyed visiting the home of one great Ohio cartoonist while accompanied by another great Ohio cartoonist.

I hope one day Bruce and Joan Chrislip return to Washington State.

And finally, our old Newave comrade, Gary Fields, sent this great version of Morty the Dog! 

I love it!

Steve Charak's Beatles Lists

My friend Steve Charak and I shared an enjoyment of compiling useless information. We also liked the Beatles and seeing if we could stump each other with questions of trivia.

Here are some lists Steve compiled, I'm betting they are from the early 1990s. In the last list, Steve knew I acquired cover versions of the Fab Four and was wondering if I would ever find cover versions of this particular set. I did. Here they are:

You Know My Name, Look Up the Number
Ballard Beatles (Bruce and Joan Chrislip)
Beatles (Anthology)
Micky Saunders
Greg Stomberg

Inner Light
Beatles (Rarities)
Micky Saunders
Soulful Strings
Dan Susnara

Blue Jay Way
Bentmen
Buddha Pest
Ken Clinger (2 versions)
Mike Grossman (2 versions)
Steve Kahn
Lord Sitar
C. Newman
Poets
Micky Saunders
Bud Shank
Squires of the Subterrain

Flying
Beatles (remastered)
Big City Orchestra
Ken Clinger (6 versions)
Joe Goldmark
Mike Grossman
Residents
Micky Saunders
Bud Shank
Shockabilly
Frank Sidebottom
Russ Stedman

Don't Pass Me By
Beatles (Anthology)
Beatles (Rarities)
Contrello
Georgia Satellites
Micky Saunders (2 versions)

Yes It Is
Beatles (Anthology)
Don Henley
In-Sect
Robert Quine and Jody harris
Peter Sellers
Dan Susnara

And Your Bird Can Sing
Ann Dyer & No Good Time Fairies
Beatles (Anthology)
Ray Carmen
Charles River Valley Boys
Food
Jam
Roger Klug
Laxton's Supreme
R. Stevie Moore
Stars On 45
Joemy Wilson (as I recall, Steve Charak himself told me about this one)
Wretched Pinhead Puppets

No Reply
Banda de los Corazones Solitarios
Beatles (Anthology, 2 versions)
Big Ben Banjo Band
Cavemen
Floyd Domino
David Dziubcyzynski
Hollyridge Strings
Last Words
Leeves
Jeff Olson
RRSO Symphony Orchestra
Stars On 45 (3 versions)

Only a Northern Song
Beatles (Anthology)
Empty Set
Micky Saunders (3 versions)

I'll Follow the Sun
Chet Atkins
David Ball
Brothers Four
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Domino
Hollyridge Strings
Glyn Johns
King's Singers
Koppykats
Kit Walker

In addition, here are the least covered Beatle songs I gathered (by Beatle song I mean one they composed and recorded themselves):

All I've Got to Do
Lester Lanin
George Martin

Another Girl
Lester Lanin

Ask Me Why
Beatles (bootleg)
Rosy Beats

Dig It
Beatles (2 bootlegs)
Laibach

Don't Bother Me
Big Ben Banjo Band
I-Tones
Bob Leaper

Dr. Robert
Mike Grossman
Laxton's Superb
Micky Saunders

Hold Me Tight
Baroque Beatles
Rubber Soul
Treasures

I Need You
Bee Gees
Lester Lanin and his Go-Go Getters
Micky Saunders

I'll Get You
Beatles (Anthology)
Big Ben Banjo Band
Leon Young String Chorale

Long Long Long
Moon Flower
Phish
Micky Saunders

Love You To
Bongwater
Don Randi
Micky Saunders

Tell Me What You See
Mike Grossman
Teenage Fanclub

What Goes On
Charles River Valley Boys
Orphan
Micky Saunders

What You're Doing
Lester Lanin
Micky Saunders

When I Get Home
Micky Saunders

You Like Me Too Much
Waikikis

Random Drawings, ca. 1977-200something

I'm continuing to excavate material as I clean out the studio. Here are several random drawings from notes, letters, and other ephemera, mostly centered from 1977 to about 1983. The academic quarter drawing of an unnamed Morty is one of his earliest appearances, probably in 1978. I included it in a letter and it was never published. A blue card has a draft of Ofeelya from my Tragedy of Morty series. A 1977-drawn two panel view of Seattle anticipated my one-pager for the Seattle Star years later. I think the final page had something to do with one of my brother's plays and is the only piece from Century 21.