Short Run 2013

OK, so I'm the Howard Hughes of comix. Except poor.

Anyway, our old friend Jim Gill sent photos of Short Run 2013 to share. This annual comix event takes place in Seattle. I  have never been to it but a couple of conspirators are attempting to lure me to the 2014 show.

Jim's photos are on FaceBook. I am not personally on FaceBook and probably never will be, so I cannot comment on these. Here's Jim's link:

https://www.facebook.com/james.gill.395017/media_set?set=a.10151847341617333.1073741828.523782332&type=1

Paul Tumey, "Wotta Rube!"

 Paul Tumey with original art by Rube Goldberg

 Paul holds a copy of The Art of Rube Goldberg

Paul in Abrams NYC office working on the book with Goldberg's granddaughter, Jennifer George, and fellow book contributor Carl Linich.

Paul Tumey sends news and photos telling us about the new book The Art of Rube Goldberg, to be released by Abrams in mid-November. Amazon has the ordering information.

Paul is one of a half dozen essayists in this book. For those of you who don't know, Mr. Tumey maintains an excellent website devoted to the art of screwball cartoonists, with Rube Goldberg being the chief screwball.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Paul in person when he braved the wilds and along with some other screwballs attended the McCleary Mini-Comics Day a couple years ago. Here's part of the group pictured in Elma, where we ate dinner: taken by filmmaker (Bezango, WA) Ron Austin with Jim's camera: L to R: Jim Gill, Morty the Dog, Paul and Reid Tumey, Frank Young.

 

Morty Comix # 2401

The idea for Morty Comix # 2401 came to me in a meeting at work. I quickly jotted down the basic concept while pretending to look serious and intelligent.

So then I came home and drew six faces. The next stop was my little photocopier.

But guess what? I hadn't used my photocopier since Mini-Comics Day last may 26th. So when I opened the lid for scanning I found the original art for The Floating Head of Humptulips, a jam by Frank Young, Paul Tumey, Jim Gill and myself was still in there! A cartoon bomb for me for a change!

So I took that art and it became the first item in a box of material I'll be sending to the Washington State University Comix Collection when it fills up. I just sent WSU a big box of comix and related material earlier this month.

The box, by the way, was originally sent to me by Michael Dowers, one of several filled with copies of Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s.

That hideous and frightening doll hanging above the box was given to me by my daughter many years ago as a joke. It is part of my Bulletin Board project.

 Then, for good measure, I tossed my original draft drawing for Morty Comix # 2401 as well.

Well, my my, we certainly got sidetracked, didn't we? So, back to the six faces:

I ran the images through my photocopier, and reduced them in size, on astrobright pink paper. Maybe about 15 copies. Then I cut them into little squares.

All the little squares were then placed inside a styrofoam cup. The cup itself was titled, numbered and dated.

 The original art, which was ballpoint on graph paper, was burned in my woodstove.

The next day, which is today, I visited a Timberland Library branch north of here and found a great place to leave Morty Comix # 2401 as sort of a cartoon bomb ...

 ... right under a dictionary stand.

And so I bid farewell to another Morty Comix left out in the world all on its own to face an uncertain fate.

Cartoon Simple

[illustration by Paul Tumey]

Morty the Blog readers need to check Jim Gill's new website, Cartoon Simple.

It brings to mind the advice I got from Seattle Post-Intelligencer cartoonist Ray Collins in 1977: if you want to be a great cartoonist-- study poetry. Say a lot with just a few lines. Then he politely told me my work was very bad. And it was. But I got better, in part because of what I learned from Ray.

Nelson Bentley, William Stafford, Ken Kesey, Richard Brautigan: I sought out the Pacific Northwest poets and writers. Authors who described the world I lived in. It made a difference in my comix.

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 13

Although I was granted administrator power on the official Mini-Comics day website, when it comes to employing graphics on WordPress I am really inept. Thanks to Steven Stwalley for telling the McCleary story on that venue.

Another obscure link to our corner of the world up here in the Great Pacific Northwest was provided by Jim Gill, who led us to Colin Upton's effort on Mini-Comics Day.

The cover here is from Jim's Headgear, a truly impressive piece of work created in a short time with no pencils. And he modestly and quietly made this thing while visiting and telling stories in a casual manner. A cartoonist class act.

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 10

The Floating Head of Humptulips was a jam on Mini-Comics Day by Frank Young, Jim Gill,  Paul Tumey and Morty the Dog. The "occupency" sign (by Paul?) is a real-life typo from a public notice posted by the City of McCleary in the Community Center. Yes, Grays Harbor County is indeed in the Third World, where literacy is not first nature and dictionaries gather dust. It is even evident on street signs and newspaper headlines. On the public health index and unemployment, this county ranks dead last out of 39 counties in Washington.

Still, I love Grays Harbor County. This place is one of the last islands of the old Washington State, the real Washington we rural Boomer natives knew as we were growing up. Sasquatch is safe out here. We can still scratch where it itches. Wild Russian boars run amok.

Mini-Comics Day In McCleary, pt. 8

Emanations and Expectorations was a jam conceived by Jim Gill and included Frank Young, Paul Tumey, and myself in honor of Mini-Comics Day.

Morty Comix # 2365

Morty Comix # 2365 was slipped into Jim Gill's clipboard while he was busy trying to figure out Frank Young's photocopy logistics during Mini-Comics Day in McCleary.

This particular Morty Comix shows signs of me testing which of my long standing drawing tools still worked.

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 4

Jim Gill drew this without any pencils, just directly on paper in fairly quick order. Amazing.

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, pt. 3

Jim Gill has compiled a nice post on McCleary Mini-Comics Day.

Taken in Elma, Washington (where we went for dinner) by Ron Austin with Jim's camera: L to R: Jim Gill, Morty the Dog, Paul and Reid Tumey, Frank Young.  

Mini-Comics Day in McCleary, Pt. 1

Yesterday I hosted the McCleary site for National Mini-Comics Day at our local Community Center. During the first hour, from 9-10, I was totally alone, listening to whatever creature it was that was living in the wall or ceiling of the building. Knowing my time might be crunched as the day went on, I used the opportunity to put together my minicomic for the day.

There should be a name for those strands of paper that are a byproduct of trimming newly printed minicomix. When I mentioned this later, I think Jim Gill suggested "mippitts."

So, this is is one the fastest minicomix I have ever produced, exactly 44 minutes from conception to the finished 10 copies. It is untitled.

The greeting table, including promo material for the Olympia Comics Festival, to take place June 2!

The first contingent arrived at about 10 from Seattle! Paul Tumey and his son Reid, Frank Young, and Jim Gill. I was thrilled to finally meet all of them in person and grateful they made the long trek to the hills for this.

All three of the cartoonists above have known each for a long time since they first met in their native Southeast U.S. I loved the way they fit together when they talked. It was like listening to well practiced tag-team comedy with a real mutual respect and affection.

Paul Tumey and I first corresponded back in 1990. Paul can be counted among one of the more thoughtful cartoonists I've known, like Joe Zabel, Scott McCloud, Hank Arakelian, and several others. He has several websites, my favorite being Screwball Comics.

Frank Young is a very funny fellow with a thousand voices. Also, he is a former editor of the Comics Journal and is juggling enough blogs to qualify him as a circus act.

Jim Gill and I have been corresponding since 1996. He was the first person to ever post a Morty Comix on Internet. Plus, and I cannot say this about anyone else I know, he actually knew someone who was eaten by an alligator!

Frank and Jim have a website called The Jim and Frank Podcast, and if you think radio comedy is dead, you need to visit this site first.

As the day progressed more people trickled in. I think we had a grand total of a dozen people in the six hours of the event. In the background of this shot you can see Bothell, Washington cartoonist/filmmaker Ron Austin and his partner Louise setting up as part of a project they have in mind. I met Ron last week at Evergroove's 40th Anniversary.

Bryan and Amy collate and staple a minicomic that was really wonderful. Part of the whole idea of this event was to attract non-comix artists to the art form, and these two created a very nice work entitled This is the Story of Ludwig. My brother's modesty prevents him from giving me permission to post it, but maybe one day he'll relent. I'm serious, I think these two put together an elegant little 8-pager. At least WSU will get it, so it won't be entirely lost.

Hey, if I can sing "I haven't seen my underpants in weeks" in public, which I did in Elma after this event (as Jim Gill can bear witness), certainly this mini can be shared with the world. But, I'll respect Bryan's wishes.

Figuring out the logistics of printing back-to-back pages on my copier can be maddening. I loved how Frank lapsed into one of his comic radio voices while figuring it out.

Jim posted a nice short bit on YouTube where I talk to three brothers about how to construct a minicomic.

On some levels this event was a success since we had a lot of energy from creative artists who also happened to be nice people. Sarah popped in (and traded stories with Jim about being former residents of  Port Townsend), but apart from the two of us, no one else from McCleary showed up. And I have to admit I was disappointed none of the locals bothered to come. But, this is far from the first time I have felt like a literal voice in the wilderness out here, so I can roll with it.

There was some talk as we wrapped up that maybe next year in the 2013 Third Annual National Mini-Comics Day, a happening might take place in Seattle and I could go up there. I would love that! But at least in 2012 the tiny hamlet of McCleary can now officially take a place in the history of Mini-Comics Day!

I'll be posting the comic art results of our creative efforts in the next chapters. Plus, there will be a surprise participant from McCleary's sister city in Ohio-- Cincinnati, home of goetta!