SPACE 2011 Report, pt. 12

Bruce Chrislip and Matt Feazell inspect the Outside In foamboard display right before the event where I'm interviewed by Bruce.

Judging by the expression on Bruce's face, I'd say he was using the method actor technique of preparing for his role as interviewer. For you see, about 35 minutes after this was taken, I saw Bruce give the greatest performance of anyone ever on any panel discussion of any type.

In the course of the hour, Bruce read a couple selections from "The Bil Keane Watch." The first one was from City Limits Gazette # meat of the tree (June 1991):

But it was Bruce's rendition of the next one that brought down the house. This was from City Limits Gazzzzzzzette # Pongo (Aug. 1991):

Being every bit as dramatic and somber in his narration as James Earl Jones or John Houseman, Bruce slowly built up his voice until by the time he was yelling out at the top of lungs "DEAD! DEAD!" he was on his feet with his clenched fists in the air. The audience applauded in ope mouthed awe. I was laughing so hard I was crying.

This 50 minute Chrislip-interviews-Willis portion has been captured on audio by both D. Blake Werts and Bruce Rosenberger. I have a copy of the Werts version and The Fabulous Sarah is working on a way for us to post it here.

Update, 3/25/2011: Audio by Bruce Rosenberger is available at the SPACE website:
http://www.backporchcomics.com/SPACE2011CrislipandWillis.mp3

Bruce Chrislip's amazing performance is about 30-35 minutes into the program.

SPACE 2011 Report, pt. 8

John Porcellino was our other table neighbor. I managed to get a couple photos of him during the rare times he wasn't surrounded by fans. It was gratifying to see that his work attracted a lot of well-deserved attention. And unlike my old guy corner, John's table was a magnet for a good mix of generations and gender.

A mob of cartoonists invaded an unsuspecting Vietnamese restaurant that evening. I sat at the end of the table across from John and Buzz Buzzizyk. I enjoyed talking with him and realized later that we hardly mentioned comix at all. We were also in awe of Sean Bieri, who was sitting next to me, creating brilliant off the cuff drawings in spontaneous jams. Matt Feazell sat on my other side but had to move since the chair and floor were conspiring to eat him alive.

Fan Scene # 1

Cartoonist extraordinaire Matt Feazell once suggested we construct a family tree of comix. I don't know if he ever followed up on the idea, but if he had you would probably see the Newave line trace back through undergrounds, Mad, Help, Tijuana Bibles, etc.

But there was another larger and older network of self-publishers in comic artland-- the fans. They emulated the commercial comics. In fact, in the 1960s, you could say my own superhero and funny animal selfmade comics were fan products, and I'm not the only Newaver who had some history in this area as a developing cartoonist. But unlike the readers of Fan Scene, I had never really networked outside of my family and friends prior to reading undergrounds.

In the mid-1980s the Fans began to discover the Newave movement. Although our content was very different, we all shared a love of comic art and the challenges of being small press publishers before the Age of Internet.

This publication, Fan Scene # 1 (July/August 1984), profiles Morty the Dog. Although I'm not a big fan of the term "fan," I felt this article was an example of the two networks recognizing each other.

As you can see, the subtitle of this publication uses the ancestor of the word "zine"-- fanzine!

Bonafide Child Innocence #1

1st ed., 25 copies, February or March 1983, Olympia, Washington, white.

2nd ed., 30 copies, March 1983, Olympia, Washington, white.

3rd ed., 67 copies, June 1984, Gilbert, Minnesota, HSC, white.

1st Danger Room Reprint Ed., 5 copies, July 2005, McCleary, Washington, yellow.

All printings are in regular digest size.

This was my smartass jab at the at-the-time very popular stick comix genre. I had mixed feelings about publishing this in the first place, but someone had to say something. So I did. A few people quietly thanked me.

Actually I can fully understand the reasons why stick figure comix can be a good thing, especially when articulated by Matt Feazell, a great cartoonist who, by the way, accepted my critique most graciously and like a grownup.

Personally, my favorite in this genre can be found online, at the accidental art site, Stick Figures in Peril.

The originals of Bonafide Child Innocence were drawn either in Spokane, Washington, where I was born, or in Olympia, where we moved when I was a little squirt. The source of the drawings was a ledger my mechanic grandfather in Centralia, Washington kept. In it he has notations like "Model A Ford Pump," and latest date I can find is 1944. It measures 30 cm. high, and the back cover reveals it was one of the few things to survive our house fire on the farm in the mid-1960s. And it is packed with narrative cartoons I drew before I knew how to read.

Another childhood item I have acquired is a face drawn on wood. Actually, it was on a piece of furniture my Father had built, a coffee table with a box shelf. I remember drawing the face on this table and getting caught by my Mother, who informed I was going to be in Big Trouble once my Father came home from work. But in fact he was delighted. You see, they thought I was sort of "slow," since I wasn't talking, walking, eating, thinking, etc. at the same rate as other kids. So any spark of artistic expression was seen as, "Hey, he's not a complete moron! Yay!"

The incident helped spur me to draw more, but my Mom made sure that from then on I had paper. She even captioned some of the stories for me! See, now you can blame my parents for these comix.

The table was rediscovered almost five years ago after my Dad died and we were cleaning out the farm, preparing to sell the place. It was stashed in a corner of the basement, but not in very good condition. I managed to save the panel with the drawing on it, and here it is!