Cryogenic Comix # 31

Cryogenic Comix # 31
Copyright (c) 2019 Steve Willis

From 1980, felt tip on very thin bond. I was preparing to start attending a graduate program at the University of Washington, so perhaps the housing note had something to do with locating a place close to campus, I don't remember. I eventually did move from Ballard to the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood, a close walk to school. No car or TV in those days, which no doubt helped in my comix art being so prolific at that time.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"The University of Washington Stadium in Seattle, home of the Huskies, has a seating capacity of 56,000. Its unique Lake Washington shore location permits access not only by conventional transportation but also by boat and seaplane. The lower campus is in the foreground and the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in the background."

1970s. The bottom half of the image was part of the site for the Alaska-Pacific-Yukon Exposition of 1909.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"University of Washington at game time. University of Washington Stadium -- Home of the Huskies. With a seating capacity of 58,000, the Stadium's open end overlooks Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains beyond. Five thousand fans travel to football games via boats, which dock on the Lake Washington perimeter of the campus."

1970s.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Beautifully situated on Lake Washington in Seattle is the modern Stadium of the University of Washington and the Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Home of the Huskies."

Late 1950s/early 1960s

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"University of Washington and Evergreen Point Floating bridge. In this the southern part of the campus the dominating feature is the Health Sciences which includes Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy."

1970s.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"University of Washington. This aerial view shows Lake Washington and the Evergreen Point Floating bridge in the background."

1970s.

That Gothic structure near the center of the image and above the Red Square is Suzzallo Library, which is not only the graduate library but was also home to the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. To give you an idea of how captivating it was to be a student in this institution, the nearly 200 pages of my monster comic Assorted Thoughts on Insanity was almost entirely composed while enduring lectures in this delightful program.

After attending undergrad at the wild and experimental Evergreen State College in the 1970s, going to the UW was like stepping back into high school. But I did enjoy being on a large academic campus in a major city.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"The aerial view of the University of Washington Campus shows the School of Medicine and the University Hospital on Portage Bay, and the main campus complex behind."

1970s.

The campus and neighborhood just above that patch of green top center was my world 1980-1982. Just to the left is University Avenue, "The Ave." One day I ran into Lynda Barry on The Ave. and she pointed me to a print shop where you could reduce and enlarge images by yourself on a photocopier. At the time that was a major technological change for us independent pressers.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington. University of Washington Medical and Hospital Center is located on Portage Bay. The Health Sciences complex is one of the nation's most modern medical teaching and research centers. Open-heart surgery and the artificial kidney are two of many medical miracles developed by researchers at the center. U. of W. 'Husky' Stadium is on the extreme right."

1970s. Any postcard that uses the words "artificial kidney" is an instant collector's item!

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

 

"Portage Bay with the University of Washington Medical School and other campus buildings in the distance and the moorings of the Seattle Yacht Club in the Bay. The western end of the Evergreen Floating bridge runs in the foreground."

1970s.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington. University of Washington Stadium at left center with a seating capacity of 58,000 overlooks Lake Washington and is bordered by Union Bay in the center with Portage Bay in the foreground tied together by Lake Washington Ship Canal."

1970s.

Postcard - Seattle, Washington

"Seattle, Washington. A view looking north shows the U.S. Interstate 5 Freeway Bridge crossing the Lake Washington Ship Canal, a waterway leading into Puget Sound. A portion of the University of Washington can be seen on the right."

1970s. The upper right corner of the photo was the area where I lived, worked, and went to school 1980-1982.

Public, Subscription and Academic Libraries in Washington Territory, 1853-1889.

This paper was hammered out on a manual typewriter before the Internet existed. It was probably produced for some class at the UW, but I cannot recall the details. This document currently resides in the McCleary Museum files.

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!