Steve Stwalley Package of Comix!

Last month I found a big packet of comix in my PO Box from Minneapolis cartoonist Steven Stwalley. You might recognize his name as the cover artist to both Morty the Blog jams We Rode With the Clowns and Terminal.

Great stuff in here! Follow the link to his name for more info. I especially liked the one-of-kind 100% Genuine Counterfeit Morty Comix # 2,368,147 ("I've got more issues than a psychopath!")

This will all be donated in turn to the Washington State University Comix Collection. Many thanks Steven!

New Jam Comic Still Alive, Honest

As some of you might recall, last February I compiled and published a Morty the Dog blog jam called We Rode With the Clowns. Shortly after that I sounded a call for contributions for a second book.

Yes, that book is still alive. The script is now finished and I'm hoping to get it into print in the next month or so. The contributors are: Anvil (she created the above image), Harry Bell, Bob Vojtko, Dan W. Taylor, Steve Stwalley, Ed DeVore, Roldo, Marc Myers, Bruce Chrislip, Chad Woody and Brad Foster. Is that a great lineup or what? Hopefully my script will do these wonderful artists justice. I still have to create my linking illustration and captions.

In the meantime, any graphics that arrive from this point on will find their way into a third jam book. Basically, just send me an image, any drawing that I can present before a mixed audience, and than I'll link the randomness together into a story like the Clowns book. This next one has a tighter story than the first. So stay tuned.

The Bulletin Board

When this was erected in 1986 it was clean and empty. But instead of removing old items, I just stapled over them. Soon I had to get a staple gun to attach paper to this bulletin board.

I guess the layer of paper is well over an inch, maybe two, in some spots. Lots of comix material buried in there, newspaper articles, posters, drawings by my daughter Rose when she was little, etc. etc.

Sometimes I would use it as a tool in creating a new comic. I'd photocopy the art, then staple it on this board, and stand back to evaluate how the different panels worked as a unit. Those working drawings are still in there too. Here we can see some images from We Rode With the Clowns.

One piece I wish I hadn't put in there is an original page by Jeff Nicholson, who sent me a brief visual narrative of his visit here in the late 1980s. Another buried treasure is Ken Kesey's autograph from the time I talked with him-- probably circa 1987.

So I continue to add stuff to this board. After I croak some archaeologist can carefully peel back the layers and mark comix eras via the paper strata.

State of the Morty Blog, 2/26/11

Still trying to post something every day, and as I look at the pile of material yet to be shared (I originally typed "shred" by accident. Hmmm), there is lots more to do in the scanning and posting department.

We've been slowly making material available via the Mortyshop. The funds we get through sales and the donation button are being poured back into other comix projects. Right now I am looking into the possibility of publishing the 5-part, almost 200 page Tragedy of Morty, Prince of Denmarke as a single volume squarespine paperback in the original legal size enlarged digest.

Of course the big excitement around here is in the preparation for attending SPACE in Columbus, Ohio next month! Sarah is going to remain here in Mortyville to keep the cats fed and the blog warm while I go Back East, so she shall remain a mysterious and shadowy figure, the power behind the blog.

We Rode With the Clowns could be called our first Morty the Blog comic. I'm gathering material for the next one and already have contributions from Harry Bell, Bruce Chrislip, Bob Vojtko, Anvil, and Roldo. Want to climb aboard? Send me a random drawing! The more the merrier.

Here are some interesting numbers, demonstrating we remain very obscure:

Total number of visitors so far: 10,503
43% of you use Firefox, 41% IE, 8% Safari.
81% use Windows, 12% Mac.

Top ten posts:

McCleary Time Capsule, 1943-1963

about that Donate button

Brad Foster Has Lit the Fuse

City Limits Gazette: Sample Discussion

End of the Earth and Turn Left

Strange and Unbelievable, but Real and True! I Inherit Over 5 Million Bucks From June Pointer!

City Limits Gazette: Lynn Hansen Interview

Newave Reader

Mr. Crawford Raises Herfords, Too

Brave New Nazis of the Inland Empire

Where the readers are from, the top 10 states:

Washington
Utah/New York (tie)
Texas
California
Oregon/Ohio (tie)
Minnesota
North Carolina
Pennsylvania

Top 10 countries:

USA
South Korea
Spain
France
Poland (mostly spammers, thanks a lot guys)
Germany
Canada
United Kingdom
Russia
Malaysia (more spammers)

Top Referring Sites:

Facebook
OlyBlog
Comics Reporter
The Jim and Frank Podcast
Midnight Fiction
The Magic Whistle

The minicomic Dante's Coat gets plenty of hits I assume from people trying to find a real life product that matches the overcoat of a character in the Devil May Cry game named Dante, or at least that's what I gather since the term "Dante's Coat" is one of the most popular here.

Anyway, I'm still having a blast and I hope you readers are enjoying this too. Many thanks to the Fabulous Sarah for making this particular place of pixels a reality.

A Visit to the Danger Room

That's Casey on the left, Frank on the right. These are the Danger Room guys. They love comix and have a section of shelves set aside just for us obscuro cartoonists, helping to get our comix out there without permission from the big publishers and distributors. They are both also keen observers of comix as social indicators.

As you can see by the photo, Frank is the chief storyteller, armtwister and Sam-I-Am here. Somehow he talked me into providing the store with Danger Room Reprint editions of over 120 titles in 2005. Actually, he also talked me into finally attending the Oly Comix Fest, and hey, I like green eggs and ham! I do, I like them, Sam-I-Am! So you can thank Frank for reviving all those titles and getting me out on the local comix scene in person.

The 2005 Danger Room Reprint editions are no longer available there, but I do supply them with copies of the recent material I've printed like Dog of Dawn, Dog of Dusk and Natural Functions.

Yesterday I dropped off a couple copies of We Rode With the Clowns and took these photos.

The Danger Room is also where I first met Chelsea Baker, another cartoonist who migrated to Oly in order to attend the Evergroove State College. Not only is she one of the organizers of the Oly Comix Fest, but she also contributed to We Rode With The Clowns. You can find her cartoons in Olympia Power and Light, a local biweekly.

201 4th Avenue West
Olympia, WA 98501-1003
(360) 705-3050

We Rode With the Clowns-- Now Published

1st edition, February 2011, 200 copies, salmon cover, digest size.

I've stuffed and addressed the envelopes of contrib copies for the artists and our two faithful patrons of the Morty arts who have sent donations for the cause. The copies will be sent out on Monday.

Once again I want to especially extend thanks to Brad Foster who not only was the first to volunteer, but also spread the word I was looking for contributors.

The following artists have sent me images for the next one: Anvil, Harry Bell, Bruce Chrislip, Roldo, and Bob Vojtko. It's a great start and I hope more of you out there will send me a drawing.

We Rode With the Clowns

Here's a preview of the short digest jam comic I was badgering all you guys about. I'll be taking it to the printer this week and sending out contrib copies. I plan on distributing it as a freebie both in the mail and in person. I'm a bit rusty and in many ways am relearning some of the drawing and printing tricks.

Thanks to Steven Stwalley, Maximum Traffic, Ed DeVore, Chelsea Baker, Harry Bell, Roldo, Bob Vojtko, Brad W. Foster, and Bruce Chrislip!

Bruce sent me enough drawings to last awhile, but if any of you readers out there want to participate in future comix I'm game for creating more of these. If nothing else it is great to meet you new folks and wonderful to see the Oldwavers are still drawing!

Step Right Up!

Almost there. I need two more volunteers from the audience to contribute to the minicomic idea I first posed on December 15, and then was given a big shot in the arm by Brad Foster promoting it last week.

Here's the lineup of great contributions so far: Brad Foster, Roldo, Bob Vojtko, Harry Bell, Chelsea Baker, and Bruce Chrislip.

Several other artists have indicated an interest (including some amazing Oldwavers I'd love to coax into the project) and if I get more than two additional contributions, that's fine. I'll find a way to change my original plan or I'll just start a second book. Once again here are the specs:

One idea I have is to invite 8 or more artists to send me a page for a minicomic with a random image or images. I'd put all the pages together and form a story. It builds and expands the concept of the minis I drew with Dale Luciano at Dada Gumbo. If you're interested send me a page via email or snail mail. It has to be clean enough so I can show it to my aging mother but crazy enough to make my grown daughter roll her eyes and wonder when her Dad is ever going to grow up.

Brad Foster Has Lit the Fuse

Awhile back I asked for contributions for a minicomix jam. Here's what I posted on December 15:

Also, I'm thinking of putting together some new minis. One idea I have is to invite 8 or more artists to send me a page for a minicomic with a random image or images. I'd put all the pages together and form a story. It builds and expands the concept of the minis I drew with Dale Luciano at Dada Gumbo. If you're interested send me a page via email or snail mail. It has to be clean enough so I can show it to my aging mother but crazy enough to make my grown daughter roll her eyes and wonder when her Dad is ever going to grow up.

Well, Brad Foster has sent in the first drawing via email attachment! I need 7 more comix artists to send me an image. Help force me out of my lethargy and get me back to the drawing board, jump into this comic and send me a drawing. It can even have a word balloon with a random piece of dialogue if you like.