Evergreen Lecture

Last night I had fun talking with a classroom of 40 plus students in "The Women's West" program taught by Jolie Sandoz and Ann Storey at The Evergreen State College. My talk, which was a bit rambly, attempted to tie together the threads of the Baby Boom, the history of Evergreen, and Newave Comix and the creative freedom afforded by photocopy technology. Most of the students were in their 20s, the same age I was when I attended Evergroove.

I printed up special TESC editions (75 copies each) of Write-In Morty the Dog for McCleary Mayor, Dante's Coat, Ambergris, To Touch the Face of Larry,  and As I Recall The 'Sixties, as well as a sample of Bezango WA 985.

For you bibliographic completists, the above minis also had a blue test copy, except for To Touch the Face of Larry, which had two copies. I used the lecture opportunity to promote Mini-Comics Day in McCleary and who knows? Maybe we'll see some future cartoonists come out of this.

I had a blast and this was the first time I have given an academic lecture in several years. This was also my first time talking to an Evergreen audience, and it was sort of strange delivering this in a building that didn't exist when I was a student there. They were a good group, very attentive and asked good questions. We even had a drawing exercise.

Thanks for having me over, fellow Geoducks!

Morty the Dog Who Walks Like a Man!

1st edition, Seattle, Washington : Starhead Comix, 1987. Color cover, 18 cm. spine. Newsprinty paper.

1st Danger Room reprint edition, July 2005, 5 copies (4 pink, 1 green), regular digest size.

1987 was one of several years where I was convinced I had "retired" from comix. But as Clay Geerdes accurately predicted at the time, "You'll be back. No cartoonist ever retires."

According to the intro inside the cover, this story was really drawn in 1986 for another publisher who left the scene before I finished the piece. And now, a quarter century later, I can't even begin to remember who that would-be publisher might be.

I've had short comic stories printed in anthologies that were translated into Finnish and Portuguese, but so far as I know, this is my only stand-alone comic book that has been translated and published in another language, in this case-- Greek. Michael Dowers made all the arrangements. I posted Mopti on December 30, 2010 if you want to compare the English and Greek versions.

This comic has most of my usual texture tricks, except there is one additional bit that might be unique to this story. The fridge on the 1st panel of the 5th page of the story has a piece of patterned cloth acting as shadow texture.

Here's some real trivia, especially for you cataloger librarians out there. The background of the 2nd panel on the 6th page of the story are modified delimiters used in MARC records for the now extinct WLN bibliographic utility. I have used this symbol in a few other stories.

It is interesting that Morty has been in a few comix where he is a political candidate. Still, no matter how weird my stories might be where this is a premise, none of them can compete with the surrealism of his real life run for McCleary Mayor in 1999.

Phone photo 87

Another shot of the sign mentioned in the post for the minicomic Write-In Morty the Dog for McCleary Mayor! The sign was painted and anonymously left by local troublemakers Jim and Eddie Jarvis. At least that was the results from my Ronco DNA Analysis Home Economy-Size Kit.

Write-In Morty the Dog for McCleary Mayor!

First published April 23, 1999, 51 copies on white paper.

2nd ed., April 26, 1999, 75 copies on yellow paper.

3rd ed., May 15, 1999, 30 copies on yellow paper with press release.

4th ed., May 23, 1999, 30 copies on yellow paper handed out at an art lecture at South Puget Sound Community College for Jane Stone's class.

As far as I can tell, the 2nd-4th editions are identical to each other. I marked my own copies, and apparently I don't have the 3rd ed.

The entire comic was printed in the Montesano Vidette, May 20, 1999.

5th ed., July 13, 1999, 60 copies on green paper.

6th ed., Aug. 16, 1999, 50 copies on goldenrod paper.

7th ed., Oct. 1999, 50 copies on blue paper.

8th ed., Special SPSCC ed., Mar. 5, 2000, 26 copies on cardstock (14 green, 11 red, 1 yellow) printed for a class lecture.

The 9th ed. was the the 1st Danger Room Reprint Ed. in June 2005 with 5 copies on red cardstock.

Morty was, I think, the first announced candidate for the 1999 McCleary mayoral election, making him the frontrunner for awhile.

Lots of local issues here that probably won't make sense to an outsider. This comic did get a number of people very upset and an equal number very amused. As you can imagine this didn't make me very popular with the town pillars. By word of mouth I heard Morty took about 5% of the vote as a write-in. His tally didn't have an impact on the outcome.

Shortly before the election I awoke to find a large Morty for Mayor sign hanging from my front fence. The authors of this work have never identified themselves, but I suspect they have the initials of Jim and Eddie Jarvis. I still have the sign in my garage.

Attached are articles from the Olympian (6-7-99) and Montesano Vidette. Photo of Morty sign by Sarah.