Alas! Comics

McCleary, Washington : Steve Willis, 1994. Reprint of Alas 1-3. Print-on-demand

In the mid-1990s I tried my hand at being an obscuro publisher and distributor (handling unsold inventory for Clay Geerdes and Dale Luciano) as well as reprinting my old stuff on a print-on-demand basis.

But I also brought several works by others into print. I'll be scanning and posting the books where my role was strictly that of an editor and publisher and including them in this blog for the next while.

One artist I was eager to publish and introduce to a wider audience was Sasa Rakezic (a.k.a. Aleksandar Zograf), the Serbian cartoonist who produced a series of chilling and dream-like minicomix fed by his personal experiences from the turmoil in the Yugoslavia. At the time this comic was published, Sasa was still a relatively unknown artist in the United States outside of the obscuro network.

A great example of creation under fire and some of the most interesting comix I've ever read.

Alas Comics

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Google+

I've joined the Google+ experiment. Not sure where this will go or how this gizmo works, but what the heck, why not?

Steve Willis, londy1887@gmail.com

Thought I'd try being an earlier adapter at adapting earlier instead of the Luddite I usually am.

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1989/1990 Morty Award Nominations

The form from the MU Press folks. A snapshot of cartoonists from our genre of comix over two decades ago.

For the results, check out my post of May 12, Comics F/X Morty Awards

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Raining Quills pt. 4

Seattle, Washington : Starhead Comix, 1991. Steve Willis, Hank Arakelian, Mack White, S. Minstrel, Lynn Perez, Brian Cremins.

Another entry in the start-with-the-same-first-page-for-every issue jam. See Raining Quills pt. 2 and Raining Quills pt. 3

The final three pages were inspired by a ride I enjoyed in Disneyland in 1971. The Haunted House tour included a place where busts on headstones were cheerfully singing. That image stuck with me.

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Stamp Out This Sickness Comix # 2

Created and published by Maximum Traffic, Butler, Pennsylvania, August 1993. Made with one folded sheet rather than being cut and stapled.

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Outside In-Formation # 1

Mostly by Hal Hargit with some touches by Edd Vick, published by Miscellanea Unlimited, December 1988.

This is a history of the Outside In series midway through the run. Hargit and Vick stopped at issue # 30 and the title was handed to Bruce Chrislip, who was living in Seattle but had moved to Cincinnati by the time he decided to end the series with issue # 50 in June 2003. During Outside In's 20 year, 50-issue run, over 400 artists had contributed their self-portraits.

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Sampler of Minicomix Available in Mortyshop!

A grab bag of a dozen minicomix, most with very limited print runs, are now available in Mortyshop.

Xenophobic Knives and Other Love Songs, Pt. 2.
Starhead Comix 1990 [i.e. 1991]

Morty Comix # 1882
1st OlyBlog Reprint ed., 2006. 10 copies printed

Raining Quills Pt. 2
Starhead Comix, 1990.
Wayno, Steve Willis, David Tosh, Stanley, Mark Daniel

The Wrong Foot
1st ed., August 2001, 32 copies printed

Throwback
1st ed., July 1998, 21 copies printed

Asteroid 1997 XF11
1st danger Room Reprint Ed., 2005, 5 copies printed

Sasquatch Comix # 1
1st ed., 1983, 67 copies printed

Cranium Station DMZ
1st ed., Dada Gumbo Press, 1984

Sasquatch Comix # 4
1st ed., 1983, 55 copies printed

Sasquatch Comix # 2
1st ed., 1983, 52 copies printed

Why Are We Here?
1st ed., Rodgers' Books Press, 1986, 1000 copies printed
11 cm. 8 p. "mido comic"
Jam with Walt Rodgers, Jim Ryan, Brad W. Foster, Steve Willis, Matt Feazell

Sasquatch Comix # 5
1st ed., 1983, 73 copies

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I keep waiting for Fred and Wilma to show up and sit in these chairs.

Photographed in the courtyard of the Washington State Department of Health.

Tumwater, Washington

4 Panel Breakup Draft

Last year I drew a strip for Olympia Power & Light entitled "4 Panel Breakup."





While finally cleaning out my studio I discovered the discarded library card I used to quickly jot down the initial concept. And now I seem to have lost the draft version again, but at least the thing got scanned.

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Bezango: Big Boom!

Olympia Power & Light, May 4-17, 2011.

A photo of my cousin, Patty, back in the 1960s. She was visiting us from Vancouver, Washington and we set her up on the tractor. In the background to the right is the hill where the dynamite was planted. Patty is sitting not far from where the huge piece of wood landed. This should give you an idea just how far that chunk of the stump sailed through the air.

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Bezango: Oly High, 1970s

Olympia High School humanities faculty, ca. 1971-1972:

Hugh Moody, Jim Coomes, Gary Gerst, Art Lowman, Don Webster, Irene Kaufman, Dave Mesojednik, Don Martin, Tilford Gribble, and Ray Arnold as the dragon.

Olympia Power & Light, April 20-May 3, 2011.

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