Phone photo 2269

Art Deco totem 

Tumwater, Washington

The Runner Up Thread, 1976-2012

 1976: Ford. 1980: Carter

 1980: Carter. 1984: Mondale

 1984: Mondale. 1988: Dukakis

 1988: Dukakis. 1992: Bush

 1992: Bush. 1996: Dole

 1996: Dole. 2000: Gore

 2000: Gore. 2004: Kerry

 2004: Kerry. 2008: McCain

2008: McCain. 2012: Romney

Phone photo 2268

"South Gateway to the Puget Sound Country and the Olympic Peninsula"

Tumwater, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Deconstructing Harry

Voice announcing stops as an elevator descends into Hell:

"Floor 5: Subway muggers, aggressive panhandlers, and book critics. Floor 6: Right wing extremists, serial killers, lawyers who appear on television. Floor 7: The media. Sorry, that floor is all filled up. Floor 8: Escaped war criminals, TV evangelists, and the NRA. Lowest level: Everybody off."

Phone photo 2267

Deschutes River with defunct Olympia Brewing bottling plant in background

Tumwater, Washington

Postcard - Copalis Beach, Washington

"Copalis Beach, Washington. Copalis River winds gracefully through a portion of one of the finest Razor-Clam beaches in the world on its way to the Pacific Ocean-- come join the beachcombers."

Late 1970s is my guess.

Phone photo 2266

Early signs of spring. 

Olympia, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Day of the Outlaw

"You want to know the future, Mr. Crane. That's wanting too much for anyone."

Phone photo 2265

"TUMWATER. Here the Deschutes River cataracts into Budd Inlet, the most southerly point where ends the old Oregon Trail, arduous route of the hardy pioneers of the West with a determined disregard with British opposition to their settlement north of the Columbia River a small band of pioneers founded here in 1846 the town of New Market the first American community established on Puget Sound. The Indian name for the cataract was Spa Kwatl but in Chinook jargon it was Tumwater, meaning throbbing water which name New Market later adopted."

In the background is the long derelict bottling plant of the Olympia Brewing Company.

Postcard - Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, Washington

"Straddling the Snake River and the Idaho-Washington line at the junction with the Clearwater R., Lewiston and Clarkston (beyond) are at the head of a 464 mile slackwater route to the Pacific via a $1 billion series of dams and locks on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. New grain terminals (lower center), marinas, parks, and shipping facilties are utilizing this new lake behind Lower Granite Dam 33 miles down river. The pool level is backed up the Snake R. to Asotin, Wa., (upper left). The famous annual Lewiston Roundup rodeo grounds are at the bottom of picture. Sinuous dikes line the shores."

This postcard might date as late as the early 1980s. Certainly no later than 1983. When I lived in nearby Pullman three decades ago I would visit Lewiston/Clarkston and came to regard them as the Inland Empire version of Aberdeen/Hoquiam. Televised Lewiston ads for trucks made sure to let potential customers know a free rifle would be included as a bonus with the purchase of a vehicle. I'm not kidding.  Lewiston TV in the early 1980s was a weird trip. 

One time I was a passenger on a small plane leaving from Lewiston. A live chicken was stored behind my head. As we hit turbulence over the Tri-Cities and we all thought we were going to die, the chicken was freaking out. All I could think of was, "Great. I'm biting the Big One. But do I have to do this with a chicken?"

On the other hand, Lewiston had great newspaper, with a wonderful local columnist back then. And the surrounding scenery is amazing.

The Lewiston Grade, a truly terrifying drive in the winter, complete with runaway truck ramps, is the main entrance from the north via Washington State. One time almost 30 years ago I stopped on this grade and got into a conversation with a retired mobile home tourist who exclaimed with gusto "Hot Doggies!" over something. The term stuck and I have used it ever since.

Phone photo 2264

Morty Comix # 2528

Morty Comix # 2528 was drawn on the top portion of a letter-size sheet of paper and then cut down to the size of a narrow strip. It was then rolled up into a tight coil and placed inside an empty plastic gumball bubble.

Later, at the McCleary Laundrymat, in McCleary, Washington, I noticed an opening in the metal chair frame that looked just the right size for the ball. So I dropped it in. Sounded like it made quite a journey before it landed to a stop in there.

This is the same laundrymat where Morty Comix # 2482 was deposited last December and recorded on film by Ron Austin and Louise Amandes for the Bezango WA documentary. Not too many weeks after our visit, someone plowed their car through the front doors (maybe the driver was all excited about hunting down another Morty Comix!). Obviously, the place has since been repaired.

Favorite Movie Quotes: Hour of the Gun

"Those aren't warrants you have there. Those are hunting licenses!"

Morty Comix # 2527

Morty Comix # 2527 found a home in a rare spot-- a working phone booth, complete with an intact phone book! Tumwater, Washington.

Postcard - Chehalis, Washington

"Chehalis, Washington, and Mt. St. Helens. This friendly city, located between Seattle and Portland at the base of timbered hills, is the home of the Southwest Washington Fair."

If you click on and enlarge the image, you might be able to see Mount Saint Helens (when it still had a pointy top) on the horizon. Obviously this card was printed prior to the May 18, 1980 eruption.

Chehalis is known regionally as the county seat for Lewis County, for being a twin city of Centralia, and for hosting giant Yard Birds.

Favorite Movie Quotes: Lawman

"Leave it be. Man gets caught in his own doin'. Can't change what you are and if you try somethin' always calls you back."

Phone photo 2263

 

Buster and Hettie

Morty Comix - 30 Years, a History and Guide

30 years ago I started a comix series. It was called Morty Comix and little did I know where it would take me. In 1983 it was a comix sideshow, and today it is my main venue for artistic expression on several levels.

Here's the guide I wrote for Morty Comix as it appeared on OlyBlog, July 17, 2007:

[Warning, unless you are into alternative and obscuro comix, the following essay will contain references that might seem esoteric and remote. This article (now slightly revised, 12-1-07) was originally written in Apr. 2002 for the White Buffalo Gazette (WGB):]

Morty Comix started in Feb. 1983 with several motives in mind. First, it gave me a way to loosen up my drawing hand. Second, it was a way to drive completist collectors crazy. The basic Morty Comix was a blank index card folded in half with four original drawings. They were numbered in sequence, dated and signed. I attempted to include an issue in each piece of correspondence. Here are some answers to questions you probably didn't want to ask about this series:

The first issue was drawn in Feb. 1983 in Olympia, Wash. It was sent to the now legendary Ron "Gato" Vicens in Hawaii. I won't call #2195 the final issue, since I consider this title to merely be in stasis, but this was drawn in late 1999 and sent to Jeff Zenick in Florida. It was reprinted in WBG in June 2000.

There are four distinct subsets. #1-1000 (Feb. 1983-Mar. 1984), #1001-1225 (Jan.-June 1985), #1226-1760 (Sept. 1985-Sept. 1986), and #1761-2195 (Apr. 1, 1989-Nov./Dec. 1999).

In addition to the blank index card format, other issues were drawn on library waste cards, large sheets of butcher paper, cardboard, foam, styrofoam, and wood. Some issues were produced as puzzles, #1446 and #1500 are 80 pages thick. One issue (sent to Tim Corrigan), was burned into a large sheet of plexiglass. Another (sent to Bob X), was drawn in the sand at Ocean Shores, Wash. and sent as a photo. #1641-1690 were drawn on the inside covers of copies of Starhead Presents #1

Other artists participated in a few issues. Bruce Chrislip jammed on a few, although the exact numbers have been lost. Marc Myers jammed on #1430-31, 1439. Clint Hollingsworth and Myers and I drew #1432. John E. (John Eberly) with #1467, and #1730 was a 4-way effort, which included Ted Bolman, Michael and Keenan Dowers. #1433 was a Marc Myers solo.

Chris Bors took his copy of #1025 and (with my permission) reproduced it as a minicomic with a 50 copy run. #1882 and #2173 were drawn to be published, the first from Starhead Comix and the second by myself (50 copies). #2058 and #2114 have been "published" online at minicomic.com [2007 note, the URL is now dead].

Morty Comix have been sent all over the world. They have found their way to at least 4 libraries (NY State Library, Michigan State U., Washington State U., and Wis. State Historical Society). #1702 was attached to a string on a helium balloon in 1986 and was last seen high in the sky heading west from McCleary, Wash. Five issues were sent at random to other guys named Steve Willis. Lynn Hansen held the record for having been sent the most issues (70). He died in 1995 and when his comix collection was donated to WSU, it can be assumed the Morty Comix were in there as well. Other major Morty holders were John Eberly, Michael Dowers, Brad Foster, and Jay Kennedy. Minnesota collector Joe Schnide, by my reckoning, has managed to accumulate the largest collection of any living collector [2007 note, eBay bidder Albert Law seems to usually win the auctions when Morty Comix show up, so he must be up there as well by now], although WSU is where you'll still find the highest concentration. There are 13 issues I sent but cannot account for.

In 1984 Brad Foster published a large collection of this series in The Almost Complete Collected Morty Comix, culling from the 1983 and early 1984 issues. Somehow Brad managed to talk several people into loaning him their copies. Morty Comix have also been published in: Inside Joke, Acme Subheroes, Mini Haha Komix, Monthly Independent ..., Scratchez, Misc. Comics, City Limits Gazette, American Leather, Over the Wall, Small Press Comics Fanola, Mashuga, Small Press Comics Explosion, Morty the Dog, Upperground, Industrial Toilet Paper, Maximum Traffic, Bezango Obscuro, Damn Weird Comix, White Buffalo Gazette, and, Cartoon Loonacy.

Although Morty Comix didn't exactly start a genre, it did inspire a number of short-lived responses from other artists such as: Par Holman, Paul Cartmill, Richard Wayne, Roldo, Chester Brown, Jim Ryan, Clint Hollingsworth, Maximum Traffic, George Erling, Marc Myers, Hank Arakelian, Gary Usher, Larry Weir, Jamie Alder, Jim Waltman, and Bruce Chrislip. They had titles like: Dawg'on'it Comix, Jimix, Le Morte Comix, Maori Comix, More "Tea"? Comix, Morfy Comix, Mormony Comix, Neon Paisley Dino Attack on Morty Comix, Nivlem Comix, Non-comic Comix, Nonmorty Comix, Psuedo-Morty Comix, Puppy Chewed Comix, Shorty Comix, and Ytrom. The only other artist I am aware of to seriously undertake creating multiple issues of an original hand-drawn series was Ted Bolman, who started Nauga Comix in, if I'm not mistaken, Jan. 1986. I'm not sure if Ted is still drawing this title, but he was up to #294 last I saw. Most of the Nauga Comix I have seen appear to have more of a storyline and are drawn with more planning and care than my dash-offs.

Morty Comix was sort of a statement that original art (at least my original art) is not some sacred collectible thing, but merely the residue of a compulsion that is freely sent to anyone who I was in contact with. In the last decade it was harder to keep up, and I didn't always have issues to send. They were messages in a bottle. It is fun to track them and see where they wind up. So it is with considerable irony I have seen them sell for as much as $50 each on eBay. Sure, it is out of my control now, but Jeez, what will these things be worth after I croak? Will I ever bring this thing out of stasis and start subset 5? Not for awhile, if ever. The 21st century and I are not really getting along too well so far, and somehow I feel I'm protecting Morty Comix by keeping it forever in the amber of the 20th century.

Now to the Update: 

In the summer of 2010 an insidious co-worker named Shawn Moriarty convinced me to produce some more Morty Comix as a benefit for the Olympia Film Society. And so the disease was reborn.

Morty Comix # 2258 was really the first of my online random versions. Morty Comix # 2279 was the point where I started leaving them as art bombs on a regular basis. Morty Comix # 2403, I think, is when I began sporadically using random methods of choosing where to send an issue to spontaneous addresses via the U.S. Postal Service.

And now, for you unfortunate souls who want to collect this series, here is my list of Morty Comix distribution. Note that I originally kept track by name, then by number. Then I just stopped recording the info since they were tracked right here on Morty the Blog. I love the fact the most recent issues will be the most difficult to collect!  Obscuro Comix Forever!

There are many notes made in non-photo blue on these sheets as I attempted to track the location before I gave up due to the hopelessness of it: