Morty Comix # 2656

Morty Comix # 2656 was sent to Buzz Buzzizyk in Butler, PA. Buzz himself supplied the paper, already cut and folded, and challenged me to get off my butt and draw some more. Buzz has permission to enhance them and distribute them as he sees fit. So you can probably expect to get some updates on what happens to these little guys as time passes.

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Olympia, Washington

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Sings Bacharach

Do You Know the Way to San Jose

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End of the line

Olympia, Washington

John E and Newave Comix in the News!

Our old friend from Newave Comix days, John E of Kansas, was featured in a news article covering comix yesterday in the Hutchinson News by reporter Kristen Roderick.

It's available online too. Don't know for how long. Here's a LINK.

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You are here

McCleary, Washington

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No!

Postcard - New Orleans, Louisiana

"Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans. A day of unrestrained people at play; the greatest free show in the United States."

1950s

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James Abbott mural on the old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural detail and decay, McCleary, Washington. This is one of his later works. TBTG is probably for "Thanks Be to God."

Favorite Movie Quotes: What's Up, Doc?

"I am not repeating myself. I am not repeating myself. Oh God, I'm repeating myself."

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Detail of James Abbott mural in McCleary, Washington. The teacher portrayed in this picture is based on Emma Heslep (1902-1974) who was also a published poet.

Morty Comix # 2655

Morty Comix # 2655 was placed in a gas station promo sign while I was filling Nadine's tank in Tumwater, Washington.

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James Abbott mural, McCleary Washington

I notice here and in Elma, his murals painted on waferboard appear to hold up a little better over time.

Postcard - New Orleans, Louisiana

"St. Louis Cathedral And Jackson Square, New Orleans, La. Erected in 1792 at a cost of $50,000 and rebuilt in 1851. The site on which the St. Louis Cathedral stands was selected in 1718 by Bienville for a place of worship. In 1724 a structure of brick was erected and known as the Parish Church of St. Louis. It was destroyed by fire in 1788. Extreme right Pantalba Building where the Elite of the city dwelt."

1920s?

One of my favorite cities.

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Of the four portraits by James Abbott adorning the front of the old Rhodes Grocery, this one of George Osgood (1868-1955) is the best.

Osgood was an early business partner of Henry McCleary.

Remains of the Day

From the Port Townsend Weekly Message, Apr. 25, 1871

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James Abbott's absolutely awful and almost unrecognizable portrait of Ada Johnson McCleary (1861-1923).  She was a remarkable person who knew how to use her power as the First Lady of McCleary to improve the lives of the people in the town.

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James Abbott portrait of Henry McCleary (1861-1943), the timber baron who virtually ran this town as a one-man principality until 1941.

This is a portrait of a timid person, and Henry was many things, but never that.

Average White Band Sings Bacharach

Walk on By

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James Abbott's mural portrait of a very young Nick Rillakis (1893-1970), McCleary, Washington. By the time I met Nick in 1964 he was a large, stout man with no hair at all. Nick was one of the last of what was once a large Greek population in town.

A bombastic and flamboyant fellow, he ran a store in town called Rhodes Grocery, the first concrete structure in McCleary. I recall he had a huge cheese wheel as a centerpiece. Today his store serves as cram-yer-crap place and is covered with Abbott artwork.

The waferboard "canvas" gives this and the other portraits a nice texture.

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Four portraits by James Abbott at the entrance of the old Rhodes Grocery, long ago converted to a cram-yer-crap storage business. So far as I know, this little alcove is unique in the Abbott art experience in that he has an area where human faces are the main focus. This was not his strong point and the combined effect is actually sort of like eating stale bread.

I bet if we took a poll here in McCleary, Washington (pop. about 1600) on who these four portraits are supposed to represent the results would be enormously embarrassing to the town. So, at the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, stick with this blog and in the words of Sherlock Holmes, "observe and learn." I even personally met one of the subjects portrayed here.

Also, this is a spot where certain inebriated people like to hover for awhile. How one can do that while all those eyes at your back, I don't know, but they do.

Ku Klux Klan - Ancestor of the Tea Baggers?

Dear readers:

My jaw dropped when I ran across this incredible front page article in the Oct. 27, 1922 issue of The Walla Walla Valley Spectator, where the Ku Klux Klan is treated as if they were like the local garden club. And we're not talking about the Deep South here, this is in Prescott, Washington. Yes, good ol' Blue State progressive Washington that has legalized pot and Gay marriage and has never voted for a Bush for President.

What really struck me as I read through this was how much the Klan spokesman sounded like one of today's Tea Party proponents.

I love Eastern Washington. I was born there. My most prolific period as a cartoonist took place there in the 1980s. It sickens me that it also has a strong element of fear-based people willing to swallow the nonsense of the Klan, "Neo" Nazis, and Tea Baggers, all birds of a feather in my thinking.

Perhaps that good, patriotic, pious Christian, that man who spreads the word of God, the Rev. Burger, was really from the Church of the Nazirene.

Yours,
A Member of the "Adverse Element."

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James Abbott and the ravages of the elements teamed up to form this nice impressionistic detail on his last remaining mural in McCleary, Washington. I love the way Abbott used the reflection of our  typically wet roads in this piece.

This particular image actually faces an alley, so it is missed by anyone just passing through.

The Iron Tomb With the Emergency Exit

 

From the Nov. 15, 1912 Kitsap County Herald. John M. Pursel lived from 1828 to 1902. Apparently the name of the cemetery has changed, but the iron tomb remains, as demonstrated on this link.

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I always liked this little guy. Detail of a dog in a James Abbott mural, McCleary, Washington

Morty Comix # 2654

Morty Comix # 2654 was sent to Buzz Buzzizyk in Butler, PA. Buzz himself supplied the paper, already cut and folded, and challenged me to get off my butt and draw some more. Buzz has permission to enhance them and distribute them as he sees fit. So you can probably expect to get some updates on what happens to these little guys as time passes.

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Decaying James Abbott mural, McCleary, Washington

Bacharach Plays Bacharach

Nikki

An elegant piece with a tragic backstory

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James Abbott mural detail, McCleary, Washington