If you are in Vancouver on Tuesday night, you really have no excuse not to go to the must not miss event. I am a huge fan of both guys coming. I have heard some great stuff from a reliable source about how impacting John’s slideshow is.
See you there. Lucky’s comics, 3972 main st.
STARSHIP OF BONE AND OTHER FAVOURITES
I have compiled an assortment of (mostly) Canadian home recordings for your enjoyment. If you listen closely, you might notice that some of these “low-fi” musicians are also cartoonists. Some are not. Many do other things besides cartooning and/or music making. One is a defense lawyer. Another is a librarian. At least one of them is involved in the carpentry trade and there is a shopkeeper and a “seasonal” worker in the mix. There is one in particular I know nothing about other than the fact that he seems to enjoy watching television.
Thanks to Kip Jackson for lending me some of his archives. A few of the artists I could not reach and so I hope they don’t mind being part of this informal collection.
-Marc Bell, July 2010
1. #08 – Terry Piercey
2. #22 – Terry Piercey
3. #01 – Terry Piercey
4. #20 – Terry piercey
5. Superworm – Mouth Harp Ensemble
6. Tastebud – Untanned Hide of a Young Cow
7. Bonus Song for the First Week – Untanned Hide of a Young Cow
8. Backwards Seeds – Ambergris
9. Mountain Pony – Eyeball Hurt and the Medicine
10. Nurse April – Eyeball Hurt and the Medicine
11. Never to Return – Eyeball Hurt and the Medicine
12. Coconut – Drue Langlois
13. Path of Destruction – Drue Langlois
14. Ppop – Discombobulated Ventriloquist
15. German Child with Small Trout – Translucent Tubes
16. Singing Parkade – 40 winks
17. Paid In Foam – Ambergris
18. Dingbatters – Captain Haircut & DJ Sweatpants
19. I Thought you Said you had a Hot Tub and a Steamroom – G.K.A.
20. Hello-Goodbye/Interlude/Colour Of Green – Terraform
21. I saw a Universe in my Sock Drawer – Translucent Tubes
22. A Little Thunderstorm – Eyeball Hurt and the Medicine
23. Valet 10 [Jupiter did Walk on the Dragonfly's Grave] – Eyeball Hurt and the Medicine
24. Potion – U-Play Walkman
25. Wim-Wam – U-Play Walkman
26. In a Coma – U-Play Walkman
27. Starship Of Bone – Poseidon Council
28. Kindergarten Symphony – Mouth Harp Ensemble
29. South American Folk Song – Mouth Harp Ensemble
30. Hillside Chapel – Colin Mclaine
31. I Can’t Watch Automag (With this Fuckin’ TV) – Unknown
I really enjoyed this chat with Sonja Ahlers about her books, The Selves and Fatal Distraction which both really blew me away in regards to the level of personal work that has gone into them. I really like her work quite a lot of find the process of it equally fascinating. Be sure to check out her blog tooooo.
When I first interviewed Frank Santoro back in the winter of 2007, I was pretty excited about chatting with him, but a little nervous, since my understanding of the world that he was making my comics, was still lacking. I am a lot more comfortable with my knowledge of the Picturebox/post Fort Thunder scene now. At this point, the interviews that we were doing, were mostly one off conversations, that would be an introduction to the guest. Since then, I have had Frank on the show a number of times, and did a fascinating, if not maddening panel with him at TCAF in 2009.
Frank Santoro is one half of Cold Heat, his collaborative project with Paper Rad maestro, Ben Jones that has seem to have gone to spawn more spin off projects than the original series itself. I have a feeling it is still going to be a while yet until the series is finished, but is now a nucleus surrounded by some of my favorite creators chipping into its universe. Storeyville had just come out when we did this chat, so is a central element to the conversation. Future conversations that I have done with Frank seem to go off into wildly different directions. Frank’s writing for ComicsComics, is filled a kind of enthusiasm that seems to get folks super excited for comic making.
Many thanks to Squally Showers for transcribing!
Wally Gropius cartoonist, Tim Hensley joined me for a chat about his comics, music and more. Wally Gropius is pretty excellent and well worth checking out for a some unique cartooning that shows a man that has been studying and implementing his craft.
Hey Inkstudents, remind your local comeek store to order the Inkstuds book in diamond. Page 272 of previews, published by Conundrum.
Drew Friedman is not just one of America’s most well-known and widely respected illustrators, but his work is arguably the most identifiable. Having worked for counterculture bibles over the years like National Lampoon, RAW, Screw, SPY and Mad, Friedman has, in the past fifteen years, garnered mainstream respectability with onslaughts of work for Entertainment Weekly, Mother Jones, Newsweek, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, Time and countless others. Friedman has also published several entertaining books, including his two critically acclaimed collections of portraits titled Old Jewish Comedians. I spoke with Drew Friedman recently in anticipation of his new collection, an overview of those last fifteen years of mainstream respectability: Too Soon? Famous/Infamous faces 1995-2010 from Fantagraphics Books.
This interview was conducted by Kliph Nesteroff from WFMU’s Beware of the Blog and has been posted as a transcription there as well. Kliph is also a fellow radio host at CITR and you can find more of his writing here.
The other day, John Porcellino posted about how is most excellent book, Thoreau at Walden is super cheap on Amazon. It got me to thinking about other comics I see that are way too cheap and folks should be reading. So here, take advantage of some sales.
First up is the previously mentioned Thoreau at Walden by mini-comics master John Porcellino. He is really one of the best of a generation. I can read his comics for hours on end.
Paul Karasik’s collaboration with his sister, The Ride Together, is really an eyeopener of a book. Paul only has a handful of comics, but they are all excellent. He is often overshadowed by his collaborators like Mazzucchelli on City of Glass, but this gives him a chance to shine on his own, in a very revealing and personal story of growing up with an autistic brother.
Jack Jackson aka Jaxon, paved the way in the world of non-fiction comics. His works on the history of Texas were ahead of the curve and probably came out 10 or 15 years to early to really be properly appreciated. The first comic that Fantagraphics published was Los Tejanos, but that one is unfortunately hard to come by. For now, make do with the collection of short stories, God’s Bosom and Other Stories.
Josh Simmon’s is still relatively young in comparison’s to the previously mentioned group of folks, but you can find his books from Fantagraphics, House and Jessica Farm for disgustingly cheap prices. If you don’t buy them, I will be disappointed.
Have you read Dork by Evan Dorkin, if not, you really should. He is the top humour writer out there in comics. If you have a chance to ever see him speak or here him talk, do it. Each time that he has been on the show, he leaves me in stitches. The collections of his Dork books are amazing. Go buy them now. Book 1, Book 2.
Phoebe Gloeckner is one of those cartoonists that when you talk to another cartoonist, they mention for her sheer skill in creating incredible personal and vital stories. The Diary of A Teenage Girl is a timeless book that influences any creator that reads it.
Any book by David Collier is like a journey into another world, only instead of exotic locales, he brings us to Saskatchewan and Hamilton. David is probably the most Canadian cartoonist I can think of. Very similar to Joe Sacco, but oozing with his own particular idiosyncrasies. One of my personal favorite stories of his, is Grey Owl. You can read it in Portraits From Life.
I realize that this list is linking to Amazon, and it isn’t the most ethical source for supporting a sustainable comics industry. Most of the books I listed, can be found for a reduced price on sellers that are listing through Amazon. Really though, you should be hunting through your local comic store. Take a chance in the bargain bin. You never know what you can find. Or maybe the stack of reduced graphic novel’s that have been sitting in the store forever. Thar by gold in them hills.
Multi-faceted comix and comics person, Denis Kitchen joined me for a chat about his new book, The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen. On top of talking about his artwork, we also discuss a bit of his time as publisher and other comics oriented projects.
I feel like Brandon Graham and Frank Santoro are guys that I need to be doing annual check-ins with, and luckily this year, Michael Deforge was around to join us. We chatted with a specific subject in mind, the idea of fusion in modern comics. Frank can put it better than I, so take a listen and enjoy.
