These Jim Woodring Converse All Stars originals were worn by none other than the man himself at a recent lecture. (via Fantagraphics)

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I’m just getting back into the swing of things. Here’s a bunch of links I missed this week:
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Read all about it!! You saw it everywhere else, and you’ll see it here too. Send in your ballots now for the Harvey Awards! Deadline is August 3, this year.
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Asthma
John Hankieweicz
Sparkplug Comic Books

I’m hesitant to talk about what I think John Hankieweicz’s enigmatic comics are about because that’s the part I struggle with the most when I read them. It’s been said that his comics have a logic puzzle quality to them, and indeed, I am constantly wondering if I could somehow solve my way through them. I’m sure by this point, I’ve walked into the trap.

Rather than create an underlying cohesiveness, Hankieweicz has given us a seemingly connected series of comics that explode our reasoning faculties, all the while sucking us in with their charming, yet terrifying playfulness.

Quite honestly, I’m not sure there is much plot or narrative to be mined in his comics–so it’s convenient that dance is an ostensible theme in several of his comics. Like dance, his comics have a lot of emotional fluidity to them. One panel flows into the next because of a common element that seemingly connotes a connection of some kind, and yet before you know it, you’re left with a whole lot air and gravity beneath your feet.
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I sampled just a mosquito-sized portion of Comic-Con last Sunday. Here, then, is a humble offering of my experiences:

The whole thing was sort of like the medieval ages—my world view was confined to a tiny “small press pavilion” of a land and the scary ocean all around me attempted to lure me to unknown, forbidden treasures of which I must resist for lack of time.

Four hours. That’s all I had that Sunday afternoon. I filled that time traipsing from one small press booth to the next, resigned finally to the fact that I would only see one-half of one-twentieth of the entire convention.

Still. It pretty much rocked a ukulele.
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Celebrity news ahead!!!
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.---------------------------.

|/=========================\|

|             ..=..         | , You will lower your shields and

|    \\=//   //-=-\\        |    surrender immediately.

|   //o=o\\  __\-/__        |   Or we shall incinerate you.

|    _\~/_  /   \nU \       |

|   /  \nU\ |   /\  |       |

'---------------------------'dew

My computer is going crazy, so I can only handle ASCII art today. This one’s from an ASCII comic strip called Starship ASCIIprise. Enjoysss. (btw, the formatting might be screwed up, so check out the link). Read the rest of this entry »

It might seem like Andy Hartzell just burst onto the scene with his richly-themed comic Fox Bunny Funny, but people in the know have been quietly excited about his work for some time now.

Hartzell has been reading independent comics since college, where he was originally planning to become a playright. He started producing his own, and in 1995, he landed a Xeric grant to produce his comic Bread and Circuses. He worked for some time as a newspaper cartoonist in Las Vegas, and contributed to several anthologies through the years. He now produces his comics out of Emeryville, CA. In addition to his newest comic Fox Bunny Funny, he continues to produce his Ignatz-nominated series Monday, a story starring the cast of the Bible’s Genesis story. The third installment comes out this Fall.

Hartzell’s small press output are often hand done silk screens, and he has an eye for cleverly composed layouts. Hartzell says he grew up hooked on Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons, and his comics seem to show a similar sensibility and visual style.

I met Hartzell when I attended APE this year, and he was one of the most approachable comic creator there. He was there to promote the Bay Area small press collective and distributor Global Hobo.

When I later contacted him for an interview, we had a very nice chat in which I learned a lot about him. The only problem is that I’m a complete idiot with a tape recorder—twice over. I’ll just leave it at that! Anyway, the point is, he was gracious enough to redo the interview—through email because I found I had to back away slowly from the scary recording equipment.

In this interview, we talk about the places he’s been, try on some English class meanings for some of his recent comics, and discuss his comic making process. Hartzell is at the San Diego Comicon this weekend, so make sure to stop by and see his stuff at the Top Shelf table!

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Take heart, AdHouse has photographic evidence of a Laura Park minicomic–it’s called Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream.
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I see comic books.
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