Best Comics of 2011: the Runners- up

Beginning my annual series of posts of the best of the previous year. Most folks do these all at once, but I like to take my time and spend a bit more time on each.
We'll begin with the works that almost made it, and the reasons why.
First, Daytripper.

This book remains a fascination, and I wish I'd see something new from the creators. In fairness, I've not checked in with them for a while, but you'd think a work this acclaimed would generate more followup press for the creative team.
This didn't make the cut this year for two reasons.
1. I already put it in last year's Best of... and wanted to leave space for other work equally deserving of recognition.
2. It's not really a 2011 book. The series was completed in December 2010, a fact conveniently omitted by the graphic novel purists who don't pay attention to a work until it's collected. That snobbery really gets under my nose!
Next up: a very different book.
Here's One Soul by Ray Fawkes.
This book is a compelling exploration of the standard 3 x 3 panel grid, used to tell interlocking stories with captions throughout.
The book tells the stories of multiple characters from birth. It slides from one to another, through caption only, occasionally veering away from the 3 x 3 configuration by joining the panel areas into larger panels, but never abandoning the grid.
Here's a sample tier.

This is not included for one simple reason. I'm not done reading it yet!
The same excuse applies to the next runner-up, Return to Perdition.

I've enjoyed the Perdition series a great deal over the years. I own a page from the Garcia-Lopez volume, On the Road to Perdition, and thought the film of the original book was one of the better film adaptations of a comic, despite its altering of the ending. I got to visit my pal Terry Beatty while he was working on this, and was delighted to see it at Minneapolis FallCon this year, just before its commercial release. I'm reading the library copy of this right now, but if he makes it to Spring Con, I'll try to pick one up from Terry then. I'll be done reading this soon, but right now.... no.
See Terry's blog link on the side of this page for more info on him!
The final runner-up is a good book that just had one problem too many for me, Lady Mechanika.
WARNING OF SPOILERS BELOW!

There are a lot of things I like about this book. It's tightly written, elaborately drawn and very well colored. The concept is solid- a powerful woman whose life is a mystery, even to her, both hunter and hunted.
I love the steampunk overtones. The slightly soiled elegance of the whole quasi-Victorian faux antique tech never really wears thin for me.
So with all that going for it, why didn't it make the cut?
Well, it's sort of like the old Dark Horse book GHOST. It dances right on the edge of being sexist.
I'm not talking about the cleavage cut-out in the costume, though that always struck me as highly impractical for battle. Nor am I talking about her ample, ahem, tracts of land. After all, some women are so endowed, though they are (you should excuse the phrase) disproportionately represented in comics in general.
No, I'm talking about her.
There's an axiom that describes the different catalysts in the heroic paths of men and women.
A man becomes a hero by having something taken from him: property, ability (think Daredevil or Dr. Strange), or a loved one (think Batman, Superman, the Phantom, etc.).
A woman becomes a hero after something is done TO her directly. Think about Red Sonja (rape), Batgirl/Oracle (disabling by shooting coupled with implied sexual assault), or Shrinking Violet, who lost a leg in the Giffen Legion run.
To be sure, there are exceptions, but when a female hero's story begins with multiple body part dismemberment, I have a hard time seeing beyond that. Funny how relatively few stories there are that begin with this happening to a man. In fact, aside from Miller's classic RONIN, I can't think of any!
This is still a worthwhile book, in spite of its big thematic flaw, and I'll stick with it for a while to see if it overcomes said flaw. But I'm sorry, it's just not up to Best of the Year material with that in it. Creator Joe Benitez deserves continued attention for the level of work he's doing. I'd like to see his characterizations reach the high level of the other elements of his work.
Tomorrow: the Best of 2011 list begins in earnest.

Original Art Sundays No. 114: Tranny Towers, p. 22

First of two new posts for this second Sunday in 2012.
Posting a Tranny Towers page! This was the penultimate page in this storyline.

 As always, minimal cleanup in Photoshop. I was quite fond of the Bonsai logo, even if it did take up too much real estate on the page.
I have the originals filed, and will rescan some of the pages before going to press with the final collection of these.
The title of the piece within the chapter, Keep Me Safe and Warm and Shelter Me From Darkness, comes from a piece by the John Williams group SKY. I performed this piece at my niece Jessica's wedding.


Next up: the beginning of Best of 2011.
Next week: after class prep, the long overdue new page of A Private Myth.

Original Art Sundays No. 113: Hello Peoples!

Starting off the year with inventory, but strangely new.
This is a photo I took in 1991 using 35MM B & W film and printed on Ilford matte paper.
I was driving around with my pal Pauline Johnson, taking shots of folks just out and about. These guys just opened up to me. Very refreshing, considering they followed a woman whose expression indicated she'd maim me if I clicked the shutter.
The title comes from the saying etched in the cross beam behind the bench.

I love the energy and attitude of this shot. The textures of the wood, the wall and the bench are fascinating.
Sadly, the scan washed out a lot of the detail and texture, and no matter what I did, I couldn't get them back!
Sometimes I regret that film is a thing of the past. Digital is here to stay and has its strengths, but each can do something the other can't, and I'm loathe to discard any craft. After all, we still have live theater despite the presence of TV, film, DVD and digital download. Why should so-called "slow art" be any different?
Ah well, the price of progress, I suppose.
Next: I'll have scanner access again this week, so if I meet my writing deadlines, I should get to the next page of A Private Myth by next Sunday.

New Year, Old Birthdays

Well, here we are, less than two hours into 2012. I'm about to turn in, but I wanted to get this up as early in the year as I could.
I'll post art later today.
The New Year is an occasion for celebrating recent accomplishments and looking forward. But for me it's always had a bittersweet overtone.
My Father was a New Year's baby, so I'm reminded of him as each year starts.

This was taken in 1958, two years before my parents' divorce and the birth of my youngest brother.
I always thought two things about this photo. First, that's the  shortest hair my Mother ever had. Second, my Dad looks terrified.
My Dad divorced my Mother to marry another woman while Mother was pregnant with by brother John.
We didn't hear much from him for ten years after that, and Mother was in complete denial about the divorce, at least to us kids (though my sisters found the divorce papers in the attic, so they knew, but didn't tell the rest of us). So as I grew, he was a blurred memory and a cipher that held a vague promise of return.
When I was 15, I went to live with my Dad and his new family, at their suggestion. I learned a lot about life from them, as I did from my Mother, but I was too scared, selfish and stubborn, and too much a self-styled teenage rebel (translate: I was kinda a jerk), to accept the lessons from any of them until years later.
So it goes. I suspect that's part of the human condition. Dad was fond of the Twain quote- "when I was 18, my father was so stupid. By the time I was 25, I couldn't believe how much smarter the old man had gotten."
Before I finished high school, I had moved into my own apartment- a spectacular disaster that ended with me moving back in with Dad and Audrey briefly 6 weeks after graduation, followed by my hitchhiking up North to live with my Mom and attend junior college for a couple years.
I saw Dad sporadically after that, always wanting his understanding, never quite sure how to get it. When you talk to your parents, it doesn't matter how old you are, you're always a kid.
I came out to my Dad shortly before he was diagnosed with cancer. I was able to see him one final time, and had one last shot at us really understanding one another. This photo was taken during that visit to Atlanta, twenty some years ago.

I was stunned at his fragility. I remembered him as being so large and powerful, and near the end, he looked like a breeze would do him in.
We had about an hour to talk while everyone else was out. I think he was as afraid of me as I was of him. We danced around each other, and were just starting to get into some of the really weighty stuff when the rest of the clan returned. So there were some things I never got to ask him. I wanted to push harder, but hey, the man was dying, and I already felt like I was kicking him when he was down just by being out.
However, after Mother died more than a decade later, I was entrusted with her correspondence with Dad leading up to the divorce. Between that and conversations with siblings, I think I've pieced together what I needed to know.
I'll not go into further detail on matters around the divorce. Suffice to say, I've come to terms with both my parents, as we all must sooner or later.
Now, I think about the good things I got from my Dad: a love of laughter and music, a passion for knowledge, some skill as a cook/chef (in addition to having a Master's in Engineering, he ran a catering business on the side), and a fierce sense of loyalty that I can't always live up to.
I also got some bad things from him: difficulty managing money, a bit of conflict-avoidance, and a fondness for a well-turned ankle.
I didn't get his singing voice, which is too bad. He was good.
Now I think of him more with fondness than regret, and as I do with Mother, I see facets of him in myself often, and it always takes me by surprise.
I can live with that.
So happy new year to all, and happy birthday to Charles Robert Bender.

Original Art Sundays (Wednesday) No. 112: The Canadian Giant

A few days late due to the holidays, but I did have a couple pieces scanned ahead to carry through the down time. Scanner access returns next week, so depending on work schedule, no further problems anticipated.
In 2001, I attended my second GORGG. In preparation for the event, I offered a couple T-Shirt ideas. One was later used for a CD cover, and the other, which I actually preferred, remained lost to posterity.
Until now.

The design is clean and effective, but it may have been too subtle for the crowd. Also, the ear is a bit too small.
I also did a piece inspired by Robert Crumb, which made it to the cover of the Jam CD, the first GORGG jam ever!

The image was distorted slightly for the CD cover, but I like the playfulness of it, and the maple leaf guitar remains a favorite symbol.
As I prepare to teach History of Rock & Roll in a couple weeks, I find music in general and Gentle Giant in particular very much in my thoughts. While it's unlikely I'll be able to attend the 2012 GORGG in Israel, much as I would love to go, the 2013 gathering in Chicago seems feasible.
Next: a surprise.

Original Art Sundays No. 111: Tranny Towers Support materials

You find the strangest things in a move.

As a case in point, these are pages of character notes for my attempt to expand Tranny Towers into a graphic novel. This attempt was still in the funny animal subgenre, which I let slide away when I created a dozen or so pages of the same story under the title TranScending, some of which I've published here in the past.
Many of the notes are simply extensions of the established characters in the then-current strip. Actually, a few of these characters,
Dena, Athena, Trina and Sonia had lives that predated the strip.
Trina and Sonia appeared in my first strip in TransSisters magazine, and Sonia was in a strip in TNT News a bit later, offering editorial commentary on the MN State anti-welfare legislation that included elimination of state-funded surgeries.
Athena was in my strips in GAY Comics issues 18 and 25.
Dena joined her in issue 25, and both appeared in my first self-published comic, Ink Tantrums No. 1. Drop me a line if you'd like a copy. Out of the 250 print run, I still have about 50.
In addition to the aforementioned appearances and truncated attempts at a larger work, I tried a trans related strip with a lighter touch circa 2003. I submitted the following sample strip to Queue Press around 2003.
One issue came out after the strip's rejection, then the paper folded. So it goes.
This has never been in print.

I rather like this one, but nobody else seemed to. I think it could have been a lot of fun, playing with light hearted gags.
One of the reasons I backed away from doing a long-form story about trans issues is that most of them are  the same story. Outing, bashing, suicide attempt and self-acceptance. It's an important story, but I'd like to think we have more than the one. Rachel Pollack's character Kate in her Doom Patrol run (pictured below) is an example of the possibilities of trans narratives, possibilities that are seldom realized. 

Next week: well, it's Christmas next Sunday and I don't know if I'll be around to blog. I might post early (or set up a timed post or some such).
We'll find out when we get there.
In case I don't see you, may your holidays be kind to you.

Original Art Sundays (Tuesday) no. 110: Surrealist Cowgirls, It Does This, p.8

Okay, here we go. The promised and overdue page!
Since it's been a while since I posted the previous page, here's a recap of the story until now.
The Surrealist Cowgirls, Renee Maggie Reet and Louise Bunnywell, are sleeping in on a quiet morning when their tent is pelted with an unseasonable armadillo storm.
The famous witch who comes to the point, Kay Seurat-Seurat, comes running up and tells them she has come down with rheumatism of the spirit. Louise suggests they find a witch doctor. They set off with Kay in a travois pulled by WhaleLiam.
Making camp in a deep valley, they rest. As Kay sleeps, a silent man sneaks up and kisses her cheek. The man's snail looks on, nonplussed.
When Kay awakes, she seems refreshed, but she has a relapse, and her sneeze transforms Louise into a bunny.
Now read on:

 

I rather like the Groucho glasses on the Sun.

By the time this story is done, I will have enough material to publish a dead tree issue of the Surrealist Cowgirls comic. The 11-page 24-hour story, the 4-page WhaleLiam story, this story, estimated at 18 pages, two pages of paper dolls, and a text page or a bit of fun, making a 36 page book. Just need a cover then! I'm toying with publishing through Kablam, or else doing a Kickstarter.

I hope to get at least one more page of this story done by calendar year end. I'd also like to resume work on A Private Myth, now that I have a hiatus from teaching for 5 or 6 weeks. Balancing those desires with my imminent writing deadlines and the need for a second job to fill in between semesters will be quite a challenge!

Next: some unpublished Tranny Towers background stuff.

Original Art Sundays no. 109: Aargh!

The new page is completed.
However, when I left for work to do my scans, I took everything BUT the new page with me.
What a comedy of errors!
I will scan and post the new page tomorrow. I'm still one or two posts behind on my arbitrary self-imposed schedule anyway.
To make amends, here are a couple paintings, intended for a children's alphabet book on pirates.

These are colored ink and watercolor on Canson Arches paper. I love the deckle edge for this subject matter!
The girls in the lower corner of the first image feel out of place. If I were to redo them, I'd work the girls into the layout differently. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with these.
Re-reading Neil Gaiman's Dangerous Alphabet last week, I was struck by how much fun alphabet books can be. Perhaps I'll try another one if I run out of projects!
Tomorrow: the next page of the Surrealist Cowgirls.

Comic book antiquty No. 3: Bringing Up Father, the Musical

Well, the new page is on the drawing board, and I want to take my time with it. A couple things are giving me grief, and my time is divided between that, finishing the semester, meeting writing deadlines and other mundanities of life.
To tide us over, I am offering another in my infrequent series of Comic Book Antiquities.
This is sheet music dated 1915, MCMXV, for all you Roman Numeral fans out there, from the Bringing Up Father musical. It is from one of the touring company versions of the show.
There are several things worth mentioning here. First, for those unfamiliar with the strip, the plot of Bringing Up Father revolves around Irish immigrants Maggie and Jiggs, who win the Irish Sweepstakes shortly after immigrating to America. Maggie wants to advance into high society. Jiggs does not.
For more on the musical itself, scroll down on Clark Holloway's excellent Bringing Up Father page.
Aside from the class issues raised by the strip, it's noteworthy in a couple other ways. First, it's really funny. Second, it's distinguished by the Art Deco-influenced art of George McManus.

I got this sheet music off the free shelf at MCAD, where I teach, some time ago. I suspect it was left by Terry Beatty, as it appeared around the time of Terry's move.
The music is in tatters. Rather than do any kind of digital restoration, I am presenting the scans "as is". There's a charm and delight to the browned pages, which shed chips as they were handled for scanning.
More comments below the scans. As always, click on the scans for a larger version.

Further notes:
The back cover is missing, which would make the page count 20, not divisible by four, implying an unusual printing process, not done in signatures but in flats.
Some of the songs touch on issues of Irish loyalty and love, a common and necessary theme in early 1900s New York, where the mantra was often "No Irish Need Apply."
The Deco inspired art is present again in the character designs on the masthead.
The ads on the final pages are fascinating in their own right.
There is blatant racism in some of the lyrics printed on other pages, to sell sheet music. This is reinforeced by the "jokes" in the "Heard At the Minstrel Show" text on the inside front cover.
In this context, it's important to remember that sheet music was more than a popular commodity. Radio and films were in their infancy, television did not yet exist. For many families, gathering around the piano to sing was an evening's entertainment, if such was an option. Bear in mind that this also predates child labor laws, so much of the family might have been working 10 to 14 hour days.
Finally, this is far from the only musical based on a comic book or strip. There was a stage musical of Little Nemo in Slumberland, a ballet of Krazy Kat, two musicals based on Li'l Abner, a Broadway musical based on Superman, the current Spider-Man musical, and, of course, Annie!
Mercifully failed attempts include the 70s Captain America musical and the 90s Batman musical. The latter had pretty good songs by Meatloaf partner Jim Steinman.
Next: art. My scanner access will be limited from mid-December to early January, so I hope to get some work done ahead of that time.

Original Art Sundays No. 108: for the Fallen

I missed a few weeks of blogging my art, and am presented with a serendipitous, albeit somber, opportunity to remedy the situation in part.
Tonight is the observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. As I am unable to attend, I am posting work on the topic.
This page was created for a late issue of Transsexual News Telegraph (TNT), one of two independently published magazines dedicated to trans life and issues in the 1990s. Editor Gail Sondegaard rejected the page as too somber. Odd, because I tried to balance realism and optimism.
The page would have been published in issue 9, Autumn 2000. Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1998. However, I was unaware of the day until some years later.
I rediscovered the page during my move. The pasteup was falling apart, and there was random discoloring on some of the text panels.
With minimal restoration, I decided to go ahead and post the piece.

The fine print: done on Coquille board in China marker, type set in Copperplate. Original size 11" x 17". Scanned in RGB to preserve the range of grays, despite a tendency of such scans to run to the green part of the light spectrum.
Technically I consider this a comic page, but some would call it illustrated text instead- a fine hair to split in my book.
That Alan Moore quote, from V For Vendetta, remains one of my favorites.
I still think a physical memorial to our fallen is a worthwhile idea. But it would be better if the memorials and tributes were not necessary.
next: a long overdue new page. No, really.

Original Art Sundays No. 107: Whalliam!

I will make a second post later tonight, for reasons I will state at that time.
For right now, here's the promised Surrealist Cowgirls supplemental story.
I did this specifically for the show for my Aldrich Arts comics creation course.
Here's the flier for the course, which used a painting I've posted here years ago.

The whole motivation was to do a simple story that was family friendly.
One of the students spontaneously gave Whalemule a proper name: Whalliam!
Now I'm debating whether it should be spelled with an e: WhaleLiam.
Now, the story.

I like working fast and simple. This story will make a nice addition to the first issue of the Surrealist Cowgirls comic!
Next: something a bit more serious.

Original Art Sundays No. 106: A Night at the MN Opera

While there is a new story that's a half inch from being ready to post, something else came up this week that deserves our attention.
While attending MIX(more about MIX later this week, I hope), I talked to some members of the Black Hat Comics Collective, and joined them in an adventure this past Thursday.
We were invited to attend the dress rehearsal of the new production of the MN Opera Company, Silent Night. Since this is a world premiere, we were among the first to see a public performance. We were also privileged with a light sushi snack and a Q & A with the librettist, Mark Campbell, and the composer, Eric Simonson, beforehand.
Our responsibilities for being granted this honor were simple. We were to sketch the performance and to blog about our experiences.
This work will also be offered to the Minnesota Opera Company for their blog.
The work, based on a true incident from WWI, tells of three troops- one Scots, one German, and one French- who agree to a truce for Christmas eve, and find themselves unable to fight thereafter.
The music and acting were stunning in their beauty. I was moved to quiet tears more than once.
May I add that this was the first opera I've ever attended (besides Gilbert & Sullivan, which, according to my music history professor, doesn't count)?
Go see this! It's one of the most moving Christmas pieces I've ever seen. And even though it's not specifically about the holiday or the faith associated with it, it's one of the most reverent works I've seen as well.
Performances this coming weekend only, but this deserves to become a holiday tradition.

Here are my sketches.The medium is listed below each piece. This is most of my output from the two hour performance. I hope the emotional content and energy compensate for their crudity.

China marker

China marker

China marker of rear projection behind set

China marker, soldier's letter home

fine tip marker- "famous artists make worse soldiers!"

fine tip No. 5 Marker

No. 5 marker- the bagpipes

No. 5 marker- prayer and song

Brush tip marker- the next morning

"maybe it's time to bury all of them...."

Brush tip marker

brush tip marker

brush tip marker

brush tip marker

brush tip marker- "a silly way to die"

I was so honored to do this, and to work with the Black Hat folks, many of whom I know from MCAD (and some of whom I've taught and worked with in other respects). I hope to work more with them, and would love to attend the next operatic event!
Next week: the long promised Whalemule solo story.