Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Jasmine Pinales

by Mike Rhode

Jasmine Pinales exhibited at the DC Zinefest and agreed to answer our usual questions afterward. She will be at SPX this fall if you'd like to meet her, and her comics are for sale now on her website. (All images are taken from her website).

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I write and draw fiction and autobio comics.


How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

My work is all traditional. I pencil, ink and letter on paper. I've used ink, markers and watercolor for my final pages depending on what best fits a project. I have produced some digital art but it never feels as strong as my traditional art, I don't think it's the best representation of my art. I lay out my comics on computer and do corrections and clean up.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

1988.

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I live outside of DC in Fairfax County. We moved here when I was 3 and I've been here most of my life. I went to Norfolk for college then returned.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

Most of my comics work is self taught. I spent my childhood reading the WashPo comics section, collected Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes and other strips. In late elementary school I got interested in anime and manga and started copying that while still be interested in  American cartoons and the eventual rise of webcomics on the internet. I've never taken a comics class, I've learned by example and reading all of the backmatter in comics about how pages are made. I've got Eisner's books on comics, and McCloud's which gave me more concrete ideas on how to make better comics. I have a BFA in Studio Art where I focused on comics for my Senior Show, so I have art training.

Who are your influences?

Everything. I really got into Will Eisner's work between The Spirit and his more personal projects after he was done with that. Piet Mondrian is one of my favorite painters, I love Dali and Caravaggio. Yuko Ota and Meredith Gran have some of the best comic timing and gorgeously clean art. Takako Shimura has comics fill of emotional characters and art that has a nice weight to it. So many cartoons, I loved The Weekenders and Recess as a kid. I've pulled visual cues I like from Jen Wang, I really like the was she draws eyes. Craig Thompson's work is gorgeous and made me want to try harder with brushes/brush pens. Internet discussions have made me more confident and inspired to try a broader variety in body types and more diversity, even though plenty of my early characters had variety.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

 All of my past experiences have brought me to where I am now and things would be different if I changed anything. That said, it'd be interesting to see how things could be different if I had gone into college focusing on comics and art and not transferring to comics after a few years in science.

What work are you best-known for?

I don't think I'm known for anything at this moment.

What work are you most proud of?

"How to Make Friends and Captivate People", it's my longest comic to date at 28 pages or so, the printed book has 40 because of an extra story. It was a struggle to produce as I had never tried such a long narrative and I misjudged how long it would take.

What would you like to do  or work on in the future?

 I'd like to continue working on my various stories and characters. I have a female knight and prince story; a group of theater nerd kids; a depressed robot and a myriad of others that I'm sketching out and thinking over slowly. I have a lot of ideas and just need the money and time to focus on them.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I'll step away from a project and create differently. Changing media or tools helps to reinvigorate me to focus on the main projects I'm working toward. This year I got into Hamilton and drew a mess of art, sketches and comics and in the past few weeks I've been listening to the audiobook of Jurassic Park and have had a wealth of ideas for mini comics about the first book that have relatively little to do with the movie. Sometimes indulging and receiving media is necessary to get a new spark, you'll see the right turn of phrase and everything starts turning again and you can keep creating. Another thing I've done, in 2013 after college I stopped drawing just to take a break and I felt awful not drawing anything after a few months so I forced myself to do a little sketch before bed.

 Those sketches turned into a sketchbook I have a shows for sale as I worked through being burnt out and getting back into the groove of production. In 2014 I did a daily sketchbook where I tried different ideas in the small spaces I had. These were for me but sharing them was a great experience too as I became more comfortable with what I could do in the space provided and looked up new topics.

What do you think will be the future of your field? 

More independent creators and creator owned work becoming popular and bigger powerhouses in comics shops. Image does an amazing job putting creators first and Fantom Comics in Dupont Circle works so hard to promote creator own material even as they stock DC and Marvel. They're still big in supporting local DMV creators.

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

I've attended SPX since 2012 and this is my first year tabling it, I'm excited. It's a lovely show to attend, a large crowd but there's so much positivity and love for comics in everyone attending and tabling it's great. I'll have at least one new book there that weekend that I'm working on. I'm at L7.

BMore Into Comics in Baltimore is a fun little day show. It's tiny -- in a bar -- but as an attendee you would have plenty of time to talk to the local artists who are tabling. An upside to small shows over big shows and some great local creators go there.

The DC Zinefest - I've shown there since 2015, the audience is very enthusiastic. It's great seeing how many female creators there are.

The Richmond Zinefest, I've tabled there two times now, and it's been in different venues both years, but has been going on for a while in its previous venue. The way it was set up in the library felt confusing as a tabler, maybe it was better for someone who knows that library better, but I heard from many people as they stumbled to the room I was in they were surprised there was another room.

Locus Moon in Philly, I showed there in 2015, it was a ton of fun. Great creators and audience. Everyone there was super enthusiastic. I've heard they're focusing more on publishing and I'd like to go to the show again, not sure if it's happening anymore.

Comics Arts Brooklyn - a small show in a church in Brooklyn, NY. Like smaller shows you get a great change to meet and talk to a creator for a while. Attendance has been enthusiastic and it's at a pretty good time of year in November, chilly but not too cold.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

The variety of people and things to do.

Least favorite?

Metro. Also driving around here is a hassle, not always a direct way someplace. I can drive from where I am to Maryland in 30 minutes or to the middle of the city in 45.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

I don't have many visitors, I'd want to show them the [National Gallery of Art's] East and West Galleries though; I'm a big fan of art history.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

Daikaya in Chinatown. Both the upstairs Izakaya and the downstairs ramen bar.

Do you have a website or blog?

jasmine-pinales.com also meisterjdraws.tumblr.com

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Michael Brace

by Mike Rhode

Michael Brace is a member of the DC Conspiracy comics co-op.  He was at DC Zinefest this summer, and finally agreed to answer our standard questions. He will be at SPX next month if you'd like to meet him.


What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I just finished my second black-and-white comic book its in a realistic style. I also contribute one-page stories to a local newspaper comic Magic Bullet and those tend to be a little more cartoony.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

Mostly traditional pen and ink. I used a computer for lettering and occasionally for adding color.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

1950s

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

Long-time Foggy Bottom resident. I came here to pursue an illustration career.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

Took a one-year commercial art vocational training class back in 1973.

Who are your influences?

Too many to name. I'm a big fan of turn-of-the-century book illustration (I should say turn-of-last-century book illustration) and woodblock prints.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

Would have focused more on writing skills.

What work are you best-known for?

Pages in Magic Bullet and artwork for District Comics.

What work are you most proud of?

Managing to finish two comic books.

What would you like to do  or work on in the future?

I would like to expand on my last comic "Never Rescue an Octopus from a Tree".

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I try to have a couple of projects going so I can switch off to keep things fresh.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

I think independent comics will continue to expand on both the web and in print. Flexibility is key.

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

Zine Fest and Small Press Expo this year. Great to have an alternative to superhero cons.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

Don't need a car to get around.

Least favorite?

The local neighborhoods are being gobbled up.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

Air and Space Museum and National Cathedral.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

No longer around "Dove and Rainbow." Made their pizzas with Greek cheeses, they were great.

Do you have a website or blog?

Not at this time.

PR: SPX 2016 Announces International Guests Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh and Pascal Girard

For Immediate Release Contact: Warren Bernard Email: warren@spxpo.com Small Press Expo Announces International Special Guests Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh and Pascal Girard for SPX 2016 Bethesda, Maryland; August 4, 2016 Media Release - Small Press Expo is proud to announce Tom Gauld, Cyril Pedrosa, Aimée de Jongh,  and Pascal Girard as Special Guests for SPX 2016. Small Press Expo is honored that all of these international creators are appearing at the festival for the very first time, This is in additon to previously announced special guests Daniel Clowes, Lisa Hanawalt, Jeffrey Brown, Trina Robbins, Charles Burns, Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez, Sarah Glidden Carol Tyler, Jim Woodring, Drew Friedman, Ed Piskor, and a rare festival appearance by Joe Sacco. Tom Gauld is reknown comic creator, designer and illiustrator. He has weekly comic strips in The Guardian and New Scientist, as well as having his work published in The New York Times and The Believer. In addition to his graphic novels Goliath and You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, he has designed a number of book covers, as well as a can for Diet Coke. This fall he releases Mooncop from Drawn & Quarterly. Gauld lives and works in London. Cyril Pedrosa studied animation design at the Gobelins, a Parisian school dedicated to careers in the moving image. He went on to work on Disney animated feature films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules. A rising star in graphic storytelling, his unique work is a product of his animation background combined with his literary influences of Borges, Marquez and Tolkien. His moving journal of going back to his family roots, Portugal, is a bestseller. NBM will release Pedrosa's latest, Equinox  this September. Aimée de Jongh is an award-winning animator, comic artist, and illustrator from the Netherlands. She has since created work for children's books, TV shows, music videos, and art installations, alongside numerous comic book series. Her animated film Aurora was screened widely in the Netherlands and Janus, a video installation she created with the L.A.-based artist Miljohn Ruperto, was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Return of the Honey Buzzard, her first graphic novel, won the Prix Saint-Michel and is published in English by SelfMadeHero. Pascal Girard was born in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada, in 1981. He began filling his notebook with drawings on his very first day of school and never stopped. Since he was unable to rid himself of this habit, he naturally decided to make it his career. Girard is the award-winning author of Nicolas, Bigfoot, Reunion, and Petty Theft. He lives in Montreal. In September 2016, Girard is releasing an expanded hardcover edition of his first book Nicholas published by Drawn & Quarterly. In the next few weeks, SPX will announce more guests, the 2016 Ignatz nominees and a full slate of programming. SPX 2016 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18, and will have over 650 creators, 280 exhibitor tables and 22 programming slots to entertain, enlighten and introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics. Small Press Expo (SPX) is the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels, and alternative political cartoons. SPX is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings together more than 650 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics, and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. The expo includes a series of panel discussions and interviews with this year's guests. The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show. As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the SPX Graphic Novel Gift Program, which funds graphic novel purchases for public and academic libraries, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, visit their website at http://www.cbldf.org. For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.smallpressexpo.com.

Joe Procopio on Small Press Expo in 2000

Thanks to Joe Procopio of Lost Art Books for providing the scans and letting us reprint this article.

Procopio, Joseph .  2000.

The Greatly Exaggerated Death of Comic Books: NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND at the Small Press Expo 2000.

Snap Pop! 2 (5; December / January): 8-10.
online at http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2016/05/joe-procopio-on-small-press-expo-in-2000.html

New Shadow artwork commission by Rob Ullman

Rob Ullman of Richmond has long had ties to the DC area. For years, he illustrated Dan Savage's Savage Love column in the Washington City Paper. He's also been at every SPX. I commissioned this drawing of the Shadow and Margo Lane from him at SPX, and it arrived today. I quite like it.

Meet a Local Cartoonist: Dana Maier

(all images from Ms. Maier's website)

by Mike Rhode

Late last month news broke that GoComics had added four new strips to its website, including Dana Maier's The Worried Well. Here's the strip description: 

Dana Jeri Maier's comics provide useful advice, philosophical musings and spot-on witticisms. She shows us ourselves, not unkindly, as silly and vain and self-involved. Her cartoons feel very interior, a mind watching the world and muttering to itself. They're what that person standing by themselves at the party, not talking to anyone, pretending to look vaguely interested in nothing in particular, has been secretly thinking the whole time.

Dana Jeri Maier is an artist and cartoonist living in Washington, DC. She has exhibited widely throughout the DC Metro area and various street corners, if you know where to look. Maier's site-specific mural, Inscrutable Comic, is on permanent display at the Flashpoint Gallery in Washington, DC.

Read The Worried Well at http://gocomics.com/the-worried-well.

A Washington, DC cartoonist who hasn't been featured here? Bad form! I reached out to her to ask her to answer our standard questions.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I try to straddle the line between cartoon and fine art. Some of my comics are observation-type humor, some are more philosophical.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

Pen and ink and watercolor, and occasionally gauche. I try to use the computer as little as possible—coloring on the computer is just too soul-sucking for me. My favorite tools are Microns with slightly-broken nibs (so you get a nice variation in line), and portable Japanese brush pens. 

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in the early 80s in Arlington, Virginia. My family moved to Falls Church when I was four, and I grew up there.  

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I live in Columbia Heights. I'm here because I haven't found a good enough reason to leave the area—I went to art school in Baltimore, then lived in England for half a year, and wound up back in DC. The Type-A-yet-small-town-ish nature of the city appeals to me. 

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I went to art school and studied illustration. I dabbled in cartoons while I was there, and did some animation work in grad school, but put cartoons on the back-burner until a few years ago. 

Who are your influences?

Saul Steinberg has had a significant impact on me as an adult. When I was a kid I checked the Shel Silverstein poetry books out of the school library so often that the librarian gently reminded me that maybe there were other books I might like to give a chance? (Looking back I can see she meant well, but I remember being deeply insulted at the time.) As a teenager I grew up reading Richard's Poor Almanac and Cul De Sac in the Washington Post, so I'm happy Richard Thompson is finally getting more recognition as a brilliant artist. And my parents always had copies of Esquire magazine lying around the house, which is where I read cartoons by Daniel Clowes for the first time, believe it or not. Not that his work has a lot in common with mine; it just showed me what kind of storytelling comics were capable of, in a way that I'd never seen before. I also love the work of a bunch of women cartoonists: Lisa Hanawalt, Emily Flake, Eleanor Davis, and Lilli Carre are some of my favorites.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I regret not taking more sculpture classes when I was an art student—it would be nice to know how to use power tools and be more confident working 3D. And I should've taken cartooning more seriously early on. I didn't do it as much because it was so much harder than fine art, where I felt like I had more freedom for my work not to make any sense. Cartoons can't really get away with being inscrutable the way fine art can.  

What work are you best-known for?

Probably my wheat pastes of mice in cups, and the Indifferent Guy. 

What work are you most proud of?

Flashpoint gallery mural

  

I have a series of ink drawings I did a few years ago that I always look at and think, "man, I would like to do something like that again." I think my mural at the Flashpoint gallery came out pretty well, too. But it's hard to look at my old work and not just see mistakes or things I'd do differently. 

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I'd like to do a comic essay, or create cartoons that are more writing-heavy than what I've been doing. I feel as though I could use the practice. Cartoons are sneaky in that the writing is a thousand times more important than the drawing; a cartoon with shitty drawings and great writing can still be a joy to read, but a cartoon with great drawing and bad writing will always be terrible no matter what. 

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

Worst-case scenario I will go down a rabbit hole of Facebook and think pieces. Best case scenario, I'll read, or study the work of other artists I like. I have a pad of lined yellow Post-It Notes that has been particularly good for doodles. Or I try to work on something fun or brainless. 

What do you think will be the future of your field?  

I'm not sure. I can't really speak to the industry side of things, but I've been thinking a lot about the effect of social media on art, and how we use it as a barometer of what "good" is. That is, if I draw something and post it online and no one likes I will feel bad, and wonder what's wrong with the drawing. And I hate that this is a phenomenon in my life now, but I'm guessing it's true for a lot of artists. On the flip side of things, artists who are well-known have to deal with immediately opening themselves up to a barrage of online comments and criticism, which can make you cautious with your work (or at the very least, ruin your day). So maybe you really can't win.   

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

I tabled at the Small Press Expo for the first time last year. It was terrifying, but it was also where an acquisitions editor from GoComics found me and signed me up, which is probably a best-case scenario for tabling at a convention. I'd like to table at more of them, now that I know what to expect. 

What's your favorite thing about DC?

There's a moldy stereotype of DC being a stuffy town with a bunch of power-hungry wonks, but I've never found that to be true. For me at least, it's like a high school cafeteria where I can sit at whatever table I feel like—it's easy to meet a variety of good-natured, intelligent people here. And I appreciate that it's small and well-organized. I hate driving, so any city that requires a car is a deal breaker for me. 

Least favorite?

 Everything here seems about 30% more expensive than it should be. 

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

My favorite art museum is the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. I don't think museum-going gets much more fun than that.  In DC proper I like taking people to The Portrait Gallery / American Art Museum. The Kogod Courtyard is also a great place to draw if I need a change of scenery. 

How about a favorite local restaurant?

I like the Red Hen in Bloomingdale for special occasions. The happy hour at Eat the Rich is pretty sweet, too. 

Do you have a website or blog?

danajerimaier.com

Meet a Local Cartoonist: Chatting with Afrofuturist's J.T. Wilkins

JT with Rafer Roberts' banner

by Mike Rhode  

JT Wilkins was at Small Press Expo this year as part of the DC Conspiracy, and selling copies of his new Afrofuturist comics. He kindly agreed to answer our usual questions.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

 I'm known for Black Dayz, The Afrofuturist, and stuff in Magic Bullet.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I'm a Pen and Ink type of guy.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

Call me an 80's Child!

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I live in Southeast, but I'm really from Maryland.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

Drawing and Sketching got my groove on!

Who are your influences?

Spain, S. Clay Wilson, Crumb, Fletcher Hanks, Wood, Kirby, Beardsley, Ditko, Lee, Kubert, Lynch, Panter, Knight just to name a few.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I would have never gone in the military!

What work are you best-known for?

Mostly my Magic Bullet stuff, but my indie stuff stands the test of time.

What work are you most proud of? 

Everything!

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

Anything art-related that would make me happy.

What do you think will be the future of your field? 

Computers world wide!

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

MOCCA, SPXPO, PIX, STAPLE, BCC, CC.

 

What's your favorite thing about DC?

The Museums!

Least favorite?

Crowds.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

The Smithsonian.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

Anything with seafood.

Do you have a website or blog?

Thinktankrx.com

Did you miss the pre-SPX Little Nemo and Dylan Horrocks events?

Did you miss the pre-SPX Little Nemo and Dylan Horrocks events?

If so, not to worry. ComicsDC had people there covering them for you. We got audio recordings of both events. The Library of Congress filmed the Little Nemo presentation, and it'll eventually be on their website, but for now, you can listen to it here. Click on the title to be taken to an audio file.

  

DRAWING ON HISTORY - Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream

by Josh O'Neill, Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens of Locust Moon Press

Bruce Guthrie has photographs of their presentation on his website and you can follow along by syncing his pictures and the audio.






Dylan Horrocks was last at SPX in 1999, talking about his book Hicksville and bring a traveling exhibition with him.

He's back and better than ever. 

Dylan Horrocks - Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen - at Politics and Prose bookstore

by Dylan Horrocks

 

Jennifer Hayden, her breasts and their autobiographical comix: A pre-SPX interview

by Mike Rhode

A few years back I was doing an academic talk and paper which eventually was published as Graphic Tales of Cancer. Jennifer Hayden was working on her own story about cancer and was kind enough to talk with me then about her cartooning project about cancer. It's finally out now and I couldn't be more pleased to present this Q&Q with her. Everyone should go to the Small Press Expo this week, and buy her book.

Why will you be in Washington?

I'll be in Washington as a guest of Small Press Expo (SPX), where I'll be debuting my new graphic novel The Story of My Tits.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I write and draw autobiographical comix. My new book is a 352-page graphic memoir about my life and my experience with breast cancer. My first book Underwire (published in 2011) was a collection of short-storylength comix about my family. I post a short-form four-panel webcomic
called S'Crapbook at activatecomix.com and a webcomic diary called Rushes at thegoddessrushes.blogspot.comthegoddessrushes.blogspot.com, part of which I self-published in 2013.

How do you do it?

With my diary comic, I draw with a copic pen in a blank Clairefontaine notebook. With all my other comics, I draw on Bristol paper with a rapidograph, which has begun to hurt my hand, so I do some details with a dip pen. I now also add tones with a black watercolor pencil, which I wet for a softer, painted look. I work panel by panel, not page by page, and go straight to ink, no pencil. If I don't like the panel, I toss it out and start over. I write in a notebook at my side, where I test the words until I get them right before I start the panel. I never really know what's next--I like the surprise. When the art is done, I scan it and assemble the pages in Photoshop, cleaning things up, but always keeping the hand-drawn look.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

Oh, it's time for me to be classy about my age. I was born in 1961 in New York City.

Can you tell us a little about your new book that you'll be in town discussing?

The Story of My Tits is a graphic memoir about my bout with breast cancer, but it includes a lot of other stories that ripple out from mine and resonate with it, like my mother-in-law's cancer story, my mother's cancer story, the story of how these marriages were affected by cancer, and how my own childhood, teenagehood, adulthood, marriage and motherhood influenced the way I reacted. I have to add that I think of it as a graphic novel, not a memoir, because I was less interested in being accurate and more interested in giving the reader the same ride through life that I had had, which involved some tragicomic tweaking here and there.

Breast cancer is a serious illness much discussed in the media, but it's also very personal. How did you decide to do a comic on it? Where did the amusing, but perhaps off-putting book title come from?

Cancer has been a popular subject for graphic novels, it seems to me. It's the perfect medium for this disease, because you can be almost simultaneously hilarious and desperately sad. And ironic, and informative, and real, and anything else you want. Comix are so utterly free. From the moment I was recovering from my breast cancer experience--which was when I discovered graphic novels--I knew this would be the best way for me to tell my story. I was very inspired by Marisa Marchetto's great strip Cancer Vixen in Glamour magazine, which I saw before she turned it into a book, and that helped convinced me this was the way to go.

I don't remember really considering any other title. When I wrote it down I thought, uh-oh. This isn't going to be one hundred percent popular. But then again, I'm not writing this book to tell anything but the truth. So that's the title and I stuck with it. And my publisher Top Shelf never asked me to change it.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I have none. I studied a lot of literature in high school and college, where I majored in art history, so I also studied a lot of great art and loved learning how visual narratives were built into those images. I always drew, and read Archies compulsively when I was growing up, but I lost track of comics as a grownup. Then, having written a few (very bad) novels that were never published (thank the   Goddess) and illustrated some children's books (which were just too rated G for me), I stumbled on
graphic novels and I just felt like I had come home. I knew exactly what to do. I gave myself a year to read all the best graphic novels I could find, then made myself sit down and start. The Story of My Tits begins with the first comix panel I ever drew.

Who are your influences?

Oh, so many. Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Charles Dickens, Albrecht Durer, Maurice Sendak, Hilary Knight, Goscinny and Uderzo (Asterix and Obelix are the gold standard for me; the most comedy and emotion in comics per square inch!), Garry Trudeau, Alison Bechdel, Lynda Barry, Julie Doucet, Dame Darcy, Will Eisner, and Jeffrey Brown. For a start.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

Discover comix in college, before I started losing my eyesight and getting sore hands. Go to art school and get some training in other media. But I probably would have just ruined art for myself, since I ruined everything then, being so hell-bent on "being an artist" (actually, at that time, a writer) and not on living a life that would inspire me to make art. So, I guess, actually, I would change nothing. It was all supposed to turn out this way.

What work are you best-known for?

Best-known for!? Possibly my pioneering work in conversational swearing. I'm not sure I'm known at all!! Underwire was my first  webcomic and my first book, so if I'm known for anything, it would have to be that.

What work are you most proud of?

Well, I really have done great work advancing the art of conversational swearing. But I'm also very proud of The Story of My Tits. All the years I was writing, all the years I was drawing, I was trying to grasp life, hold it for a moment, trap it, get it down where someone else could see it and feel it, just like me. And I think that in this book maybe at last I have.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I have two more autobio projects I'd like to see in print--my diary comic and a collection of my S'Crapbook strips--but then I feel like getting my feet wet in fiction again. I have another graphic novel in mind that's a mix of family history, autobiography, and fiction. I've taken notes on index cards for a while and thrown them in a box, so I'd like to open that box and see what happens.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I do not say those last two words. Ever. I had troubles as a writer I have never had as a comix creator, so I make it a point now just to keep moving forward. And never to judge my subject matter. The greatest skill I have learned is how to recognize that particular tickle of humor/sorrow/ aliveness that makes me know I have a story to tell. I go where it takes me and I do not question it. When I'm in a rut or too swamped with emotion about the subject to go on, I take a break. Hours, days, weeks. I adhere to no schedule, thanks to my publisher. I work every day, but I am the mistress of my own material.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

Many more people are reading graphic novels now, especially women, than two, five, ten years ago. I believe this is a very wide-open art form right now, and it's appealing to some great verbal and visual talents. What you can do in great art and in great literature, you can do in graphic novels, only it's better, because you can use techniques from both at the same time. I think we're going to see some incredible masterpieces, which will establish the graphic novel, like jazz or rock 'n roll, as a vital new channel of expression.


You've attended the Small Press Expo previously - do you have any thoughts about your experience? Will you be attending it in the future?

Oh, I absolutely love Small Press Expo! This is my sixth year, and it is the highlight of my comix calendar. The organizers are fantastic, the venue is relaxed, the exhibitors are nothing but the best. I've exhibited there, I debuted my first book Underwire there in 2011, and I never miss it. Last
year I got a chance to tell Jules Feiffer--a guest of the show--how much I adored his book Kill My Mother--and in the next moment I met a brand-new cartoonist visiting from Switzerland and had lunch with her at the bar, talking about autobiographical comix. Everyone is there for the love of
the art form, and it just seems to erase all barriers.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

I grew up in New York City, so what I love about DC is that it's such a small city, and yet there's so much in it. It also feels European to me, with all those big pretty streets and monumental, classical buildings. When I first went to the Smithsonian, I was just running along the mall, in and out of all those unbelievable museums, cackling at my husband: "It's free! It's all free!"

Least favorite?

It does seem to be a company town. Everyone seems to be either working for the government or probably a spy.

What monument or museum do like to or wish to visit when you're in town?

Our family favorite is the Spy Museum. Yeah, we like spies. But I also love the Lincoln Memorial. And all the art galleries, I couldn't even pick one.

Do you have a website or blog?

My website is jenniferhayden.com and my blog is goddesscomix.blogspot.com. I have another blog where I post my daily diary comic called thegoddessrushes.blogspot.com. And if you're on Facebook, my author page is jenniferhaydenauthor.

Small Press Expo exhibit at Library of Congress

The Serial & Government Publications Division of the Library of Congress has been collecting material at and from the Small Press Expo (SPX) for a few years. They've got an exhibit of some of the material in the main Jefferson building through October. Images courtesy of the LoC.

SPX opens Saturday at 11 am. 

Q&A: Keeling on his ‘DC Punk' series

by Matt Dembicki
 
Local comic booker and co-DC Conspiracy founder Evan Keeling is putting the final touches on his new comic DC Punk Presents: Nation of Ulysses: Part 1: ’88-’90. Over the past few years, Keeling has reached out to various members of the defunct D.C. punk band to pull together this book. Below, Keeling answers a few questions about this book—which is premiering at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Md., Sept. 19-20—as well as his previous book in the series on the band DC Punk Presents: The Warmers: Part 1.

What inspired you to do this series on D.C. punk bands?

I grew up in D.C. and got really into punk music and the music coming out of D.C. in high school. D.C. has a long history with punk and a very influential one, but what mostly gets documented is the '80s. While that was an extremely fertile time and hard a larger impact on punk at a national level, most of the histories I’ve read or seen stop right before they really get into the bands that meant a lot to me growing up. Also for some of these bands, I wasn’t finding a lot of information available on the them so I could either wait around till someone else maybe wrote something or I could go find it myself.

Through my research, I did find Brandon Gentry who wrote the great eBook Capitol Contingency that is covering some of the same ground. He has been a great help getting me e-mails. But while his book focuses on individual albums, I wanted to dive a little further into how the members of the bands lived outside of their musical accomplishments. I also found some great resources’ for information like the D.C. Library Punk Archive and the UMD D.C. Zane archive, which is curated by John Davis (Q and not U, Title Tracks). That I will be utilizing and contributing to as I continue the project.

What connections did you have with the bands members in both books? Was it difficult in finding them after so many years?

Previous to this project, I didn’t know any members of these bands personally. I had talked to Alec [MacKaye] a couple of times back during the time the Warmers were active, but not much more than that. But I did know a number of folks that were in other bands that I am going to cover in the series and I started with them and it spread out from there.

Basically, I just started going through some of my friends Facebook friends, and when I recognized a name I would blind e-mail them and ask if they would let me interview them. Then, as people agreed, I would ask them to pass the word along or get me in touch with other members of their bands and get more e-mails and send out queries.

Luckily, a lot of folks are really happy to talk about the bands that they were in and have been very forthcoming with information. One of the first people to get back to me was Tim Green from Nation of Ulysses, and he was really forthcoming and a fountain of information, and Alec has had me over to his house a couple of times and shown me a lot of great pictures from his personal stuff. So far I would say for the most part the people I’ve interviewed have been super helpful.

I especially liked the endnotes at the end of Nation of Ulysses; they give deeper context to the events in the book without breaking the natural flow of the story. How did that idea come about?

It’s been over 20 years since most of these bands were together so sometimes memories are short and have to fabricate events for the flow of the story. I wanted to make these comics a narrative not just a string of facts and I remembered in [the graphic novel] From Hell how Alan Moore had extensive end notes that told page by page what he made up what lines were taken from different writings and such. I thought that would be a great way to get the information out and still have a narrative. There are also a lot of people and places that are going to appear in the stories. I didn’t want to crowd the pages with informative text boxes or have awkward introductions like “Hello, Christina Billotte from Slant 6” or “Let’s go to independent music venue d.c. space.” Nobody talks like that and I want the conversations to be as natural as possible. This isn’t like Harry Potter or some such thing where everyone and everything is getting introduced, these people have known each other for years.

Local label Dischord Records now carries The Warmers. Can you tell us how that came about?

When I was tabling this year at the DC Zine Fest, Ian MacKaye [Dischord Records founder] came by my table. I had talked to him before briefly about the project. His partner Amy Farina was the drummer in the Warmers and I had sent her a copy of the book. So he knew about the comic and wanted to pick some up for some other folks. I had a bunch of misprints that I had cut out to make buttons of peoples faces from the book and Ian had his and Amy’s son with him so they were having fun digging through the buttons and grabbing ones of people they recognized. While this was going on Ian asked me if Dischord Direct was distributing it. I told him that I was having trouble getting in touch with them. So Ian emailed me and got me in direct touch with Brian who runs Dischord Direct. It’s pretty exciting to be distributed there because if someone were to go to the Dischord site and look up the Warmers, my comic is listed right there along with their albums.

What bands are you eyeing for to cover in future issues?

[Local cartoonist/artist] Eric Gordon of Vinyl Vagabonds is going to draw at least one issue about Circus Lupus for me once I get him some more info. With a little more legwork I’m hoping to put together a comic about Corm-Tech. Then I have a number of other bands like Monorchid, Bratmobile, The Meta-Matics and the All-Scars where I have some information but need to conduct some more interviews to develop a narrative. I’d really like to do one on Slant 6 and Frodus, but I have to get in touch with some folks to get those going.

There are so many bands that it is going to take a while. I started with Eric but I am still scouting around for collaborators so I can get more issues out faster. 

Q&A: Goldfield on 'Captive of Friendly Cove'

Rebecca Goldfield is a local documentary film producer who recently has ventured into the world of graphic novels and comics to tell her stories. This week, her first graphic novel, Captive of Friendly Cove: Based on the Secret Journal of John Jewitt (Fulcrum Publishing) its bookstores. A summary of the story: After his ship is burned and his shipmates killed, British sailor John Jewitt lived for nearly three years as a captive of the Mowachaht people, a Native American tribe on the west coast of Vancouver Island. During his captivity, Jewitt kept journals of his experiences and of tribal life. Follow his adventures as he plies his skills as a blacksmith, saves the life of his only remaining crew member, and comes up with a strategy to free them both.

Later this month, Goldfield will be signing at the Small Press Expo in Rockville, Md. 

Below, Goldfield answers a few questions about Captive. (Editor’s note: Matt Dembicki, who conducting this Q&A, inked Captive.)

How did you come up this story? What was it that grabbed your interest?

I was living in Vancouver BC and was in Horseshoe Bay one day, when I discovered this whacky little shop--a combination post office-candy counter-bookstore. I was soon poking through a creaky rotating rack that displayed just a handful of books--and one turned out to be John Jewitt’s journals. I thought it was a great story; a sympathetic young protagonist sets out alone to make his way in the world and suddenly finds himself caught up in an historical conflict he had no idea existed. His personal story was that he was injured in a bloody massacre aboard his ship and then spent several years having to survive both physically and mentally in the wilderness, as a slave in a culture that was utterly alien to him. But the larger story is the conflict between the native world and the explorers and traders of the time and that gave it another whole dimension.

Of all the ways to tell this story—a prose short story, article, documentary, etc.—why did you decide to make it a graphic novel?

Part of it was a matter of my own background, having produced and written TV documentaries for so long, it just felt natural to choose another visual medium. But as I read the source material I found a great adventure story that was a bit buried in descriptions of daily life, of rituals, of hunting techniques, of migratory patterns. I thought the art could very effectively depict those elements as well as action sequences, and even emotion, while I as a writer could focus more on building the characters and structuring plot and creating dialogue and narration. 

You previously wrote a short story for the comics anthology District Comics, but this is your first longer comics project. What were your impressions about the process, from researching and writing, to collaborating with the artists?

I had absolutely no idea of the scope of what I was undertaking. I went from having never created a single panel to committing to a full length graphic novel and the learning curve was about as steep as they come. I was used to writing for film but despite the similarities, I soon learned that producing a graphic novel is its own art form, one that plays out in space, not time, as film does. And structuring a story that took place over several years, a number of locations, different seasons, many characters, all taking place in an environment and culture that was new to me--it was a lot to figure out. My wonderful artists were incredibly generous about letting me, a novice, take the lead--teaching me as we went--because I had a lot to learn.  I’m sure they rolled their eyes often.

This is a historical graphic novel. What was the hardest part of researching it? Did you reach out to any of the descendants of the people in the story?

Research is always the most pleasurable part of any project for me, and I could not have been happier reading every book I could find on the contact period in the Pacific Northwest, and speaking with historians, anthropologists and museum curators. The hard part was connecting with the Mowachaht people themselves---it took a very long time for anyone to really talk to me. After all, they’d been living very successfully in the area for thousands of years, John was there for under three and so was not even a footnote to a footnote in their history. Ultimately, though, I did spend a wonderful day in Yuquot (Friendly Cove) and found the people to be extraordinarily open and willing to share their collective memories of John and contribute their perspectives. And though the story is told through our protagonist’s point of view, I did get some of that in.

Who is the target audience for this book? Do you envision it being used in classrooms?

It is targeted to middle school students and older, and yes, the hope is that it will be used in schools and libraries. It’s a great, true adventure story, with memorable characters and a dramatic historical conflict. I think it will appeal to young adults and not so young adults as well. Hope so, anyway!