Showing posts with label minicomics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minicomics. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Meet a Local Cartoonist: Michael Webster



 Michael Webster makes old-school comic books under the banner of 'New Future Comics.' While they'd be categorized as minicomics due to his distribution method, he does full-size comics and then self-distributes them to local newstands. Which is how Robert Crumb got started after all. I don't think he'd mind if I quoted from the e-mail he sent introducing himself after I bought a comic and tried to track him down - "I am the artist whose comic book, Hero Patrol,  you purchased at the One Stop News stand at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.  You can check out more of my work at News World located on K Street by the Farragut North subway entrance.  The books you will find there are Kasper the Prince of Power, The Undercover Unit and of course Hero Patrol.  I also have two novels out, Lime Life and The Story of a Man Called Adam which are also located at News World." Webster answered my usual questions a month ago.

Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

Michael Webster: I basically do action comics that are based around the DC area. 

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

I do traditional pen and ink but sometimes I use the computer to tweek my work  or add color.

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

Born in the 60's and I am a proud Washingtonian

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

I live in Maryland and work in the District of Columbia.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I am a self-taught artist but influenced by many of the comic book illustrators.

Who are your influences?

One of my biggest influences was John Byrne.

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

I would have been more aggressive and focused in pursuing my goal.

What work are you best-known for?

My artwork and my novel Lime Life.

What work are you most proud of?

All.

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

One of my biggest dreams is to write a screenplay or see one of my comics come to life on the big screen.

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

I just stop for a moment, get something to eat or exercise until an idea comes.

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

It is an expanding field and will always be around.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

The opportunities you can gain as a struggling artist or writer and it's my hometown.

Least favorite?

Nothing.  There are problems everywhere.

What monument or museum do you take most out-of-town guests to?

Smithsonian.

Favorite restaurant for same?

Georgia Brown's.

Do you have a website or blog?

Not as of yet, I am working on it.  But I do have a Facebook page.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Meet a Local Cartoonist: Jason Axtell



 I met Jason Axtell at the Big Planet Comics launch party for Magic Bullet #4. Axtell had just finished coloring Matt Dembicki's Mr. Big story for its reissue this summer, and Matt made a point of introducing us. I'm glad he did as Jason's put quite a bit of thought into answering my usual questions. I personally look forward to catching him at a con so I can buy a set of his comics, as seen on the right...

Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

Jason Axtell: I'm generally all over the place. It's whatever I am feeling at the moment. I wouldn't call myself a traditional comic artist by any means, and by traditional I mean the kind of thing you would see in DC/Marvel or anything mainstream. I'm trained as an illustrator and heavily influenced by a number of styles and forms of art and try to incorporate my wide range of influences into my work.

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

I do enjoy the pen and ink, or more appropriately, brush and ink. I've always leaned towards anything that resembles painting.

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

1978. Jersey, originally.

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

I moved here after spending nine years in the south, primarily Savannah, Georgia. After a failed relationship, a layoff and my general distaste for the southern "hospitality" I decided I had enough and needed to get out of there. When the Art Institute of Washington (in Arlington and Sterling) hired me on as a full-time instructor three years ago, that was all I needed to hightail it out of the south. Though I still like to visit some friends down there, I don't regret leaving it. The DC area is more to my liking. I live in the Vienna/Oakton area.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I earned a BFA in Illustration from VCU and an MFA in Sequential Art from SCAD. Neither really focused on 'cartooning.' VCU trained me in traditional as well as digital media, and mainly as an illustrator. But since I started out trying to be a cartoonist and comic artist, a carry-over from my high school days, much of my early work yielded a mix of both cartoony and painterly aspects. SCAD trained me as a visual story-teller, allowing me the chance to hone my illustration techniques while also applying them to a comic format.

Who are your influences?

Too many. Primarily my Uncle Dick (not a joke) and my good friend Ben Phillips. I've known both since about the age of 6 or 7. For years I didn't know much about my Uncle except that he was a teacher and a painter. He taught at University of Memphis for 30+ years. When I was young he gave my parents a few of his paintings, which my parents proudly framed and hung in our dining room. Every night I would look at them and try to decipher them. He was an abstract artist that experimented with line, color and shape, frequently going through different phases and evolutions in his art. My favorites as a kid dealt with his attempt at capturing the effect of light and color in water. It wasn't until I was older and in the midst of earning my MFA that I began to delve a little deeper into what he was all about. Other people in my family have demonstrated terrific artistic and creative talents but for some reason I'm the one that pursued it to the similar lengths that he did. It wasn't until the last few years of his life that I really tried to figure out where he was coming from as an artist. It took a few visits and recommendations (Kandinsky, Rothko, Matisse and Guston) before I became aware of how he saw the world and what he was trying to do with his art. It was a profound discovery and a tremendous influence that I would not have made had it not been for him.

Ben Phillips lived across the street from me when we were kids. From the start he had this way about him, this means to influence his beliefs and ideas on me that at times could be frustrating but also illuminating. We shared many of the same likes and dislikes, primarily in music and movies. If it hadn't been for him I might never have really picked up a comic in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I was always curious. Superman, the 1978 film, was and still is one of my all time favorites but every time I picked up a Superman comic it would lose me. Ben introduced me to what comics were really all about and through him I was able to appreciate just what it took to make them. In high school we were part of a comic collective in which we would have meetings, share feedback and drink lots of Dr. Perky (Food Lion's answer to Dr. Pepper). It was there that I learned that I had no idea what I was doing and what I wanted to do...not just with art, but with my life. I met all these interesting and very influential people but didn't know what I wanted. I followed my instincts and joined Ben for art school at VCU and SCAD, probably because I didn't know what else I was going to do. I succeeding greatly at both schools and with my education under my belt I finally felt like I had direction. That being said, with art, I'm always discovering that I don't know enough. It's enough to keep me looking and searching for anything new or interesting. For me, art is a never ending progression of discovery and experiment. I wouldn't have found that without Ben or my Uncle.
For a more simple answer to my influences:
Edgar Degas 
Frank Frazetta
Egon Schiele
Maxfield Parrish
Phil Hale
Jules Feiffer
Norman Rockwell
David Lapham
Juan Jose Guarnido
Sam Keith
Alan Moore
and likely many many more.

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

Expand my boundaries a bit outside of the 2D art. It appears that 3D art, software and graphics are the thing which pits me with the Neanderthals of the art world.

What work are you best-known for?

Not sure. I worked on the Family Guy comic but you wouldn't know me from the billion other artists that worked on that book. My first publication, "The Strange Fungus in Mr. Winslow" always catches people's eyes at cons (almost literally - the cover was billed by my late friend Jeremy Mullins, "The best cover EVER!"). "Reasons I Should Not Be On A Talk Show" is another con favorite. My last real publication (before this summer's colorized version of Matt Dembicki's "Mr. Big") is a comic strip called "Strays 'N Gates."

What work are you most proud of?

A portrait of my Uncle Dick I completed after his death. You can see it on my web site in the "Illustration" section.

Also, every comic I've produced has always taken me a step forward. "Strange Fungus..." was my first book, fully painted and written by myself and that took me 2 years to complete. "Strays 'N Gates" was the first time I had to really hunker down and bust out one strip per week. The fact I did that for eleven months without missing one was a huge feat. "Mr. Big" was my first graphic novel, and it had a deadline to top, and I made that deadline beautifully. 

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

Every so often I think about how much fun it would be to create my own interpretation of Ghostbusters and MegaMan. There's so many crappy manga versions of MM out there that I feel it, like much of the comics universe, needs a facelift. And while I have a few of my own stories on the backburner I, for some reason, have a really clear image of TC Boyle's Drop City in my mind. Done in the right style and format, I think that would be a great book!

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

Get out of the house. Get some fresh air. Watch a movie. Get some sleep. Bejeweled. Or just draw something else.

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

Hard to tell. It's already changed so much since I went to school that I feel obsolete in so many ways. I'd like to think the digital revolution that we are still experiencing won't kill off the old fashioned book, that people will still paint and draw with pencils and brushes. That there will still be room for doing something that doesn't involve a computer. But then again, I've spent the last week almost completely glued to my computer for various purposes, so my hopes are dwindling.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

The museums and extensive list of restaurants and places to visit. I didn't get that in Savannah. Here, it seems that there's always somewhere we've never heard of that peaks my interest.

Least favorite?

The f*ck*ng traffic. What else?

What monument or museum do you take most out-of-town guests to?

As much as I love the National Gallery of Art and National Portrait Gallery, I always seem to take friends and family to the Natural History Museum instead. I don't mind. It is quite fun there.

Favorite restaurant?

Do you really want another list? It's probably start with Tara Thai or The Melting Pot.

Do you have a website or blog?

jasoneaxtell.com -I update it with a lot of my experimental figure work but occasionally you'll see some comic or illustration work as well.

Monday, August 02, 2010

Aug 7: Ryan Claytor in town this weekend



Autobio minicomics creator Ryan Claytor is in town this weekend for his US tour at Union Station -

Ryan Claytor In-Store Signing
August 7th, 2010 from 4-7pm
at Fantom Comics
50 Mass Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002

I've bought all of Ryan's minicomics and recommend them.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Minicomic review - Sam and Lilah

Jim Dougan and Molly Lawless were at Fantom Comics for Free Comic Book Day and Jim passed along his ashcan Sam and Lilah. He wouldn't sell it to me, so I told him I'd review it and he passed it over. Jim's the writer and Hyeondo Park is the artist. The story is actually a webcomic on Act-I-Vate.com and this mini is the first chapter.

I liked it a lot. Jim's retelling a version of Samson and Delilah as a romantic comedy starts off sweetly. Park's manga-influenced art is excellent, with an interesting color palette. Both main characters are appealing, and their decision to try to date, in spite of... ok, it's a gypsy curse, but still... makes me want to read more. You can read both chapters online and Jim's says they're putting together a large-size collection so you can see the art better. The second chapter takes place during a DC United Soccer game at RFK Stadium here in DC too.

Another mini I picked up is How I Lost My S#?! at the Apple Store by Jim and Molly Lawless. I really liked this autobiographical comic about Jim's problems with installing an Airport Wireless Card in a Mac. You should be able to pick it up at www.chemsetcomics.com For the record, after you read the story - I believe Jim was in the right and Apple should be ashamed.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Minicomics review: John Dimes' Lo, the Abusive Undertones!!!!

John Dimes sent me his two minicomics, Lo, the Abusive Undertones!!!!, a few weeks ago. John's minis hark back to the DIY age of photocopying that's starting to fade in the age of webcomics. The two volumes he has out now tell the beginnings of a story of anthropomorphic birds (they dress in human clothes, and act human, etc, etc). In vol. 1, Leonard and his girlfriend Shelly trade jibes about marriage and commitment, until Leonard says he'll take Shelly to meet his Mom and the mini ends there. John's art is competent - you can tell what's happening with no trouble - but feels as though he hasn't completely settled into his mature style yet. Vol. 2 picks up with Shelly and Mom meeting. Mom's got a mean streak - when talking to a friend on the phone about Shelly, Mom noted, "She complained about persistent back pain. I simply suggested that she should 'stay off of it sometimes,' and she got offended." Badda-bum. The two trade insults through most of the comic and by the end, John implies they'll be fast friends. I found it amusing to be honest, although some of the jokes can be a bit ribald.

To find these and other minis, John's website is www.johndimes.com

Monday, August 27, 2007