Return from the Road
Some recent reads and thoughts.
My partner and I spent sometime in Portland over the past week. It was really nice to visit such great stores. Every shop was a different experience. Floating World was up to date in the world of comics, focused on providing strong small press and deep back stock of undergrounds. I caught up with Tim Goodyear, former publisher of Teenage Dinosaur comics and all around fountain of knowledge. Tim and I chatted about how exciting it is to see younger folks getting into the past 20 years of alternative comics, but also how hard it is to find so many great works that are completely out of print.
Comics move so quickly that there is a continual run of amazing stuff coming out, but sometimes key works from previous generations fade to obscurity as publishers fold or the creator has since maybe moved on from comics.
I have my own project that I am slowly working on that will collect unknown Vancouver underground comics. There are so many great local works that have been lost to time and would be excited to get them in the hands of new readers.
I next visited Cosmic Monkey, probably one of the best every reader comic store in the city. It’s such a nice old school comic store. Andy, the owner, has really grown the store over the years and it’s an amazing old school space, well designed and packed with comics but not overwhelming.
I went to underground comics bunker, Future Dreams. It’s a comic store 2 floors below ground level with the space backed to the brim, and you can only access fraction of the space. There is some great old stuff, but the prices are pretty much internet high prices, which always bums me out. Just because you see it listed for that price, doesn’t mean someone is going to buy it.
Lastly I went to the very modern Secret Room comics store. Specializing in riso printed comics, it’s very much a reflection of comics coming out today. Small cute shop. Good stuff.
I picked up issue 4 of Cram by Andrew Alexander, the latest instalment of his stellar ongoing anthology. This issue features a lovely inclusion of Kim Deitch. One of the greatest living comic story tellers. His work is always filled with such life. I remember him giving a friend advice on his comics, saying, “just tell a good story”. This issue is a mix of some really good solid stories and some more progressive story telling techniques. The use or riso on this is quite nice, featuring lovely gradients and really pushing forward colour combinations with use of different layers. It’s one thing to do a 1 or 2 colour riso that is just pretty, but something like this is showing just how complex you can be with the technique.
Peephole 1 is the latest in progressive anthologies coming from young cartoonists, pushing things forward and trying new things. Edited by Juliette Collet, this book highlights constructive and personal works that are uniquely challenging in creating formalistic works that dynamically utilize the format. I am looking forward to more of these works in possible success editions of Peephole. This is really the future of comics for me and I couldn’t be more excited.
Speaking of the Future, Future by Finish creator, Tommi Musturi has come out very recently from Fantagraphics. Originally this work came out in a series of 10 issues. The issues themselves were unique packages coming out on a regular basis, highlighting his dynamic drawing ability. The finished work is a masterpiece. Probably one of my favorite books to come out this year. Tommi utilizing range of different drawing styles, telling several different stories through the work that seemingly weave together a stunningly drawn narrative overwhelmingly nihilistic with just a touch of optimism, of the promise that a future can provide if we don’t let things go the way they are going.
This Ariel Bordeaux mini comic is from 1994, collecting the first 4 issues of her minicomic series Deep Girl. I love old mini comics like this. Snapshot of a certain point in time. Ariel is quite personally revealing in this comic and you can quickly see her skills build and start to settle into the stories she wants to tell. I feel like this comic falls into what I was talking with Tim about early at Floating World. This is a fantastic mini from an important time in comics that has just as much relevance now. Sure there are cringe moments, but that’s what happens when 30 years passes, norms change and people grow and change. Autobio and memoir shouldn’t be definition of who a person, but a recognition of taking space to work through things and reveal for others that may be feeling similar emotions and challenges.
If you want to send comics to me
Inkstuds
#2147 – 720 Sixth St
New Westminster, BC
V3L 3C5
Canada