Happy birthday, hypocrite
I hope you got the letter I sent
Send a smile to mom and dad
let them know I’m never gonna come back

I’ve been around for 20 years
(I added one for all my effort)
and now I plan to disappear
forever

Dear Nora — “Up on the Roof”

Ok guys, this is the end.

Chapter 25: The End

Thanks to everyone who’s been reading. Hopefully this is a satisfying ending, and you’re able to start to see where I was going with this crazy stuff. There are some extra things in this chapter that I didn’t include here, so to get the full experience, check it out on the website. I’ve tinkered with things over there so it should load a whole lot faster than it has in the past, so it’s not such a drag waiting for the whole thing to pop up. Go give it a spin, if you’d like.

I asked my buddy and press release maestro Dan Tallarico write up a press release for this event. Enjoy:

We’re in the midst of grim times, and this comic has been a way for me to try to articulate how I feel about it all. This final chapter going up means that I’ve finished the first draft — some of the early chapters are begging for an update, and the website itself needs to shift over into a more permanent phase. Of course, I appreciate any comments and critiques anybody has to how I can make it better. But for now, it’s a very rewarding feeling to actually have made it to the end.

I’ll be taking the rest of the year off, going on what I’ve dubbed the Wonderful Spoilers Wrap East Coast Tour. I’m heading down to DC for a week and then heading up to New York where I hope to hang out with some old friends and great cartoonists to celebrate the end to the year where it all came together. Hope to see you there!

But wait, there’s more! Inside! (more…)

Cleveland! I ain’t forget about you, sister-friend.

Remember when I was telling you guys that I was going to have a table at last month’s very own testament to the Clevelyn underground, Genghis Con? Well, I went, and you know, it was a pretty successful show, although as must be a requirement of this city, you couldn’t really tell while it was in progress. I was planning on doing a super job of being a blog reporter, making sure I had my camera and a bag of fresh batteries. But when I get there and start snapping away, I realize there’s no memory card in the thing. Sploops. I did get some sketchbook pages filled in, so that will have to do.

I do a lot of big Cleveland love here and in real life, but you may or may not be surprised that there is a pervasive negative attitude that runs through this town. It’s just part of the whole thing, I guess. When you arrive here, you begin your training on hating Cleveland immediately. Honestly, my first encounter with a local went like so: Them – What do you think of Cleveland? Me – I think it’s pretty cool! Seems like a nice city. Them: Yeah, I kind of sucks (end scene).

So you know, it comes with the territory. Lest you be surprised that there was a bit of a negative air passing through this event. Which doesn’t mean it was a bad show, it’s just one of those things where you need to point out the flaws, because it’s Cleveland. Sure, there was a noticeable thinning of foot traffic to the show, and the aisles were a lot wider with less exhibitors on hand. It was kind of dead at times. But believe this, dear reader — when I ran up the tally at the end of the show, I had made as much if not more from one day at the Genghis Con as I did from one day at PIX. I sold more copies total of PUPPYTEETH than I did in Pittsburgh, and even sold some comics to the fine people at ASTOUND Comics, who organized the event. So, if it’s not sold out by now, you can get PUPPYTEETH and the new pushups at an honest to god comic book shop. So you see folks, Cleveland is ok! Take off the shit-colored glasses from time to time and you might notice something rosy.

I got to sit next to the fiercely talented Liz Valasco who had a great new book out. A book on dreams. I also got to chat it up with the godfather of contemporary Clevelyn comics, John G. John’s this inspirational figure who knows a lot of movers-and-shakers in comics and shared some great anecdotes about cons and crack. Fellow CIA alum Lauren Chaikin was there as well, being a a good showman and drawing a crowd. I bought some smut from a couple of folks up in Philly and finally got my hands on the new Acme. I was expecting to be impressed by it, sure, but I wasn’t expecting to be fucking blown away by the 4th page. But hey, we’re talking about the small press, underground here.

I had some special visitors too! Former student and newly minted comics-superstar Melissa O’Grady stopped by and introduced me to one of my radio heros, Christine of WRUW’s Stonecold Bikini, who I listen to nearly every Saturday morning. I think I was a little gaspy. And Melissa gave me a copy of her new comic. That’s right, she kept making comics even after my class! Doesn’t get much better than that. The superlative Jessi Z also come by, all the way from Toledo (I think), and familiar convention-face Kris L also stopped by before it was too late (he lives a lot closer). So it was a really fun show! Liz and her buddy Jamie were great neighbors, and thanks to their cross-wording, I learned a little bit about the periodic table (the answer was Tin).

There’s a lot to love about comics in Cleveland. If I didn’t get to see you at this year’s GC, shame on you. I’ll be expecting you next year.

Other Cleveland Stuff

I’ve been posting a little less this past month because I’ve been working on a semi-secret job for the famous Tommy’s restaurant here on Coventry. Locals will know what a big deal that is. I don’t want to post anything until it’s all said and done and the stuff gets printed up, but you should be seeing my drawings there pretty soon. It was a really exciting opportunity and I feel like I get to be a part of Cleveland history, even in some small way.

Also, I’ve been using my Tumblr page. But that’s neither here nor there.

More Places than Cleveland

I mentioned a while ago that Frank Santoro had recorded an interview with me and a number of the other fine PIX exhibitors back in September. Well, he has finally released the whole slew over at Comics Comics. I think I end up sounding fairly naive, but what can you do, I’m new. Still, Frank is hilarious and all the folks he talks to are great boons to the art of comics, and it’s all well-worth a listen.

Up Next

Check back here in the next day or two for a very, very, very special episode of the Encyclopedia Czapiewski. If you’ve been a fan of this blog and my comics, you won’t want to miss it. It’ll be… INTERSPECTACULAR.

PEACE OUT

Welly welly well. Hey folks, how are you doing? Do you all know Madéleine Flores? I got wise to her work back at SPX when I brought home her very funny comics “DUDES!” and “Gentlemen.” Since then, I’ve been following the daily cartoons she’s been putting up on on her blog. Around September, she was in the middle of a really wonderful short story called “The City.” I highly recommend this story when you have the chance.

But as much as I love “The City,” I’m here to talk about Flores’ recent release from Blank Slate Books, The Girl and the Gorilla. I may not be able to keep myself from comparing the two, however, for a variety of reasons, but at the more superficial level, both have a gorilla in them.

The Girl and the Gorilla, Flores’ debut, is an all ages parable centered on the importance of art as cultural production. Taken quite literally, midway through the story, we see a glimpse of the world where artists of all stripes have given up on making, and the result is an empty world without sensation. The lesson is pretty clear — art and creativity is the backbone of our culture.

The plot is a fairly straight forward, A to B kind of set up, solidly structured and depicted very nicely by Flores’ brushy style. Make no bones about it, Madéleine is an extremely talented cartoonist, and deserves plenty of attention paid to her flourishing career. As the lead character, Aurelie, strolls through the city with her friend, I noticed a similarity with Jeff Smith’s line work, particularly in the scenery. The thickness of the outlines ebbing and flowing, surrounding surfaces marked with little dashes, adding texture. All the drawings are lively cartoons — simple, characteristic and versatile.

Madéleine also makes really good use out of the paneling in the book. The comics is made up of open-air vignettes arranged organically on the page. This effect works best when showing scale shifts, such as when the point of view pulls back, reducing a pair of sleeping bags to little caterpillars in a vast expanse. It’s even more effective when, towards the end, Flores switches it up on us, and the blank page becomes drenched in black. Aurelie wanders around this darkness, the proverbial Artist’s Block, somewhat aimlessly, leaving a big black hole in the middle of the page. If the book were longer, I would have loved to be trapped in this negative zone for quite a while.

The pace is pretty brisk, having Aurelie walk us from the Real World, through the Gorilla Hole into the Kingdom of Wisdom (or “Creativity,” as it’s called in this particular book). She immediately meets Leonardo DaVinci (who else, really?) who escorts her into town, a veritable Dictionopolis where ones home is built by creative deeds rather than physical labor. Upon realizing Aurelie has given up on her dreams of being a writer (her house is an empty lot), the two dash off to remedy the situation (having DaVinci raising his robe, showing off his tube socks, is a nice touch). Events continue at a pretty consistent clip, involving a sojourn into the woods to hunt for books which couldn’t help but remind me of the Legend of Zelda. It isn’t long from this point that they discover the dastardly plot that is threatening to rid all worlds of imagination which, again, is the building material of society.

Whereas “The City” is more adventurous in its narrative, passing organically from story to story as easily as passing someone on the street, The Girl and the Gorilla has much more of a purpose to it. If it has a failing, it’s perhaps the comparatively rigid dedication to its plot. I think the difference between the two approaches is explained by a difference of intended age group. The Girl and the Gorilla reads much more like, again, an all ages book, whereas “The City” is much less so (there’s a penis!). With that being the case, The Girl and the Gorilla is very well made, and most of the faults I find with are come simply from me applying criteria which it isn’t meant to meet. Taken for what it is, it is funny, beautifully drawn and told in a very mature manner. Flores doesn’t talk down to anyone with this book, depicting Aurelie as a believable young adult.

Personal tastes aside, I think it’s really wise and admirable to make this kind book for a younger audience. In a culture where the role of the artist has little room left to be diminished, I feel it’s extremely important to get this message into the heads of as many young folks as possible. The way we live is riding on the innovations and hard work of the creative set, and the more that group is marginalized, co-opted and discouraged, the worse off we will become as a whole.

This is a good book, and I’m excited for anything Mad&eacuteleine works on next. I know there are plenty of folks who love books as cute, silly and fun as this one, so do yourself a favor and check it out.

Have a good one, everybody. And if you’ll indulge me my soapbox a little longer, if you make anything, even if you might think it’s not so great, or you’re just starting out, recognize that you’re doing something really important. I know everyone feels the term ‘artist’ is super pretentious and it’s not something one should apply to him or herself, but maybe we should think about what the term really means. And besides, when it seems the majority of people see being an artist for a living as being synonymous with doing nothing, what’s so pretentious about that? I feel like it’s all part of a larger campaign to discredit and steal the power away from creative folk. Schnurbad. Your guitar is in your mind.

Peace out, y’all.

Hey hey evrybuddy. I’ve got a lot to tell all of you, but tonight is not the night. But I really wanted to let everybody know that I’ve got a new Spoilers chapter up.

It’s a very special, very spooky one, Chapter 24. Hope you like it. This one is called “Ghosts.”

We’re almost to the bottom of this one.

OTHER NEWS

I’ve got a con report and a book report for you guys, coming up this week. Stay tuned.