Framed!
Articles
Spain Bang: New Books and Movie Rev Up the Motorcycle Outlaw Cartoonist’s Legend
We’re living through a Golden Age of Spain Rodriguez, so it’s time for Paul to catch us up on the recent reprints and biographical work (including a documentary) on the motorcycle riding Marxist radical who never stopped creating.
Gross Prophets: Pete Maresca on Milt Gross and Sunday Press
Paul catches up with friend, collaborator and comics historian Pete Maresca on his latest publication via Sunday Press: Gross Exaggerations: The Meshuga Comic Strips of Milt Gross. No subject is out of bounds!
The Craziest Damn Superhero Universe: All Time Comics
Paul Tumey goes all in on the work found in All Time Comics, a gonzo series of super-hero comics made by the likes of Trevor Von Eeden, Josh Simmons, Josh Bayer, Julia Gfrörer, Noah Van Sciver and more.
Ominous Absurdity From “The Pits of Hell” by Ebisu Yoshikazu
This collection of surreal and savage manga stories drawn in a naïve art style vibrates on my bookshelf and issues forth the sounds of thumping pachinko machines, clattering speedboat motors and roars of rage so intense there is no doubt in my mind they have the power to rip my head off.
Mark Campos, 1962-2018: Seattle’s Unsung Comics Master Remembered
A tribute to the Seattle cartoonist’s life and work, with remembrances from friends and fellow cartoonists.
Art Young Returns, and Nine More
At the top of Tumey’s stack of favorite books of 2017 sits a thick, five-pound book with about 800 old cartoons which are mostly political.
The Emil Ferris Interview: Monsters, Art and Stories (Part 2)
“She uses the sketchbook idea as a way to change the grammar and syntax of the comics page …” – Art Spiegelman in The New York Times, February 17, 2017 (“First, Emil Ferris Was Paralyzed. Then Her Book Got Lost at Sea.” by Dana Hennings) This interview with Emil Ferris (see Part One here) was… Read more »
The Emil Ferris Interview: Monsters, Art and Stories (Part 1)
My Favorite Thing is Monsters author Emil Ferris on her life as an artist and her love of monsters.
Seeking Salivation! Food in Early Comics
University of Washington professor José Alaniz invited me to prepare and deliver a guest lecture on early comics for his class on food-themed comics. You could say I hoped the project would turn out to be something I could sink my teeth into. I was not disappointed.
A “Konversation” with George Herriman’s Biographer, Michael Tisserand (Part Two)
If one is going to spend ten years on a single subject, George Herriman is a good one.
A “Konversation” with George Herriman’s Biographer, Michael Tisserand (Part One)
“Herriman was talking about race and identity — as profoundly as anyone has, in my opinion — but I never see that as his big “Topic.” It was just part of his world, and the world he created, even if others were slow to recognize it.” -Michael Tisserand The first time I saw Michael… Read more »
Gene Ahern Covers The Conventions
You might have missed this. Gene Ahern, a popular newspaper cartoonist covered the tense, rancorous presidential nominations by sending Major Hoople, his Our Boarding House comic strip character, to the Republican and Democratic national conventions. It’s understandable if you didn’t happen to catch Ahern’s coverage in the funny pages. After all, it happened in 1928.… Read more »
The Lost Sundays of Gus Mager (1904-06)
Now, we wind the clock back to 1904 and take a look at what could be called the “lost” Sundays of Gus Mager – three short series that represent fascinating experiments in style and content.
The Screwball Comics of Gus Mager: Hippos, Monks and Sherlock Holmes
Known primarily for Hawkshaw the Detective, which ran off and on from 1913 through 1947, Mager was a fine cartoonist and accomplished painter associated with the Ashcan School.
The Minicomix Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The revolution will not be televised The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox – Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1970) The humble, photocopied minicomic sprang into being in the early 1970s and has become a prime engine of creativity in a vast subculture that today includes thousands of comics creators. This edition… Read more »
The White Boy Trilogy and Garrett Price, Part 1
Garrett Price’s White Boy, a vividly original comic strip set in the American West, appeared on the scene in 1933, shapeshifted three times in three years, and then faded into obscurity faster than a wind-blown smoke signal. Since then, a few slim sheaves of pages have been reprinted in book collections and magazines. These tantalizing excerpts have served to… Read more »
Bezango, WA: An Interview with Filmmakers Louise Amandes and Ron Austin
Back in 2011, two documentarians set out to make a movie about artists in the Pacific Northwest who make comics. They thought they were making a simple film about a beloved subject and then discovered they were in the middle of a cultural surge.
Pushing the Limits: Comics and Creators That Stretch the Form
Comics as a self-aware form.
Dead Cats at Moonlight – The Art of Clare Victor “Dwig” Dwiggins
A documentary about the forgotten comics of early 20th century childhood.
A Walk Through Yuichi Yokoyama’s GARDEN with Tom Van Deusen
Seattle cartoonist Tom Van Deusen and I recently sat down and had a focused discussion about Garden, the 300-page comic book by Tokyo painter and manga artist Yuichi Yokoyama that was published in 2011 by PictureBox. The conversation helps reveal the way important new works get into a creator’s mind and influence them in subtle ways.… Read more »
Creeping Death and Snake Meat: Basil Wolverton and Max Clotfelter
Who knew, or could ever have imagined, that Basil Wolverton, perpetrator of some of the weirdest and most grotesque eyeball kicks in mid-century American pop culture, once made a serious and concentrated effort to draw Mickey Mouse comics for Walt Disney?
CHARLIE Horses: On Caricature and Outrage
An exploration of the impulse to caricature, a look at incidents of outrage and retaliation against cartoonists, and a personal attempt to come to terms with racist cartoons from America’s past.
