 |
|
 |
 |
11.20.09 - INTERVIEWED BY FANBOY VIDEO
At Dallas Comic Con, Oliver and I talked about HOW TO LOSE BIG, the KARMA INCORPORATED Script Book, and EMILY EDISON.
Fanboy Video also interviewed Cal Slayton, Brian Denham, Brent Erwin, The Variants crew, and J. Scott Campbell.
Today, Quick debuted WE'VE NEVER MET, the bimonthly ("every other week") comic by me and Chad Thomas. You can find the print version in racks around the Dallas Fort Worth area.
 Lovely, isn't it? For this project, I'm trying to create a narrative that operates on a few levels. Yes, it will be a humorous self-contained comic on topical issues. Yes, it will also be an ongoing story about a "poor little rich girl" searching for love and trying to start her band. And it's an opportunity to editorialize about Dallas and the creative community within this city. So, let me share two observations: OBSERVATION #1. This first comic page was inspired, in part, by the efforts of PAC-WE -- a Dallas based group dedicated to insurance reform and equitable access to health care for freelance creative professionals. I've noticed that a few times every year, there's a huge benefit concert/auction/gallery show etc to help some poor local cover medical expenses and a necessary operation. Think about that for a second. Some guy or girl needs heart surgery, and we hold the artistic equivalent of a bake sale. Something is seriously wrong with health care in America, if this is how we handle it. On one level, it shows the incredible charity of people in Dallas. (If I need a kidney transplant, I know the Happy Bullets will be playing somewhere in my honor!) However, it also reminds us of how limited insurance options are for someone self-employed. OBSERVATION #2. With this first comic, I also wanted to say something about Dallas's consumption of art. We have no lack of talented people, and yet, our patronage of local art, local theater, local film, local fashion, local comedians, local music, local comics (!) is sorely lacking. Artists love their art. We cherish our art, but we'd probably raise more money selling jello shots at a bar on McKinney Avenue. This says something about what Dallas values. This might be true of anywhere in America, but the reputation of "plastic Dallas" is a hard one to shake. Last Saturday, April and I went to see Elvis Perkins at House of Blues. These drunk girls next to us were talking the entire time. Why you would pay that much money in service fees alone and not enjoy the concert is beyond me. Another girl next to us told them to shut up. (Something we were all thinking.) These drunk girls then began to torment this other girl, and one even poured her beer on the girl. Why you would waste your $6 beer is also beyond me. I overheard the persecuted girl reply sourly: "Welcome to Dallas." Really? Really?! Do the drunk idiotic girls of Dallas make a bigger impression than the thoughtful concert-goers who genuinely adore Elvis Perkins? Oh yeah, and then that drunk girl tried to pick a fight with someone else. This will be an ongoing theme in WE'VE NEVER MET. Who owns our reputation? I don't mean to suggest that it's an "us versus them" situation, an expansion on jocks versus nerds. (In all fairness, there are some cool places in Uptown, West Village, and Victory Park.) I hate to acknowledge it, but I've been to the Doublewide numerous times, and the bar area often looks more crowded than the stage area. Deep Ellum struggles to keep music venues and art galleries open, and it's our fault. Dallas fails to support local creators. Is this an unfair assessment? My friend Matt told me a story about a couple that went to Hawaii and ate every night at Chili's. A little absurd? In the same regard, why would you live in Dallas and not check out jazz at Amsterdam Bar on Mondays, eat at Cowboy Chow, visit the Kettle Art gallery or the Public Trust, drink coffee at Murray Street, enjoy a local band at Lee Harvey's on a Friday or Saturday (no cover), watch a midnight movie at the Inwood, cheer your favorite roller derby team, hide away for a weekend at the Belmont Hotel, see a play from the Audacity Theatre Lab or Undermain Theatre? These are just my personal favorites, off the top of my head. I know I'm missing a lot. I don't mean to sound pessimistic. I'm really not. All the elements for Dallas being a great city are there. These elements just haven't come together on a scale that would allow it to have any momentum. Instead, we just keeping pushing and pushing. I hope WE'VE NEVER MET might get people thinking and talking about what's great in Dallas. Or maybe, as retribution, someone will pour their beer on me.
In my little world, this is a big deal.
Next Thursday, November 19th, Quick (Dallas-Fort Worth area’s free weekly entertainment newspaper) will debut a full page, full color, comic series written by me and illustrated by Chad Thomas. It's titled: WE'VE NEVER MET. It's the story of Liz, a girl who grew up in the secure bubble of Dallas wealth and privilege -- and after graduating, moved to a studio loft in Exposition Park to pursue a career as a musician, working two part-time jobs. It's a story about the small creative community within Dallas. You can expect some humor, some local flavor, and if they will let me, a little bit of relationship drama. The comic will appear every other week in Quick.    Alternating weeks with WE'VE NEVER MET will be a comic feature written by Stacy Austin Sheffield (aka Geoff Johnston) and illustrated by Cal Slayton. Let me emphasis how cool this is: Quick is publishing a regular ongoing comic series. Nothing syndicated. It's specific to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I'm excited to see what the response will be. Thus, I now have a comic in D Magazine (illustrated by Paul Milligan) that appears every other month, and a comic in Quick that appears every other week. D Magazine has a readership of 30,000 people. And Quick reaches more than 90,000 per week. The potential audience is staggering. UPDATE: "With a circulation of 65,500 and 6.45 readers per copy, we get about 422,000 readers every month. So there." - Tim Rogers of D Magazine On an artistic level, I'm encouraged by the freedom I've been given and the opportunity to write something ongoing. It will be interesting to sit back and see where the story takes me. WE'VE NEVER MET may only last a few months, or it might be the beginning of something epic. Who knows? Either way, it all starts November 19th.
Josh Boulet sketched this piece while I was teaching my class for the ArtLoveMagic Artist Workshop -- that's Ben Moss on the left and Michael Lagocki on the right. We had a great conversation that probably could've gone another hour. Oh well, some other time.
 Right now, I'm listening to Robert Gomez's BRAND NEW TOWNS. (Check him out on iTunes. I love his music.) Staying up, and I'm working on a new project for Quick, a collaboration with Chad Thomas. More details in the next few days.
Here it is, as designed by the amazing April Wenzel --
 I have approximately 8 minutes left on our Kickstarter pledge drive. That's 8 minutes left to pre-order ONE NIGHT STAND. I'm visiting some print shops today to get estimates and find the best deal possible. I'm also working on my class for Saturday's ArtLoveMagic workshop. And last night, I met with Geoff Johnston and the editor of DFW's Quick to discuss a project. (Announcement coming soon.)
|
|||||
