Krenkel Kinema, GasCan Online,
Main Dane and Fallon Falls on the Blade

Emmerich channels Krenkel: 10,000 BC is OK by me!

Snuck out for two hours Sunday night to catch Roland Emmerich's prehistoric opus 10,000 BC, and I had a fine time with it. Emmerich excels at shallow but picturesque fantasy and science-fantasy; I went with no expectations (as I try to experience all media), and was delighted to find myself steeped in a panoramic Roy G. Krenkel epic.

Roy Krenkel, dreaming in paint...

I knew Roy only slightly and occasionally, but I loved the man and his work. I recall fondly sitting next to him at Creation Cons in my Kubert School years and buying up a batch of his exquisite tracing-paper/vellum pencil miniature sketches at the three conventions I sat next to him at. Roy loved ancient worlds, primal and civilized, and 10,000 BC is nothing short of a Krenkel time machine at almost every level.


From the wintery tribal tableaus to the 'head of the snake' realm of pyramids, from the saber-toothed familiar of the hero to the flightless carnivorous birds (the film's single most galvanizing action sequence) to the mighty mammoths that figure prominently in the film's first and final act, the film offers a procession of Krenkelesque setpieces, strung together by an odyssey equally evocative of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Turok Son of Stone and Apocalypto. Some might dismiss this as merely derivative of those wellsprings, but I had more fun than mere derivation would have provided.


I've always enjoyed Emmerich's films, since seeing Joey (1985) in its New World Pictures US incarnation Making Contact back in 1986 or so. Yes, even Godzilla (1998). This one is closest in tone and tenor to Stargate (1994) in my estimation, and almost as much fun. Given the context (and content) of his latest, it's necessary to note that Emmerich will never, ever be as feral or potent a filmmaker as Cornel Wilde (The Naked Prey, No Blade of Grass, Beach Red, etc.) or Mel Gibson (The Passion, Apocalypto), but he's certainly in the ranks of Don Chaffey, whose One Million Years B.C. (1967) is still the best of the genre, the Dr. Zhivago of primordial romances.

10,000 B.C. isn't as primal in intent as La Guerre du Feu/Quest for Fire (1981), tackling a far more expansive tapestry of tribal and completely imaginary cultures than Jean-Jacques Annaud's antediluvian saga (or that film's 1911 source novel by J.-H. Rosny, one of the grandfathers of this whole genre). Like all its kin (save arguably Carol and David Hughes's marvelous Missing Link, 1988), 10,000 BC is anthropologically absurd, but I didn't -- and don't -- care. In gender terms, it's the usual patriarchal hash: the two female leads are ciphers, an elder mystique and virginal bride-to-be, and the few opportunities Emmerich had to be inventive with either role remain soundly squandered. It's another boy's adventure pic, and on that level it's a gem. Emmerich plopped me into a vivid, picturesque adventure for about two hours.

I thought, and think, of Roy Krenkel, the grand old man of everything 10,000 BC revels in, and I smile.

Pizza Wizard fans unite!

Center for Cartoon Studies pioneer class alumni Sam Gaskin has kicked off his new blog, sure to be worthwhile keeping tabs on,

and reports there that Pizza Wizard #2 is nearing completion. I'm psyched and overjoyed. If you need a refresher,

this will plug you into some of Sam's headspace and comics creations.

James Kochalka has just written up Sam's Pizza Wizard for Technikart.com as a comic which "deserved wider recognition," which I'd wholeheartedly agree with. James writes, "Pizza Wizard is very much an avant garde work, without being at all stuffy or pretentious. Actually, it's entertaining and hilarious.... More than anything Pizza Wizard a vehicle for Gaskin to use as he playfully tears apart many conventions of comics... messing around with the formal elements that make up comics, stretching his wings and having fun." James adds, "a new start up publisher named Secret Acres is supposed to be releasing a book collection of his work sometime soon, under the title Fatal Faux-Pas." Now, that's news to me!

Secret Acres is already peddling some of Sam's wares, including Pizza Wizard #1 (get yours now!); I'll post news once Fatal Faux-Pas is a reality.

(BTW, here's the French website James's writeup will appear on soon -- it's not up yet, though!)

Man, I miss Sam and his work.

Here at CCS, senior Dane Martin is Sam's heir apparent (as opposed to hair, a parent) and Dane's blog is packed with Dane's one-of-a-kind art and observations. Enjoy.

Until I get my next dose of Sam, Dane's work takes me to other places I've never been, and I love it.

Fatal Faux-Pas Redux

Top U.S. military commander for the Middle East Admiral William J. Fallon resigned today "amid speculation about a rift over U.S. policy in Iran..."; Bush/Cheney toadie Defense Secretary Robert Gates accepted the resignation (it was "the right thing to do").

There goes the last reasonable man, I fear. Now, remember, President Bush refused former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation at least twice; awwww, damn it. Fallon has been described as the "lone man" opposed to President Bush's Iran policies and desire to take military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

This isn't good news, folks.

Fried-Day

Ak! Still working through interviews, but answers are coming slow -- so, a wee post this AM, in hopes of a fuller one later today. Besides, I've got some major drawing to get done today. You'd rather have me at the drawing board than the keyboard, yes?

So, a little CCS followup for today, including news from one beloved CCSer who I wish I could have interviewed. But she won't be at MoCCA, she's savoring a great life adventure elsewhere (read on!). I'll also note that CCS pioneer class graduate (and the school's first Xeric Award winner) Alexis Frederick-Frost is interning at Drawn & Quarterly up in Montreal -- but that hasn't kept us from seeing to his interview, which will appear here next week.

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First up, this from Sam Gaskin, fellow CCS pioneer class grad (and Xeric Award winner) whose interview and art was posted earlier this week:

"Ran into your son, Danny, in Turners Falls tonight, by the way. Saw his band play, and they were pretty darn good, might I add!"

Cool! A shout-out howdy-do to Dan, too, and hope to dine with you this weekend, son!

________________

Second, I was overjoyed to hear from recently-departed-from-2006-2007-CCS freshman Jaci June, who is on a major adventure of her own. Here's a bit of her news, which is mucho exciting:

"If you haven't already heard the news I'm in Illinois preparing to sail down the Mississippi River on junk rafts. We are headed for New Orleans (an estimated 6 month long journey). I was staying on an organic farm for my first month here. So far a lot has happened. We have 4 rafts in the water. The Miss Rockaway raft and her sisters, and the Kirksville Krew Raft... The Garden of Bling (a raft I am helping build and living on) is a huge ass raft that is part costumes and wardrobe and part organic garden. Another raft still in the works is Chill Rice's skate ramp raft including a half pipe and junk art. The last raft being built is The Morning Glory Pirate Radio Station raft, which will be broadcast at a humble distance along the Mississippi and will also be streamed on the internet."

Once Jaci gets that link to me, I'll post it here -- 21st Century Mark Twain on the airwaves!

Jaci's news is terrific and it's great to hear from her. "I've been real busy drawing, building, cooking, sewing costumes, rehearsing my role in a play... and swimming. Everyday is super hot and the trees on the banks are GIGANTIC and form a huge canopy of GLORY. There are all kinds of cool animals here too. Deer, mayflies, lightning bugs, june bugs, corn snakes, majestic midnight geese, those weird mini-beavers with rat tails that I forget the name of [nutria], toads, and herons... Back at the farm I shared domain with goats, ducks, chickens, a horse, rats, and guinea foul.... This Saturday and Sunday we are having a performance including giant bug costumes, polka music, and tall-bike jousting. And guess what I'm playing a giant FLY!

So the plan was originally to leave the 17th of June but we are a bit behind schedule so it looks like the end of June. Anyway once we hit the river we will be making constant stops to perform, bike ride, and party with the locals. If you are in the midwest or south come and see us!"

Again, I'll post that link for the internet broadcast ASAP, which should help steer those of you interested and able to attend these events to them as the rafts dock and shows go on.

"Oh yeah I sold a caricature for 20 bucks last night to a drunk guy who stumbled on our raft. Aren't you proud CCS?! I'm living the dream!"

You sure are, Jaci! Good luck, and happy trails!


BTW, Jaci's 2007 minicomic The Cumbersome Adventures of Dyke Kitty is on sale now at the Quechee Valley Gorge Antiques Mall (booth for dealer #653), and

online via I Know Joe Kimpel (scroll down a bit), your one-stop venue for most things creative coming out of CCS.

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And some news from Dan Barlow, on the Trees & Hills Comics Group and their new anthology, which is debuting at MoCCA next weekend (and features a new two-pager by yours truly) --

"First of all, thank you to all the contributors of the second Trees & Hills anthology. We've received an amazing range of cartoons and are really excited about getting this book out for MoCCA next Saturday, June 23... Printing of the book looks likely next week and several of us will be gathering at the home of Keith Moriarty (my frequent co-write on several mini-comics) on the afternoon of Thursday, June 21 to staple and fold our run of 250 copies. The work should be starting around 3 p.m. If anyone is interested in joining us, please e-mail Keith at keithmoriarty@hotmail.com..."

So, if you can pitch in, get in touch with Keith. For those of you living faaaar away, and not attending MoCCA, I'll post sales links for the Trees & Hills anthology ASAP.

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Dan adds, "Also, Alison Bechdel (Fun Home) will be signing copies of the new paperback edition of Fun Home that evening [June 21] in nearby Brattleboro, Vt. (just 25 minutes from Keene) at Everyone's Books, a unique and politically progressive book store on Elliot Street, located just off of Main Street (my love for the store comes from the fact that my girlfriend once worked there and is actually one of the organizers of this event)."

Be there, Bechdel fans!

Or, catch Alison at MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) in the Puck Building (293 Lafayette at Houston) in New York City. Alison writes, "They’re giving me the Festival Award! Come to the presentation on Saturday, June 23rd, 1:30-2:35. They give me my award, and I talk about my work."

Here's the link to Alison's site and book tour info (including the MoCCA info and link), be sure to see her if you can.

Alison is great, as is her work, and she's a grand CCS supporter, too.

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Well, better get on with my day. It's been a busy week here in other ways: our eagerly-anticipated 8' x 10' shed was delivered and constructed yesterday, and I've about finished the painting chores. Our driveway is being paved as I write this -- it was the only real drawback of our new home, and the heavy rains were beginning to wash it out a bit. So, we're having it paved, which will also make the coming winter a bit easier (yep, Vermonters think about winter in June). I also emptied out one of our three storage spaces this past week, getting us down to an easier-to-afford two (which I'll have down to one by August 1st, now that our shed is up and ready to store my backstock).

Marge is at her last day of school today, so her summer vacation begins next week -- though I should also mention, we at CCS have already met (once as a group, one more time James Sturm and I alone) to pull together our coming fall semester, and James, Robyn Chapman and I met earlier this month to pull together the July CCS summer workshops. Whew! The work is never done...

OK, enough of that --

OK, see you all here later... have a great Friday!

Sam 'the Man' Gaskin:
Livin' to Draw, Drawin' to Live

Some cartoonists just do it -- draw. Always. Like a shark, forever swimming to keep breathing, to keep the water flowing over the gills. Hence, pioneer CCS graduate Sam (aka Tito the Shark) draws, day in, day out, and remains an inspiration to us all here at CCS.

Well, OK, he also makes music. And eats. And sleeps. And does other stuff, too. Read, for instance. Watch TV.

But mainly, I saw Sam draw for two years. I know the top of his head better than his mug; he was always drawing.

Sam also won a coveted Xeric Award this spring -- the second CCSer to do so, on the heels of his classmate and fellow 2007 grad Alexis Frederick-Frost (to be interviewed here, too, this coming week).

Need I say more? Let's get Sam talking instead.
______________________________

Sam in Montreal, 2006 (Photo: Joe Lambert)

Sam Gaskin
Pizza (and comics) Wizard

SB: What's your background, Sam?

SAM GASKIN: Okay, well, I've lived in Holden, Massachusetts my whole life really. It's the epitome of suburbia and I live right next door to the high school, so you can imagine. No kids lived near me, so I spent a lot of quality time with TV, which probably explains a lot of things about me. Naturally, growing up I was a bored kid, so friends and I would end up hitting soda cans with baseball bats, throwing computer monitors out of moving cars, etc. I slept through a large part of school, even the one year at Fitchburg State College I attended. I would go for the sake of going, being told it was necessary. I always knew I wanted to get into some sort of media, I was just having a lot of trouble choosing. Film required too much interpersonal work, my writing was too cheesy, I didn't understand most computer programs, what else could I do?

"Thank God for Evan Dorkin!"

SB: When did you first get into reading comics?

SAM: Of course, I've been reading comics since I can remember, lots of newspaper strips: Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, Fox Trot, Bloom County, even Garfield! I never really got into the newsstand floppies, it all looked the same to me, and it didn't make me laugh, except for Sonic the Hedgehog (which I should mention is one of things that unifies [fellow CCSer] Dane Martin and myself)! Something about the feeling of reading a video game really caught me then, and I bet you can read that in my stuff now, even though I don't really play them anymore. Who knows how this stuff affected me, man. And then there was that fateful day in fourth grade when my Mom bought me my first issue of Mad magazine. I brought that thing to school every day and read it during silent reading time, over and over and over! I still have it, even though the cover is sort of falling off. From then on, I got every single issue, every super special, every reprint, for Cracked too! I couldn't get enough of that stuff. Eventually, late in high school, I found my way into the comics shop and discovered the (for lack of a better term) "indie" stuff, but there's hardly anything behind that. I'll sum it up in five words, thank god for Evan Dorkin!

SB: Milk and Cheese, Dork, and so on -- Evan’s stuff is great. Let’s talk about your earlier comics work. What was your first comic or minicomic?

The modest cover for Trek (2006)

SAM: I did little stuff, like one pagers and things all through childhood, but I guess my real first project was Trek, which was wholly inspired by Mat Brinkman. It's a 45-page story I drew in 2004 as a drawing project for Fitchburg State about two monsters looking for the home of this magic crystal. I improvised the whole thing, never penciled, and drew it entirely in Sharpie. I was really obsessed with the Fort Thunder guys for a long time, that first issue of Paper Rodeo was just like the first issue of Mad, I seriously carried it everywhere. I especially loved Mat probably because of the adventure and the humor. When I did Trek, I basically ripped off Multi-Force in entirety.

SB: What led you to becoming part of the first-ever class at CCS?

SAM: My parents brought home an article in the Boston Globe about the school, the one with James, Ana Merino, and I think Art Spiegelman all standing in the Colodny space. I don't remember if I read the whole thing before I hit the web to learn more. I knew that this was something I wanted to do, no doubts in my mind. I would make my parents happy by going to college, and I would actually learn something that I cared about and would stay awake for... mostly (there were some late nights, man!).

Pure inspiration: Paper Rodeo #18 cover art by Ron Rege

SB: You arrived at CCS with a strong affinity with Paper Rodeo and Fort Thunder’s guerrilla creative work, their comics and music coalitions. Care to talk about those a bit more, Sam, and your experience with that body of work? There doesn't seem to be much of anything on line or in print about them...

SAM: Here are some links and images, Steve. There's never been an official website for this stuff, so whatever you can find, that's it, I guess!

Here's an article about Paper Rodeo ending...

Here's a random Mat Brinkman panel [from Expo 2000]

Here's the cover from Kramers Ergot #4...

... and the Teratoid Heights cover.

Paper Rodeo was funny in this great way that no one signed any of their work, so I can still go back and look at certain parts and be like "oh, I know who did that now!"

SB: Do you feel part of that scene, or outside of it, as a successor?

Paper Rodeo installation invitation 'logo thingie'

SAM: Even though I got a drawing into the last issue, I am in no way part of that, as badly as I want to be, as badly as a lot of people want to be, we all missed the boat. Everything about the residual Fort Thunder concept is weird, Tom Devlin and I were joking about all the misconceptions there are about it, like that he and Ben Jones lived there and stayed up all night playing Nintendo and hacky-sack. Now, there are tons of people who are weaseling their way into art galleries with really busy marker drawings or something equally uninspired. It's sort of like watching reruns; yeah, they look nice, but I've seen them all before and it's the same old tricks. I think they were a really great archetype for friends getting together and inspiring each other and just exploding everywhere, but too many individuals are just copy-catting them at this point. The art world is another can of worms though, I won't get into that. Tom knows though, I had a lot of trouble letting go of that and really making my own comics, not comics that look like others. He really pushed me, and I love him for it (you hear me, mister!). He gave me this weird analogy with something about Ska bands, it was really great. So I don't know if I would say that I'm a successor, but it's definitely made a huge impact on what I do now of course. I mean, I've met a few of those guys, and we're friends and all... I guess I just feel that I relate to people like that more, like I'm not going to be hanging out with Adrian Tomine any time soon, you know? I don't want to sit in my own camp by myself, I want to see my friends work, it excites and motivates me. Did that make sense? Was that coherent? Did I even answer the question?

Photo: Lightning Bolt, one of Sam's fave bands

SB: You most certainly did! What’s your own music like, Sam, and how does that crossover into your comics work?

SAM: Music is weird. I start a new band with myself every week, I'm not sure if it's something I'll ever be able to pursue in any sort of "professional" way, you know, like actually recording songs or touring, I’m never satisfied with what I’m doing. Most of the time though, the idea is showmanship over musicianship, I want people to go to a show and have fun. This usually involves me running around the room or breaking things. Lights, fog, I got it all, man. I guess Pizza Wizard kind of relates because I'm trying to create this big world with lush environments, so it's sort of the same showoff "look at me" idea, that's one way to interpret it, I suppose. Haha, well, I hate to say it, I guess that's a Fort Thunder thing too sort of, wearing lots of hats. I'm doing this new thing, I taped a microphone to my bass drum and put it through effects, so it's sort of like automated accompaniment when I play. I think it would help if I had someone to be in a band with, but so far that hasn't worked out.

Photo: Another fave of Sam's, Lucky Dragons

Listening to music is really important to the process though, it's one of the most inspiring things, it really helps me open my mind when I'm drawing. Either that or TV. When I'm drawing Sugarcube, I'll watch Freaks & Geeks, but when I draw Pizza Wizard, it's got to be music, mostly spazzy, rock stuff like Lightning Bolt, Hella, or Lucky Dragons.

I’m also into this band, Noise Nomads, right now which is this guy, Jeff Hartford, from Western Massachusetts. Check him out, total trash sound, I love it. Again, that's the reason I put ads for record labels and things in Pizza Wizard, I'm excited about what others are doing, so I want to help them out, and I want to hear more!

Photo: Hey, fella, it's Hella!

That's a good joke my friend

Jacob Berendes, junk man extraordinaire,

told me, "What? You're in a noise band? Where's your mask?" Jacob runs Happy Birthday Mike Leslie, a junk store in Worcester, MA that sells homemade zines, music, clothes, toys, movies, and tons of other great stuff. It's like walking into Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I volunteer to help out there at least once a week.

Friend and blood brother Ben McOsker runs Load Records,

which I did an ad for. He puts out really incredible stuff. Check out the new Silver Daggers album, new high & ord, featuring Gary Panter cover art!

SB: OK, let’s get into your comics, Sam. Before Pizza Wizard emerged, you were working on an expansive narrative that you began in 2006 and intended as your thesis project -- what was that, and will it see light of day?

SAM: Oh, that thing, um... definitely maybe. I keep getting new ideas all the time and I can't even get them down on paper fast enough, and I have this new thing that I'm really excited about, so I might just keep it on the shelf for now. Who knows, maybe in ten years I'll have a real intense dry spell and it will be the perfect thing to pick up again. I'll keep it in a dark place for now, but I'll give it plant food, just enough to keep it alive, but not to grow. I've got plenty going on though, don't worry about that!

SB: I love Faux Pas. When did you start those, and how many have there been to date? Tell us about ‘em...

Faux-Pas #4 (2006)

SAM: The first Faux-Pas was my final project for first semester last year. It has a really nice cover and will hopefully never be seen by anyone ever again. There are too many embarrassing things I had to include per whatever requirements there were for the project. There are four total and I'm hoping to have a fifth in time for SPX, and then they should be collected next year. It's really just been an outlet for me to mix all the little things I do together, jokes and things that shouldn't go beyond a few pages, short stories, funny sketchbook pages, as much variation as possible.

SB: You’ve done a lot of those short parody pieces and single-pagers goofing on the pop culture: TV shows, Spiderman and so on. Where have those seen print?

SAM: So far, they're only in my zines. Some of them might be in the next Unicorn Mountain, if I ever remember to mail it out. I guess I've been kind of negligent on that... I have a very guilty look on my face right now

SB: What’s Unicorn Mountain?

SAM: Unicorn Mountain is a weird, square anthology

edited by this guy, Curt Gettman, that features lots of new and upcoming artists, as well as fiction writing, articles, and a CD sampler of new music. It was weird how I came to meet Curt, I was just waltzing past their table at SPX and he locked eyes with me, walked over, and said "hey, have you seen the track listing for our CD?", which was so bizarre because I could not figure out how this guy knew just from looking at me that I liked bands like the USAisaMonster and Coachwhips. It's pretty cool, I really look forward to seeing how it's going to develop with each issue.

Joe Lambert cover art for the Face Book, Graduation Edition (May, 2007); this was the second publication of the Face Book, which was the CCS pioneer graduate class's 'yearbook'.

SB: What’s the Face Book?

SAM: Haha, okay, so I drew this one picture of Rich Tommaso by tracing a photograph, which by my hand made him look completely wonky and and nutty. Everyone in the class seemed to really like it for some reason, so James and Michelle commissioned me to draw everyone in the class as a sort of yearbook. Joe Lambert did a really nice job packaging it to give out at graduation, a real nice color cover for a bunch of kooky looking caricatures. No one complained, so I guess I did something right.

SB: Hey, I love it, hence my question. What’s your latest comic creation?

SAM: Okay, so there's Pizza Wizard, right? As if he hasn't weaseled his way into the blog world enough already! Put simply, it is about a tiny wizard looking for magic pizza. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. This is the full-on manifestation of all those comic strips and cartoons and bad jokes and action figures and Magic cards and rock music and everything else that's made me who I am today and I am so, so sorry. Issue #1 premieres at MoCCA and issue #2 is say, 1/8 finished. By Christmas, maybe? There will also be a collection of my Faux-Pas series of mini-comics come next year, and another book sometime later called Sugarcube which is a sort of coming-of-age story (another thing I'm a sucker for), and then something else which I'm not gonna talk about here (top secret for now!).


SB: Where did Pizza Wizard come from? I still fondly remember the class crit when you shared that first single-page Pizza Wizard with us, and everyone fell in love with it.

SAM: Should I reveal that already? Maybe I should keep it a secret for a while. I guess I'll tell. So when I was doing the original copy of the CCS Facebook, there was a picture of [CCS co-founder] Michelle Ollie with a quote underneath that said "who wants pizza?", because seriously, man, she was always getting us free pizza, it was awesome. When she saw this, she said, "What am I, the pizza wizard?" Basically, bells went off in my head that this was the greatest title I had ever heard in my life and that I had to start drawing it immediately. I mean, do you know anyone who doesn't like pizza? There's a whole theory behind the unification powers of pizza, but I won't get into that now. And wizards are just cool. It quickly evolved into this thing that allowed me to draw the most fun things imaginable, castles and monsters, and the characters came easy because I actually built most of them.

"Put Butts Here": Sam, following instructions outside of Sweetie's, Marlboro VT, 2006 (Photo: Joe Lambert)

SB: Pizza Wizard landed you a Xeric grant. What was that process like, and when did this all go down?

SAM: I really didn't expect to win that at all. I applied before for Trek and didn't get it, I talked to a lot of people who applied a lot of times, and this time I only sent them the first 16 pages, so I was really surprised. It was actually pretty easy to do, I don't have any money or assets or anything like that, so filling out the paperwork was no problem, and doing something short and cheap made getting a printer much easier. Actually getting a response from a book printer is a real pain. My friends Barry and Leon in New York helped me through the process too, more than I can ever thank them for.

SB: Pizza Wizard involved -- involves -- you working essentially in a different style every single page. Each is its own universe: there's fresh logo and title lettering design every page, a different rendering style and drawing challenge each page, and so on. What prompted you to push yourself so extensively, and in the scope of one mercurial venture?

SAM: I don't really know what prompted that, I guess I just wanted to challenge myself to play with layout and to be a better designer, figuring out the title location and font is actually one of my favorite parts. Maybe I was reading too much Acme Novelty or something, but I knew I wanted things to be big and individual, like Gasoline Alley sundays or Little Nemo. Not that I'm comparing my work to any of those things, my output and draftsmanship are deplorable next to them.


SB: You also based some of the creatures and characters in Pizza Wizard on these fusion 'mutant toys' you create at your leisure. What's that all about, how long have you been doing it, and are the plastic fumes fucking you up, Sam?

SAM: What? Who are you again? No, if anything is fucking me up, it's the solder I've been inhaling since I took up circuit-bending. I've been making the action figures for probably a year now, my friend Danny and I started after seeing some of the ones Jacob Berendes had made. It was it's own thing at first, but now it helps out a lot, totally eliminates the need to come up with new, disposable characters. I just go over to the shelf and pick one out. It's nice, I'd like to have a gallery eventually, maybe once I have a hundred or so.

This pic needs another caption like Sam needs an extra asshole, but this is the only place I could link to Jacob's blog! Click and enjoy!

SB: With the Xeric grant in hand, you could have published Pizza Wizard in a grander format. Why the low-tech newsprint format, Sam? -- it's a consistent aesthetic in all your published work thus far.

SAM: I just figured that if it's sort of like a newspaper comic, why not make it a newspaper? I really like that format too, it's cheap to print, and it's sort of become it's own art object in a way. My first priority at this point is to make it accessible to as many people as possible. Plus, it's big! It would be so difficult to deal with a regular printer for a special project like that. I guess it comes back to the Paper Rodeo thing too, except this one's alllllll mine, baby.

Sam, Cigar, CCS: Graduation Day, May 2007 (Photo: Joe Lambert)

SB: You just wrapped up two years at CCS and graduated with flying colors. Do you feel part of a community now, and if so, what is it?

SAM: I definitely feel like I'm deep into the community of all cartoonists. I don't know about our class, only time will tell there. It'll be interesting to see who's still drawing in a few years. That's a can of worms that should probably stay closed, all the weird relationships that our class had, I probably have half my facts wrong on that anyway. Comics is a community in itself though, I'll leave it at that. Also, Dane Martin, please e-mail me.

SB: Dane, follow up! Sam, is there anything you absolutely would not do in comics? Where are your personal boundaries and parameters circa 2007?

SAM: Probably not. I mean, I won't draw any religious extremist pamphlets or anything that promotes hate or anything like that, but otherwise, I'd do anything. I would draw for DC or Big Boy or anything. I don't know if I'd get bored doing those things, but none of them will ever hire me anyway, so I guess it's a moot point.

SB: If there were no obstacles, no inhibitions in terms of time, money, types of media or mergers of media and so on -- what would you be doing creatively, Sam?

SAM: There aren't really any of those things right now, actually! I don't have a job, no real expenses, I'm free to work on all my different projects all day long most of the time. I mean, if I had more money and access, maybe I'd start a television or radio show or record label or something like that. But otherwise, I'm pretty content.

SB: Then you’re a doubly-blessed man, Sam. Great talking to you, thanks for sharing!

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“Don't be smackin' my face! It's where I keep my good looks!”

Like The Sopranos final episode, visiting the I Know Joe Kimpel site just now to buy Sam's work is a frustrating experience -- it's all sold out! But keep an eye out there, hopefully Sam will be selling Pizza Wizard via I Know Joe Kimpel -- right, Sam?

More tomorrow, with someone else who is highly entertaining--

Have a great Wednesday, one and all!

Wugga-wugga and the CCS Sites!

Art: Alexis Frederick-Frost, from his glorious site, link below!

Continuing the CCS student site roster, with a little window-dressing.

Once again, in no particular order, the secret windows to those you don't-yet-know, but will one day be beholden to, those who will upset all applecarts and elect far better Presidents than you sorry suckers did:

BUBBLE!

... with delight,
blurbling like some half-frozen brook
all over your own stupid self,
as you allow your retina to dance
and your optic nerve to tangle
and your brain soup to flow
like radiant water over the

the Stone-Dead Stylings of Bryan Stone!

BURBLE!

... and coo like some moronic all-parakeet movie,
dropping your flip-flops and
burning your Birkenstocks
while groping for your credit cards
as you let your wallet flop out
and your pocketbook pop open,
eager to spend that which cannot be spent
and divine the most delicious salad
from the salad days of all mankind amid

the Stripy Green Tomato Veggie-Stand of the Particular Penina Gal (rhymes with 'all')!

GURGLE!

... as you peddle
that last mile
up that final Alp,
rock uselessly in your chair
like an autistic child
as the roller-coaster climbs, climbs, climbs
to the top of the arc
seconds before the plunge,
long for yeasty Parisian loafs of bread
and pine for times that never were
and never will be again,
evocative though they may seem
when rendered by the man
with the brush whose
serving stroke cuts through the air
like a Bruce Lee move,
dropping faint men in their tracks,
if, that is, they haven't already succumbed
to the bedazzlement that marks the

Eye-Popping Peculiarities of Ping-Pong Champ Alexis Frederick-Frost!

STUBBLE!

Hey, YOU!

You think YOU know everything, DON'T YOU?
You think YOU know how to
listen to music, surf the web, eat a taco??
You're soooooooooo fucking WRONG!
You don't know shit! Or how to shit!
You, you need guidance, love,
and the firm, stern hand of
a real man who knows how
to sling the ink,
plink the plink,
and lock the clink
to be your designated turnkey for LIFE!
You need to open your eyes,
stretch your ears
and break down the tight-ass gates of your fetid mind via

the Melodic Musings and Shamanistic Shamblings of Gasping Sam Gaskin!

STUMBLE!

...into the felt-green pleasures of Roosevelt Park,
as rendered and realized
by the Man with the Plan,
the Joe in the Know,
the Mike with his finger in the Dyke,
the Tom with the tom-tom toes,
the Henry all hanker for,
the Elmer Fudd of Spud,
the Dartmouth Grad unafraid to be a Dad
to any in need who can bleed and be freed,
so humble thyself and embrace

the Staff of Life itself, Adam Staffaroni,

and his amazing online CCS mini-comic shop, "I Know Joe Kimpel"! (who the hell is Joe Kimpel?)

C'mon, spend a little dough on some CCS comics, you slackers!

More later, gators, and have a great weekend!