PLEASE TO REDIRECT YOUR BOOMARKS TO PARRISHBAKER.COM
Sun - February 5, 2006
five string serenade - page 27 - istvan oros (page 2)
another failed crowd scene in the background.
again, i would never refer to time like this
now.
The sesqui-who?
The sequiscentennial. Kansas City's 150th birthday.
Which, compared to a 5000-year-old city like Damascus, is really something!!
You're not being sarcastic again, are you, Nips?
No, not at all, why do you ask?
The sesqui-who?
The sequiscentennial. Kansas City's 150th birthday.
Which, compared to a 5000-year-old city like Damascus, is really something!!
You're not being sarcastic again, are you, Nips?
No, not at all, why do you ask?
Posted at 09:45 AM Permalink |
but god forbid i offend anyone
does anyone doubt the power of comics
now?
and i ask again, as i have for four years, four months, twenty-six days: can the 7th century and the 21st century coexist on the same planet? under what circumstances will the former understand or accept that the latter isn't the byzantine empire, waiting for a conquerer and a new god? under what circumstances will the latter suddenly perceive a threat? what will happen?
steven den beste once wrote that even if europe quietly folds its hands and bows its neck to the yoke, even if america implodes or in the name of multiculturality accepts suitcase nukes in every city--still, russia, still china, still in the end japan would use whatever means they had to hand (o, and see 1945-1990 for that,) to survive, and even if they did not, there is a dark and terrible split inside of islam--sunni/shi'ite, and both of them are reaching for the nuclear gun, and hate each other nigh well as much as they hate the jew and the decadence of the west.
the world is walking along naively in the summer of 1914, and it's been a long summer . . . four years so far, and counting. gabrilo princip hesitated in an alley, rubbing his gun anxiously. an irresponsible danish paper did the same. a new world is coming, if we are not careful, and we don't know yet what it will look like.
with luck, the world will roll over and turn it all back to the cockroaches and the rats.
as e-nough says, 'wake up whenever you want, europeans.'
and i ask again, as i have for four years, four months, twenty-six days: can the 7th century and the 21st century coexist on the same planet? under what circumstances will the former understand or accept that the latter isn't the byzantine empire, waiting for a conquerer and a new god? under what circumstances will the latter suddenly perceive a threat? what will happen?
steven den beste once wrote that even if europe quietly folds its hands and bows its neck to the yoke, even if america implodes or in the name of multiculturality accepts suitcase nukes in every city--still, russia, still china, still in the end japan would use whatever means they had to hand (o, and see 1945-1990 for that,) to survive, and even if they did not, there is a dark and terrible split inside of islam--sunni/shi'ite, and both of them are reaching for the nuclear gun, and hate each other nigh well as much as they hate the jew and the decadence of the west.
the world is walking along naively in the summer of 1914, and it's been a long summer . . . four years so far, and counting. gabrilo princip hesitated in an alley, rubbing his gun anxiously. an irresponsible danish paper did the same. a new world is coming, if we are not careful, and we don't know yet what it will look like.
with luck, the world will roll over and turn it all back to the cockroaches and the rats.
as e-nough says, 'wake up whenever you want, europeans.'
Posted at 09:25 AM Permalink |
the farm gallery show
our friend allie cermak made knitted cats. one of
them was
cracker.
Posted at 08:47 AM Permalink |
reflections
we finally have all of my father's columns for
their local paper, the
star, up at his blog, reflections on life. 143 essays. my mother's
spent several weeks transcribing the last fifty or so that we
found.
Posted at 08:28 AM Permalink |
Sat - February 4, 2006
kansas city comic artist activity updates week of 01.29.06 -
02.04.06
aaron
williams' PS238 is coming out. bill
hook is in the preview section this month. chris
garrett enters the dungeon; but his progress is slowed by the
moonfall
comic.
daniel spottswood revamps his site and his characters in the preview section confront the thing that is the deli and the sandwich engineer therein. dustin hoffman begins an attack. greg smallwood's blog is here. the mysterious heavy water does more work.
jason arnett brings us the risers archive and gives me good bird flu news. maybe. joel pfannenstiel offers 250% less suck. battle rages in john fortman's fallen angels. kelly sue deconnick raises an eyebrow at miller highlife. kyle strahm gives us more clockwork and crib notes. mark stinson gives us ghosts and violence. matt fraction is in cupertino; also, the moon smells like gunpowder. (take note, moonfall folks!). michael buckley--well, he means well anyway.
parrish baker didn't have much to say this week. rob schamberger to the contrary did. scott ziolko's abe awesome is available at rock bottom comics.* seth wolfshorndl has a new blog. stephanie iser updates both blogs. steven sanders is lining up another publisher. travis fox pimps the oscars in the preview section.
the boards were extremely busy with all categories updated.
all you blogspot people, it should probably come as no surprise that blogspot/blogger's down this evening, so i'll have to amend your updates later.
BLOGSPOT UPDATE: some alarming photos from dennis hopeless, greg smallwood covers the gamut, lee leslie works on more royals stuff, and shane thayer honors dormancy.
______________
*Rock Bottom Comics
(573) 443-0113
1029 E Walnut St, Columbia, MO (map)
daniel spottswood revamps his site and his characters in the preview section confront the thing that is the deli and the sandwich engineer therein. dustin hoffman begins an attack. greg smallwood's blog is here. the mysterious heavy water does more work.
jason arnett brings us the risers archive and gives me good bird flu news. maybe. joel pfannenstiel offers 250% less suck. battle rages in john fortman's fallen angels. kelly sue deconnick raises an eyebrow at miller highlife. kyle strahm gives us more clockwork and crib notes. mark stinson gives us ghosts and violence. matt fraction is in cupertino; also, the moon smells like gunpowder. (take note, moonfall folks!). michael buckley--well, he means well anyway.
parrish baker didn't have much to say this week. rob schamberger to the contrary did. scott ziolko's abe awesome is available at rock bottom comics.* seth wolfshorndl has a new blog. stephanie iser updates both blogs. steven sanders is lining up another publisher. travis fox pimps the oscars in the preview section.
the boards were extremely busy with all categories updated.
all you blogspot people, it should probably come as no surprise that blogspot/blogger's down this evening, so i'll have to amend your updates later.
BLOGSPOT UPDATE: some alarming photos from dennis hopeless, greg smallwood covers the gamut, lee leslie works on more royals stuff, and shane thayer honors dormancy.
______________
*Rock Bottom Comics
(573) 443-0113
1029 E Walnut St, Columbia, MO (map)
Posted at 08:41 PM Permalink |
Fri - February 3, 2006
first friday
well, as usual first fridays lived to disappoint.
from the paint splotches by scot sinclair at the leedy-voulkos in Old Leedyville to the
uninteresting pottery at the Pi Gallery next to grinders in New Leedyville,
it was a dull as dishwater night. almost the only things we liked was allie's
knitted cats at the Farm Gallery, the artomat at the Pi, and john raux's*
miniature paintings at jacob's
well.
the only up side was that the crowds were very thin, and the evening chilly. still, lots of changes all over Old Leedyville . . . and New Leedyville seems thin and sickly yet.
________________
*he of the footballzine.
the only up side was that the crowds were very thin, and the evening chilly. still, lots of changes all over Old Leedyville . . . and New Leedyville seems thin and sickly yet.
________________
*he of the footballzine.
Posted at 11:23 PM Permalink |
Thu - February 2, 2006
unabomber
i hear tell someone that looks like him is loose
at work this evening. he threw a CD and screamed at it, 'why won't you
work?'
Posted at 06:37 PM Permalink |
Wed - February 1, 2006
project runway
man, we were sad to see andre go. that was a
tough challenge.
daniel will make olympus fashion week, of that we are sure.
daniel will make olympus fashion week, of that we are sure.
Posted at 10:27 PM Permalink |
Tue - January 31, 2006
broadway group
right now the broadway smells an awful lot like fresh
paint.
everyone was there, more or less in shifts; but we called it a night early.
everyone was there, more or less in shifts; but we called it a night early.
Posted at 09:43 PM Permalink |
Mon - January 30, 2006
a sight for sore eyes.
see this--eh? the good old broadway site, which will
soon be updated with new images to match the refit they've been working on most
of the month.
not much to look at. kind plain, kinda ordinary, but i'm glad to see it. extra glad.
why, do you say?
well, two titanic forces rumbling through history collided last night, like the andrea dorea and the stockholm.
firstly, i've been maintaining the broadway cafe website since january 2001. in days of yore i had a hotmail email address, and that was the avenue whence i communicated to the registrar of the name.
a couple years ago, when i adopted the dot mac email address i sue, i prowled about the internet updating contact information: my name register was one of those places. well and good; i have renewed the domain since then via that avenue, and have heard from them via that road. no harm there, eh? of course not.
force one laid cruising.
there is serious dissent in the cat community here. dukakis has decided to not tolerate chachi, the weakest and most vulnerable cat. for over a month various accommodations of her living space have been created, which have more or less ended in her having a private apartment in the back bedroom. we have been bringing her out to lap her in the living room in the evenings, with dukakis looking on like the dark angel of death. he gets a face full of water spritz from a squirt bottle when he ventures too near, so we hope, by slow degrees, to create peace in the dominion again.
force two, seemingly unrelated, laid in the waters
last night, a rattle rattle, rattle rattle comes at the back bedroom door. bonnie mumbles, and says, stuck. by which she implies that someone is not where they are supposed to be, and ought to be let out. it turns out she thought hazel, no. 3 on the totem pole, might have gotten herself closed in a hall cabinet, which is within the realm of possibility; i suspected cracker of being accidentally locked away with chachi, which has happened.
i went back to check on the bedroom, and opened the door, and out shoots chachi, who as recently as four hours ago wouldn't have come out on a bet. i don't know why she did, but i took her to bed with us. the dark angel of death came looming, and eventually matters devloved to a certain amount fo running around, hissing, and leaping, with me trailing behind dealing waters squirts to any dark angels that i could track down. everyone separated, i stowed chachi in her apartment, where she went under the bed, and locked up.
i checked my email before retiring--well after 1 am--and found a message from jon cates, part owner of the broadway.
crash! the unrelated disasters collide.
fortuitous it is that chachi awoke us. amongst other things i needed to take care of, jon mentioned that the site was pointing to something it wasn't supposed to--basically boilerplate adverts. you know the type. (find about broadwaycafeandroastery.com etc etc.)
my heart sank. i knew what i was up against: but had the domain simply been redirected by the registrar (temporarily) before being sold to whatever name collector wanted it, or was it already gone beyond recall? a feverish hour went by. it had been seven days since the name had expired; five and a half days, it turns out (see nifty broadway stats below) since it had been redirected.
crap! my registrar had changed its name management system, and somehow had summoned from the misty depths the hotmail address i used to use. an address that had expired! could i reaccess it? thank god, yes. could i get my password? yes. could i buy the name without making a typo? that, too.
at 2 am i went back to bed with a twitch in one eye and a nervous jerk in my left shoulder, without complete confidence that everything would work out. but a little while ago, i had access again and the DNS servers, slow and majestic in their way, resolved the traffic back at my domain host.
dude. uncool.
thank you, chachi. i would have hated to find this out at 5 am when i was going to get up. every hour counts, when your domain has been dead for seven days.
viz., and to wit:
not much to look at. kind plain, kinda ordinary, but i'm glad to see it. extra glad.
why, do you say?
well, two titanic forces rumbling through history collided last night, like the andrea dorea and the stockholm.
firstly, i've been maintaining the broadway cafe website since january 2001. in days of yore i had a hotmail email address, and that was the avenue whence i communicated to the registrar of the name.
a couple years ago, when i adopted the dot mac email address i sue, i prowled about the internet updating contact information: my name register was one of those places. well and good; i have renewed the domain since then via that avenue, and have heard from them via that road. no harm there, eh? of course not.
force one laid cruising.
there is serious dissent in the cat community here. dukakis has decided to not tolerate chachi, the weakest and most vulnerable cat. for over a month various accommodations of her living space have been created, which have more or less ended in her having a private apartment in the back bedroom. we have been bringing her out to lap her in the living room in the evenings, with dukakis looking on like the dark angel of death. he gets a face full of water spritz from a squirt bottle when he ventures too near, so we hope, by slow degrees, to create peace in the dominion again.
force two, seemingly unrelated, laid in the waters
last night, a rattle rattle, rattle rattle comes at the back bedroom door. bonnie mumbles, and says, stuck. by which she implies that someone is not where they are supposed to be, and ought to be let out. it turns out she thought hazel, no. 3 on the totem pole, might have gotten herself closed in a hall cabinet, which is within the realm of possibility; i suspected cracker of being accidentally locked away with chachi, which has happened.
i went back to check on the bedroom, and opened the door, and out shoots chachi, who as recently as four hours ago wouldn't have come out on a bet. i don't know why she did, but i took her to bed with us. the dark angel of death came looming, and eventually matters devloved to a certain amount fo running around, hissing, and leaping, with me trailing behind dealing waters squirts to any dark angels that i could track down. everyone separated, i stowed chachi in her apartment, where she went under the bed, and locked up.
i checked my email before retiring--well after 1 am--and found a message from jon cates, part owner of the broadway.
crash! the unrelated disasters collide.
fortuitous it is that chachi awoke us. amongst other things i needed to take care of, jon mentioned that the site was pointing to something it wasn't supposed to--basically boilerplate adverts. you know the type. (find about broadwaycafeandroastery.com etc etc.)
my heart sank. i knew what i was up against: but had the domain simply been redirected by the registrar (temporarily) before being sold to whatever name collector wanted it, or was it already gone beyond recall? a feverish hour went by. it had been seven days since the name had expired; five and a half days, it turns out (see nifty broadway stats below) since it had been redirected.
crap! my registrar had changed its name management system, and somehow had summoned from the misty depths the hotmail address i used to use. an address that had expired! could i reaccess it? thank god, yes. could i get my password? yes. could i buy the name without making a typo? that, too.
at 2 am i went back to bed with a twitch in one eye and a nervous jerk in my left shoulder, without complete confidence that everything would work out. but a little while ago, i had access again and the DNS servers, slow and majestic in their way, resolved the traffic back at my domain host.
dude. uncool.
thank you, chachi. i would have hated to find this out at 5 am when i was going to get up. every hour counts, when your domain has been dead for seven days.
viz., and to wit:
Posted at 05:14 PM Permalink |
Sun - January 29, 2006
no, i look nothing like santino.
my new favorite comics website . . .
. . . is dave's long
box. dave is one funny guy. i don't read marvel or DC or even dark
horse, but i know enough about their universes to go by. but even if i didn't,
i'd find this stuff funny.
i can't stop reading it!
i can't stop reading it!
Posted at 09:09 AM Permalink |
five string serenade - page 26 - istvan oros - (page 1)
see the loaf of wonder bread taped onto that
telephone pole on the right? david ford was doing that the summer of 2000,
all around leedyvile. he'd tape a loaf up, and other loaf elsewhere, and then go
back and tape another, and soon bundles of bread were everywhere. it was as
though they were breeding by multicellular division, he said. white breadedness
was spreading. a farsighted man, that david ford. and quite correct. look at
leedyville today. a cesspool of city-sponsored condos and monied johnson county
refugees. very nice.
anyways, this was drawn the summer of kansas city's sequiscentennial, meaning this place hasn't been burned down by barbarians (and abandoned) for 150 years . . . 156 now. very nice also. i would never mention time-related events now, but i did then, so we'll just say nips was parroting something he heard and let it go by.
note again that this was a half-sized page. note again the lack of an official title, so i'll give it a random one, which you will perceive has meaning soon.
the building on the right looks like its collapsing, but i was experimenting with odd perspectives; that's union station on the horizon and lidia's (misspelled) in the freighthouse below it. heh.
My god, it's crowded down here tonight.
It's the sesquicentennial.
anyways, this was drawn the summer of kansas city's sequiscentennial, meaning this place hasn't been burned down by barbarians (and abandoned) for 150 years . . . 156 now. very nice also. i would never mention time-related events now, but i did then, so we'll just say nips was parroting something he heard and let it go by.
note again that this was a half-sized page. note again the lack of an official title, so i'll give it a random one, which you will perceive has meaning soon.
the building on the right looks like its collapsing, but i was experimenting with odd perspectives; that's union station on the horizon and lidia's (misspelled) in the freighthouse below it. heh.
My god, it's crowded down here tonight.
It's the sesquicentennial.
Posted at 08:45 AM Permalink |
for your amusement
my work, such as it is, was used in a class at
perdue in 2003 taught by one tof eklund. on this page his students (communications majors, i
believe,) comment and criticize on several comics, including mine. as a whole,
they did not approve of sparrow's fall artistically or understand it
conceptually. i feel quite vindicated.
Posted at 07:05 AM Permalink |
Sat - January 28, 2006
kansas city comic artist activity updates week of 01.22.06 -
01.28.06
you know the old trick to make
family
circus and
marmaduke
funny? you switch their captions. it works about half the time--better than the
succes rate of both comics played straight. well, aaron
williams points out a link to a similar method for making garfield
interesting. (and almost funny.) bonnie leigh begs you to join blingo. dan jacobson supports dorian's meme. i hope you are following daniel
spottswood's comic in the preview, because it's getting tough for his
characters--tougher than usual, i should say. dustin hoffman
uses his Wacom, or an 05 micron. (let's start a pool on
that!)
greg gildersleeve asks you what comic characters you identify with. (why, turok, son of stone, of course! the original everyman. [what the hell m i talking about?]) greg smallwood's comic in the preview this week focussed on exhibitionism at the mall . . . i hope that no friends were hurt in the making of that comic. heavy water puts up a bunch of new pages. he's really, really good. jason arnett gives us "risers" and bigfoot. all hell breaks loose in john fortman country.
kelly sue deconnick knits while captain applejack recuperates. kevin gritzke has less happy dog news, whilst wolverine is ripped in half by the hulk. kyle strahm has a cover. michael buckley gives us his final piece for life of pi. in keeping with animal sadness, mike sullivan catblogs a beautiful little drawing.
parrish baker . . . well, you're here, so i guess you know how that's playing out. rob schamberger keeps up the excitement. gas grenades! stephanie iser updates yalibrarian. travis fox comments on the booth babe ban at e3.
the boards were modestly busy with all categories updated save websites and, once again, show & tell.
pretty slow week, all in all.
greg gildersleeve asks you what comic characters you identify with. (why, turok, son of stone, of course! the original everyman. [what the hell m i talking about?]) greg smallwood's comic in the preview this week focussed on exhibitionism at the mall . . . i hope that no friends were hurt in the making of that comic. heavy water puts up a bunch of new pages. he's really, really good. jason arnett gives us "risers" and bigfoot. all hell breaks loose in john fortman country.
kelly sue deconnick knits while captain applejack recuperates. kevin gritzke has less happy dog news, whilst wolverine is ripped in half by the hulk. kyle strahm has a cover. michael buckley gives us his final piece for life of pi. in keeping with animal sadness, mike sullivan catblogs a beautiful little drawing.
parrish baker . . . well, you're here, so i guess you know how that's playing out. rob schamberger keeps up the excitement. gas grenades! stephanie iser updates yalibrarian. travis fox comments on the booth babe ban at e3.
the boards were modestly busy with all categories updated save websites and, once again, show & tell.
pretty slow week, all in all.
Posted at 06:43 PM Permalink |
five string serenade - page 25 - go walkin' down there (page
8)
To start--you're a lazy bastard. And a coward.
Besides, girls like boys with cars.
Therefore . . .
. . . you . . .
. . . are . . .
. . . screwed.
You know, a cabbie wouldn't have treated me this way.
That's right! You've learned.
And you owe me ten bucks.
this comic was designed to be half an 8.5 by 11 page, folded in half and bookleted, so it looks a whole lot larger and spacier, say, when printed at a larger size,or even on the internet.
i really don't like this style. if i recall correctly, i was experimenting with ballpoint pen at the time.
Posted at 05:38 PM Permalink |
Fri - January 27, 2006
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Previous Episodes
what is this awful thing?
what is sparrow's fall?
...somewhere between the city of the poor and the city of the not-so-poor, a long ways from heaven but not quite in hell, is a neighborhood where the people are mad and the animals are sane, where armadillos are on the wrestling circuit and dogs go to art school. If you see god, or aliens, or if you go to group with a neurotic otter, you live there. Only one question: did he fall, or was he pushed?
who makes it?
parrish baker, kansas city comic artist since at least 1995, was born as the old sepia-tone world was finally fading away, four days before nixon narrowly won a first term in the white house. parrish grew up in the countryside of missouri, not quite in the plains but neither quite in the ozarks. the summers are hot there, and the winters cold, and there is often a great deal of wind. eventually he received an adequate education--primary, secondary, and college, and even bothered to get a master's degree in a useless topic. he walked out of the halls of academe into the heart of a recession. moving to kansas city, he luckily found a temporary job that lasted twelve years before he decided that it had become permanent, and decided to move on to other endeavors. somewhere along there he began drawing mini-comics . . . or something like drawing . . . judge for yourself . . .
he still lives in kansas city, drawing his ridiculous indy comics like there was no tomorrow. of course--if you watch the news . . .
just what is it about comics in kansas city?
The year was 1996. Or 1997. Your call.
1995 . . . 1996 . . . 1997 . . . 1998 . . . a golden age for comic book art in Kansas City. 40 Oz. Comics was alive and well, and, most importantly, here, Jim Mahfood’s Grrlscouts and Cosmic Toast were in wide circulation, and Thereyago! Studios was about to produce the first (and last) issue of Meanwhile... and other folk were busy drafting out comics and cartoons left and right.
Like all Periclean ages, it was probably better in memory than in reality, and like all such ages, it did not spring out overnight and from nowhere, but drew, god knows, its strength largely from the illustration department of the Kansas City Art Institute. People who could draw and people who had something to say walked and breathed amongst us, and we were willing to listen.
Amongst those paying close attention was a youngish scrawler who, encouraged, authored the dreadful comic book Calyx, after sitting in the Broadway Cafe for the better part of a year pretending to teach himself drawing. This little science-fictional horror fading instantly from collective memory, he looked for something else to create.
Why did he do it at all? Obviously he was talent-free, that much at least could be said. He felt, nonetheless, that he wanted to say something, and in those days saying something seemed possible, mandatory even. An emotional catastrophe had taken the ability to write from him; the inability to draw would have seemed to conspire keep him in his place. He ignored reality, however, persisting in making wretched things that are safely contained, like industrial waste, in sketchbooks to this day.
If he’d had half a brain, he would have despaired.
But he didn’t. Chance encounters with no less than two possums birthed the characters of Possum and Hot-Dog onto paper; a failed attempt to sell the idea to the Pitch cemented a thick distaste for that paper that survives to this day. However, the Possum flourished, and, by a metamorphosis whose details have been lost to memory, a little cartoon called Sparrow’s Fall was born.
Little of Kansas City’s comics heyday remains: an unfortunate exception is Sparrow’s Fall. It has endured, continuously published, since November 1996. The author of this long spiel of angst, irritation, and occasional perverse humor can’t understand why. More to the point, he can’t understand why other people do not try to hide his dreck with work of their own.
It is becoming urgently necessary that people do it. Our culture is becoming suffocated with one great universal Voice, the AOL-TimeWarner-Disney/ABC/CBS giant that neither is interested in, nor wishes to hear, what we have to say. Comics, believe it or not, are an important part of the resistance. They and zines (which also seem dead, evidently a victim of the internet,) occupy a corner of visual and textual media the entertainment giants simply cannot fill or block. We must have a voice, we must draw, we must write. If not to drown out AOL altogether--then at least to distract attention from that dreadful Sparrow’s Fall.
The author is gloomy. Where are the Mike Huddlestons, Jim Mahfoods, Daniel Spottswoods, and Scot Stolfuses of tomorrow? And why aren’t there more women here in Kansas City doing comics?
Well . . . maybe one is looking at this right now. If you are--put it down right now, and start drawing.
...somewhere between the city of the poor and the city of the not-so-poor, a long ways from heaven but not quite in hell, is a neighborhood where the people are mad and the animals are sane, where armadillos are on the wrestling circuit and dogs go to art school. If you see god, or aliens, or if you go to group with a neurotic otter, you live there. Only one question: did he fall, or was he pushed?
who makes it?
parrish baker, kansas city comic artist since at least 1995, was born as the old sepia-tone world was finally fading away, four days before nixon narrowly won a first term in the white house. parrish grew up in the countryside of missouri, not quite in the plains but neither quite in the ozarks. the summers are hot there, and the winters cold, and there is often a great deal of wind. eventually he received an adequate education--primary, secondary, and college, and even bothered to get a master's degree in a useless topic. he walked out of the halls of academe into the heart of a recession. moving to kansas city, he luckily found a temporary job that lasted twelve years before he decided that it had become permanent, and decided to move on to other endeavors. somewhere along there he began drawing mini-comics . . . or something like drawing . . . judge for yourself . . .
he still lives in kansas city, drawing his ridiculous indy comics like there was no tomorrow. of course--if you watch the news . . .
just what is it about comics in kansas city?
The year was 1996. Or 1997. Your call.
1995 . . . 1996 . . . 1997 . . . 1998 . . . a golden age for comic book art in Kansas City. 40 Oz. Comics was alive and well, and, most importantly, here, Jim Mahfood’s Grrlscouts and Cosmic Toast were in wide circulation, and Thereyago! Studios was about to produce the first (and last) issue of Meanwhile... and other folk were busy drafting out comics and cartoons left and right.
Like all Periclean ages, it was probably better in memory than in reality, and like all such ages, it did not spring out overnight and from nowhere, but drew, god knows, its strength largely from the illustration department of the Kansas City Art Institute. People who could draw and people who had something to say walked and breathed amongst us, and we were willing to listen.
Amongst those paying close attention was a youngish scrawler who, encouraged, authored the dreadful comic book Calyx, after sitting in the Broadway Cafe for the better part of a year pretending to teach himself drawing. This little science-fictional horror fading instantly from collective memory, he looked for something else to create.
Why did he do it at all? Obviously he was talent-free, that much at least could be said. He felt, nonetheless, that he wanted to say something, and in those days saying something seemed possible, mandatory even. An emotional catastrophe had taken the ability to write from him; the inability to draw would have seemed to conspire keep him in his place. He ignored reality, however, persisting in making wretched things that are safely contained, like industrial waste, in sketchbooks to this day.
If he’d had half a brain, he would have despaired.
But he didn’t. Chance encounters with no less than two possums birthed the characters of Possum and Hot-Dog onto paper; a failed attempt to sell the idea to the Pitch cemented a thick distaste for that paper that survives to this day. However, the Possum flourished, and, by a metamorphosis whose details have been lost to memory, a little cartoon called Sparrow’s Fall was born.
Little of Kansas City’s comics heyday remains: an unfortunate exception is Sparrow’s Fall. It has endured, continuously published, since November 1996. The author of this long spiel of angst, irritation, and occasional perverse humor can’t understand why. More to the point, he can’t understand why other people do not try to hide his dreck with work of their own.
It is becoming urgently necessary that people do it. Our culture is becoming suffocated with one great universal Voice, the AOL-TimeWarner-Disney/ABC/CBS giant that neither is interested in, nor wishes to hear, what we have to say. Comics, believe it or not, are an important part of the resistance. They and zines (which also seem dead, evidently a victim of the internet,) occupy a corner of visual and textual media the entertainment giants simply cannot fill or block. We must have a voice, we must draw, we must write. If not to drown out AOL altogether--then at least to distract attention from that dreadful Sparrow’s Fall.
The author is gloomy. Where are the Mike Huddlestons, Jim Mahfoods, Daniel Spottswoods, and Scot Stolfuses of tomorrow? And why aren’t there more women here in Kansas City doing comics?
Well . . . maybe one is looking at this right now. If you are--put it down right now, and start drawing.
Kansas City Comics Community
aaron williams
aimsatellite
alonzo washington
ande parks
anime society of kansas city
anna marie cool
anthony oropeza
AR
arie dee monroe
b. clay moore
baeg tobar
bill hook
bob ellis
bonnie leigh
brian mckinley
the broadway café
the broadway group
bruce jones
bryan timmins
byron dunn
ca_jas
charlie podrebarac
chris garrett
chris jackson
chris rich-mckelvey
chuck irons
comixclub
comixboard
comixperience
the crave café
dale martin
daniel tyler gooden
dan jacobson
daniel spottswood
darryl woods
dave bryant
david daneman
dennis hopeless
dove mchargue
duane cunningham
dustin dade
dustin hoffman
ed bickford
edward kann
elizabeth jacobson
eve englezos
frank mangiaracina
greg gildersleeve
greg smallwood
heavy water . . . ||| . . . nuevo
hector casanova
icecreamlandia
jai nitz
jake angell
james harmon
jason arnett
jason foster
jason preu
jeff blascyk
jeffrey vasquez
janell vasquez
jeremy haun
jeremy mcconnell
jeremy mohler
joe wilper
joel pfannenstiel
john fortman
john schuler
john parker
jon hook
josh cotter
joshua moutray
josh ziegler
justin arredando
kansas city comix scene
kansas city comics creators network blog
kelley seda
kelly sue deconnick
kerry callen
kevin gritzke
kyle strahm
lee judge
lee leslie
lonal duncan
mark stinson
matt cashel
matt fraction
matt hawkins
michael buckley
michael herring
michael perry
michelle kelley
mid-missouri comics collective
mike huddleston
mike springet
mike sullivan
mike worley
mo-kan comics conspiracy
parrish baker
planet comicon
ram and mason
rehab 25 press
richard corben
rick stasi
the roasterie café
rob schamberger's empire
rudy garcia
ryan middaugh
scott ziolko
sean murphy
scott hassler
scott stewart
scribe
seth wolfshorndl
shane thayer
shaun gray
shawn geabhart
stephanie m. iser-ramsey
steve bushman
steve lightle
steven sanders
tom bumgardner
travis fox
wendy griswold
william binderup
Kansas City Bloggers
a note to myself
another blog is possible
a voyage to arcturus
beastly sum
ben radatz
blog kc
de coucy park
doug's digs
epiphomatic machinations
greg beck
happy in bag
heresies and blasphemies
kansas city development
kansas city soil
kc bloggers
me, my life, + infrastructure
mimezine
m. toast
oz mcguire
patchcord
pomegranate pretty
posthuman blues
psychic space hog
ray barker
reecie
reflections on life
riotgeek
stainless steel rat droppings
tkcgirl
the stranger
there stands the glass
thoughtpeach
three o'clock in the morning
tony's kansas city
travis swicegood
another blog is possible
a voyage to arcturus
beastly sum
ben radatz
blog kc
de coucy park
doug's digs
epiphomatic machinations
greg beck
happy in bag
heresies and blasphemies
kansas city development
kansas city soil
kc bloggers
me, my life, + infrastructure
mimezine
m. toast
oz mcguire
patchcord
pomegranate pretty
posthuman blues
psychic space hog
ray barker
reecie
reflections on life
riotgeek
stainless steel rat droppings
tkcgirl
the stranger
there stands the glass
thoughtpeach
three o'clock in the morning
tony's kansas city
travis swicegood
comics links
a. david lewis
a softer world
comicreaders.com
comics lifestyles
comics.212.net
the comics reporter
comic weblogs updates
comixpress
dave's long box
dilbert blog
dimestoreproductions
drawn
dream weaver press
flog!: the fantagraphics blog
ferretpress
40 oz comics
hey, bartender!
johnny bacardi
lulu
make comics forever
mike russell
mini-comics.com
mk12
montreal comics jam
museum of comic and cartoon art
near mint heroes
ninth art
oubapo-america
phoebe gloeckner
postmodern barney
red ink like blood
salgood sam
sequence
sequentialtart
tom the dog
winterizer
wooster collective
a softer world
comicreaders.com
comics lifestyles
comics.212.net
the comics reporter
comic weblogs updates
comixpress
dave's long box
dilbert blog
dimestoreproductions
drawn
dream weaver press
flog!: the fantagraphics blog
ferretpress
40 oz comics
hey, bartender!
johnny bacardi
lulu
make comics forever
mike russell
mini-comics.com
mk12
montreal comics jam
museum of comic and cartoon art
near mint heroes
ninth art
oubapo-america
phoebe gloeckner
postmodern barney
red ink like blood
salgood sam
sequence
sequentialtart
tom the dog
winterizer
wooster collective
miscellaneous links
43 folders
75 degrees south
astrobiology magazine
avian flu
clever chimp
knack
lileks
living with liver cancer
marginal revolution
oil is for sissies
plains feeder
rudy rucker
six different ways
southtown council
speed of thought
starbucks delocator
susie gharemani
symbolic order
team murder
thanks for not being a zombie
the storm track
wee wonderfuls
whatever
75 degrees south
astrobiology magazine
avian flu
clever chimp
knack
lileks
living with liver cancer
marginal revolution
oil is for sissies
plains feeder
rudy rucker
six different ways
southtown council
speed of thought
starbucks delocator
susie gharemani
symbolic order
team murder
thanks for not being a zombie
the storm track
wee wonderfuls
whatever
kansas city cultural community
andrea flamini
artstew
barry anderson
ben hawkins
birdies
brett reif
byron c. cohen gallery
cameron calder
cortney andrews
david ford
elijah gibson
eric von robertson
fahrenheit gallery
grand arts
green door gallery
hugh merrill
hammerpress
james woodfill
jim leedy
john raux
kansas city art institute
kansas city infozine
kayce davis
kemper museum of contrmporary art
kittyspit: list of kansas city art sites
leedy-voulkos art center
linda lighton mara gibson
mike baker
mk12
nelson-atkins museum of art
opie gallery
paragraph gallery
peregrine honig
prospero's books
rachel stuart-haas
reading reptile
rebecca dolan
susan white
telephone booth gallery
wednesday kirwan
your face
artstew
barry anderson
ben hawkins
birdies
brett reif
byron c. cohen gallery
cameron calder
cortney andrews
david ford
elijah gibson
eric von robertson
fahrenheit gallery
grand arts
green door gallery
hugh merrill
hammerpress
james woodfill
jim leedy
john raux
kansas city art institute
kansas city infozine
kayce davis
kemper museum of contrmporary art
kittyspit: list of kansas city art sites
leedy-voulkos art center
linda lighton mara gibson
mike baker
mk12
nelson-atkins museum of art
opie gallery
paragraph gallery
peregrine honig
prospero's books
rachel stuart-haas
reading reptile
rebecca dolan
telephone booth gallery
wednesday kirwan
your face
kansas city comic book stores
Action Sports - 5243 NE Antioch Rd (816) 455-6319
A to Z Comics - 1300 SW Us Highway 40 (816) 224-0505
Astrokitty Comics - 7th & New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS (785) 856-8607
B-Bop - 3490 Main (816) 753-2267
B-Bop South - 5336 West 95th Street (913) 383-3200
Broken Lotus - 1412 NW Vivion Road (816) 587-2007
Clint's Books Comics & Games - 3943 Main St (816) 561-2848
Collective Cache - 10150 W 119th (913) 338-2273
Comic Cavern - 5404 NW 64th St (816) 746-4569
Elite Comics - 11828 Quivira Rd (913) 345-9910
Lawless Times Comics & Magazines - 3117 Troost (816) 931-2400
Mo Iikai Anime - 40 Highway and Noland Road (816) 478-2020
Monty's Book Swap - 9302 E. 40 Highway (816) 737-1427
Omega 7 Comics - 1925 N 83rd Terrace (913) 321-6764
Pop Culture Comix - 9337 W 87th Terrace (913) 341-0040
Pulp Fiction Comics & Games - 9337 W 87th Terrace (913) 341-0040
The Battlezone - 6608 Blue Ridge Blvd (816) 358-0870
The Battlezone - 11752 Blue Ridge Blvd (913) 492-6363
Vintage Stock - 9200 Metcalf Avenue (913) 648-8999
Vintage Stock - 8416 W 135th St (913) 681-1999
Wonderland - 1605 Westport Road (816) 931-0065
A to Z Comics - 1300 SW Us Highway 40 (816) 224-0505
Astrokitty Comics - 7th & New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS (785) 856-8607
B-Bop - 3490 Main (816) 753-2267
B-Bop South - 5336 West 95th Street (913) 383-3200
Broken Lotus - 1412 NW Vivion Road (816) 587-2007
Clint's Books Comics & Games - 3943 Main St (816) 561-2848
Collective Cache - 10150 W 119th (913) 338-2273
Comic Cavern - 5404 NW 64th St (816) 746-4569
Elite Comics - 11828 Quivira Rd (913) 345-9910
Lawless Times Comics & Magazines - 3117 Troost (816) 931-2400
Mo Iikai Anime - 40 Highway and Noland Road (816) 478-2020
Monty's Book Swap - 9302 E. 40 Highway (816) 737-1427
Omega 7 Comics - 1925 N 83rd Terrace (913) 321-6764
Pop Culture Comix - 9337 W 87th Terrace (913) 341-0040
Pulp Fiction Comics & Games - 9337 W 87th Terrace (913) 341-0040
The Battlezone - 6608 Blue Ridge Blvd (816) 358-0870
The Battlezone - 11752 Blue Ridge Blvd (913) 492-6363
Vintage Stock - 9200 Metcalf Avenue (913) 648-8999
Vintage Stock - 8416 W 135th St (913) 681-1999
Wonderland - 1605 Westport Road (816) 931-0065
shows
miniatures! 8-96, juried invitational show at broadway café, kansas city.
reversion/counterrevolution 11-01, solo show at a copy shop, kansas city.
mail-art show 11-01, at the telegraph gallery.
heavy petting 10-02, juried show at the lemp, st. louis
sequence 05-03, juried show, at the panacea, kansas city.
solo show at broadway café 05-03, kansas city.
reversion/counterrevolution 11-01, solo show at a copy shop, kansas city.
mail-art show 11-01, at the telegraph gallery.
heavy petting 10-02, juried show at the lemp, st. louis
sequence 05-03, juried show, at the panacea, kansas city.
solo show at broadway café 05-03, kansas city.
Media
Spank Fanzine #25, 09/98
sometime in this period i think i was written up in the topeka zine, mimezine, circa 1998.
mention in an article on zines in review magazine, as well as a visual reference in portion of the cover drawn by peregrine honig, 07/99
You know what's next when there's nothing planned at the Crossroads gallery galas, Kansas City Star, 10/08/99
appearance on local cable access, in late 1999 or so: "Gallery Guide” for Kansas City Round a Bout.: interviewed by holly swangstu
The Best of Kansas City: 2000--Best Local Zine, Pitch, 1/26/00
The Inscrutable Mr. Baker, Kansas City Star, 4/8/01
Homegrown: Parrish Michael Baker, Kansas City Magazine, 09/01
Superfast In Action: SPARROW'S FALL, by matt fraction, Warren Ellis Forum 12/16/01
From the Calendar section of the Pitch, by gina kauffman, 12/26/01
Action Heroes, Pitch 4/24/03
capsule reviews of no other fish in the sea, the girl in the window, and five string serenade, by lunar circuitry, 06/01/03
another brief mention from mimezine, 7/31/03.
SPX-Parrish Baker, 10/03, comicreaders.com
appearance in an account of the 2003 kansas city comicon, on scott stewart's comic art site
capsule review of possum trot, by Jason Arnett, "I Make Believe #19," 01/01/04
mention on comicbookresources.com, by J. Torres / B. Clay Moore 03/25/04
ultimately uncaptioned appearance in community faces, 02-17-05
words - and - pictures (comic creator's network newsletter 04.24.2005)
totally undeserved praise from fire and knives, the magazine for people who eat, 10-2005
article in the pitch about the broadway group, 11.16.05
reference from kansas city public library's local history collection, 2005
the kansas city comix scene's comic story of the day 01.14.06
sometime in this period i think i was written up in the topeka zine, mimezine, circa 1998.
mention in an article on zines in review magazine, as well as a visual reference in portion of the cover drawn by peregrine honig, 07/99
You know what's next when there's nothing planned at the Crossroads gallery galas, Kansas City Star, 10/08/99
appearance on local cable access, in late 1999 or so: "Gallery Guide” for Kansas City Round a Bout.: interviewed by holly swangstu
The Best of Kansas City: 2000--Best Local Zine, Pitch, 1/26/00
The Inscrutable Mr. Baker, Kansas City Star, 4/8/01
Homegrown: Parrish Michael Baker, Kansas City Magazine, 09/01
Superfast In Action: SPARROW'S FALL, by matt fraction, Warren Ellis Forum 12/16/01
From the Calendar section of the Pitch, by gina kauffman, 12/26/01
Action Heroes, Pitch 4/24/03
capsule reviews of no other fish in the sea, the girl in the window, and five string serenade, by lunar circuitry, 06/01/03
another brief mention from mimezine, 7/31/03.
SPX-Parrish Baker, 10/03, comicreaders.com
appearance in an account of the 2003 kansas city comicon, on scott stewart's comic art site
capsule review of possum trot, by Jason Arnett, "I Make Believe #19," 01/01/04
mention on comicbookresources.com, by J. Torres / B. Clay Moore 03/25/04
ultimately uncaptioned appearance in community faces, 02-17-05
words - and - pictures (comic creator's network newsletter 04.24.2005)
totally undeserved praise from fire and knives, the magazine for people who eat, 10-2005
article in the pitch about the broadway group, 11.16.05
reference from kansas city public library's local history collection, 2005
the kansas city comix scene's comic story of the day 01.14.06
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Published On: Feb 05, 2006 03:03 PM
Published On: Feb 05, 2006 03:03 PM