Newsgroups: alt.comics.alternative
From: [m f ragass] at [nickel.ucs.indiana.edu] (Michael Fragassi)
Subject: Re: FANZINE CARTOONIST FORBIDDEN TO DRAW
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 22:09:56 GMT

Here's some information about getting Diana's stuff.  First, it's not Last
Gasp who put out Superfly, it's Mike Hunt Comix.  (Although you can
probably order copies through Last Gasp's mail order.)  You can get it for
$4.00 (which includes postage) to Mike Hunt Comix, PO Box 226, Bensenville,
IL, 60106, (708) 794-2723.  Also, they apparently sell Boiled Angel #7 and
#ATE, the two issues that the Florida Purity Police picked up and
prosecuted him for.  They cost $6.66 each or $10.00 for both; each are over
100 pages.  These are limited editions, signed and numbered.  And for the
high-rollers, they've got original art for I think $225 a page; some of
these are on display at Quimby's in Chicago.  Mike Diana's home address is
P.O. Box 5254, Largo, FL, 34649.

I've got a copy of Superfly, and be warned -- this stuff is unrelentingly
harsh.  The prosecution witnesses claimed that for something to have
"artistic value", it must somehow & in some way "affirm life".  As hollow
and false as that standard is, it's true that there's not a lot that can be
viewed as being "life affirming" in Diana's work, at least not by your
average jury.  All the stories are tragedies, extremely gruesome ones.  I
thought I was fairly jaded, but Diana's stories disturbed me.  Which is at
least partially the point.  The artwork is very stark, both detailed and
cartoony, and very graphic.  Fiona Symth (Nocturnal Emissions) likes
Diana's work, and their styles are similar in some ways.  

Other info about Mike Hunt comics:  he apparently only publishes three
titles right now.  Besides Superfly, there's Frank Phantom, the latest by
"Mr. X" (Al Frank), who used to do Tad Martin: Average American Teenager. 
The main story is a valentine/tribute to Bjork, called "Bjork's Brain". 
You should buy it, just for that.  The other book is Dixie, which I never
looked over since the cover implied that it was another Cherry Poptart-type
ripoff jackoff book.  However, I've since learned that what might
distinguish Dixie from these rags is that it's drawn and written by a
woman.  All of these are $4 from Mike Hunt.

Also, a few weeks ago, the Village Voice had a full page cartoon giving the
story of Mike Diana's case, done by Peter Kuper, who was a defense witness
at the trial.

Finally, if you're interested in supporting the Comic Book Legal Defense
Fund, they sell two t-shirts for $20.00 each.  One is a Groo shirt, the
other is a Chester Brown drawing of Ed lying on a table as hands strap duck
tape over his mouth, with the caption "Fight Censorship".  (PO Box 693,
Northampton, MA, 01061.)  This information comes out of a zine called
"Censorshi*" that I found in Chicago last weekend, which costs $2 from Mark
Arnold, 1464 La Playa #105, San Franscisco, CA 94122.  


-- 
__________________________________________________________
Mike Fragassi              [m f ragass] at [nickel.ucs.indiana.edu] 
Psychology & Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University