Subject:    Spirits of Independence Austin Stop Diary (WAY LONG!)
From:       Scott A Gilbert <[g--b--t] at [is.rice.edu]>
Date:       Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:07:01 -0600 (CST)

The Spirits of Independence in Austin Diary
(or Eat Your Hearts Out, You NYC Cry-Babies!)

Any excuse is a good one to visit Austin, Texas' loveliest city, but the 
presence of so many of my favorite comix artists in one spot was a 
lure I could not ignore. Cruised up Saturday afternoon, through the 
gently rising hill country that follows the lower Colorado River 
between my home (the industrial swamp known as Houston) and our 
gem-like capitol. Spent Saturday night on the infamous 6th street strip, 
misbehaving in a fashion related to the consumption of certain 
beverages. Did not see Daniel Johnson or Roky Erikson (at least, not 
in corporeal form). Rising promptly at 11 AM, with a head full of 
throbbing gristle, I ventured forth to the riverside Radisson Hotel. 

Superficially, the event setting would have been familiar to any veteran 
of small-town comic-cons, complete with the stale air, rheumy 
lighting, and  slow circular progression of geeks past tables loaded 
with flourescently-colored, poorly drawn posters and comix. 
However, differences became apparent upon closer viewing--overall 
the tables were less densely packed, and the material displayed was 
actually *gasp* of a much higher quality. The "signal-to-noise" ratio 
was about at a very rare high, with big, juicy racks of Austin produced 
mini-comix and wild alternative standouts (_Rarebit Fiends_, Mack 
White's eclectic display, San Antonio's _Words & Pictures_ team, 
Terry Moore's well-stocked _Strangers in Paradise_ display and the 
pristine, imperious Cerebus table) elbowing aside the various superhero 
knock-offs, gore-books, and even super-stripper comics present. The 
core difference, and the real reasons I traveled 120 miles to see the 
show, were the earnest faces behind the tables.  It was my privilege to 
meet and talk at length with several creative comix minds, many with 
whom I had hoped to become acquainted for some time. 

The Stand-Outs:

I was particularly interested in meeting Austin natives, these strange 
creatures who produce their comix in a tribal setting, gathering 
together in numbers to critique, encourage, and bitch out each other's 
work -- a novel concept to me, a comix artist who labors in almost 
complete isolation from my colleagues (excepting you, my dear 
electronic correspondents). In a cluster met Walt Holcombe, Tom 
King, Josue Menjivar, and Matt Madden. I was particularly impressed 
by  Madden who produces _Terrifying Steamboat Stories_, and has 
(along with the aforementioned folks) had a hand in _One-Eye Open, 
One-Eye Closed_, _5-O'Clock Shadow_, and a large number of  the 
jam minis produced at weekly sessions by various Austinites. Madden 
is a grad student in ESL Studies at UT, and formerly lived in Ann 
Arbor, Michigan. In Michigan, he was lucky enough to be part of 
another local gang of comix artists (including, for a time, Terry 
LaBan). He also writes occasional reviews for the _Comics Journal_, 
and impressed me as having an extremely sharp and analytical approach 
to comix. Much of his work in _Terrifying Steamboat Stories_ 
reflects this approach, in tricky, formally inventive stories that delight 
in leading the reader into a maze of puzzling ambivalence. His drawing 
is off and on, with his grasp of perspective and human anatomy still 
shaky. He is, however, a fine cartoonist and a firm stylist, as well as 
having a unique outlook on the graphic narrative. Issue #4 of 
_Terrifying Steamboat_ contains a fine adaptation of a short story by 
the famous South American author Julio Cortazar, "Continuity of 
Parks".  Adapted in the best sense of the word, the story  has been re-
made to operate in the comix medium in a manner specifically as 
interesting as in Cortazar's original prose. Maddan's comix can be 
ordered from him at P.O. Box 49267/ Austin, TX 78765. I've invited 
Matt to join us on the comix-list via his UT account, so hopefully you 
can look forward to his insightful posts soon. 

Josue Menjivar is an interesting, well-traveled fellow who creates a 
mini-comic called _Broken Fender_. Josue explained to me how he 
has produced 2 issues of _Broken Fender_ while moving from his 
native L.A. to Boston, and then to Austin within the last year or so. 
While his talents are still developing, Josue's  stories are very 
earnestly drawn and told in a vivid, lively manner. There is a certain 
disorientation to the writing and storytelling, however, that reflects 
Josue's youth and his perhaps his rapid, recent multiple 
transplantations. If Josue can continue to hone his craft intelligently, 
and avoid some of the trendiness he decries in his comix, he will 
definitely be an artist to watch for. Issues of _Broken Fender_ can be 
had from Josue at 1408 #B Rabb Rd./ Austin, TX 78704 for $2 apiece. 

After schmoozing these most amiable gentlemen with my own mobile 
display of my "True Artist Tales" comix, and ascertaining that they 
would be at the "apres-event" at a local pub, I stumbled on. Directly I 
met up with the delightful Mack White. Apparently trying to fool 
everyone into thinking he was merely a quiet, nattily-dressed, normal 
individual  and not the crazed, arcane tower-sniper of a cartoonist we 
know him to be, Mack  sat calmly behind his table-display of _Mutant 
Book of the Dead_, _Cruel and Unusual Punishment_, _Heavy Metal_, 
_The Nose_, and _Details_ issues munching french fries with his 
lovely wife. Mr. White proved to be a wonderfully gregarious 
and amiable fellow as well. We talked for some time about his work, 
and he was kind enough to show me a xeroxed preview of the 
_Suckerpunch_ book that he and his compatriots (Roy Tompkins, 
Mark Martin, and Wayno) are shopping around to publishers and hope 
to release by Summer '95. As you may have guessed, it is pretty 
damned wild. After further discussing his work, my work, mythology, 
Texas' history and culture (including how apparent Roy Tompkin's 
sources material become when driving up to the capitol past the chop-
shops and  24-hour adult bookstores on State Highway 71), I advised 
Mack on how to re-sub to the comix-list upon finding that he had, at 
some point, fallen victim to the dreaded bouncing-mail de-subbing 
device at world.std.com, so welcome him back to our electronic ranks.

After making promises to keep in touch with Mack, I moved along  to 
congratulate another pair of Texas self-publishers on their ambitious 
production of a second issue of their comic _Words and Pictures_. 
John Picacio and Fernando Ramirez are a 2 young men from San 
Antonio (although Picacio has recently transplanted to Austin where 
he splits his time between comix and an architectural job). _Words 
and Pictures_ is an extremely well-designed and attractive book, and  
although the influence of the Vertigo creators is sometimes too 
apparent, is a refreshing attempt at  making a more literate and poetic 
style of  comix than is most often seen in the independent ranks. The 
stories cross genres, being fictional, auto-biographical, fanciful, and 
sometimes supernatural. Picacio is the steadier draftsman of the pair, 
and a keen-eyed designer (although his McKean-like dependence on 
photographic sources sometimes grates). Their books are available for 
$3.95 from Maverick Studios/ 5601 Bandera Rd. Ste. 479/ San 
Antonio, TX 78238 and the second issue is shipping RIGHT NOW. 

My tolerance for stuffy, poorly lit rooms was coming to its limit by 
this time (particularly when the beautiful Colorado River was flowing 
coolly past outside in the warm, perfect sunshine, not 200 feet from 
the hotel), so I introduced myself to one final self-publisher before 
leaving. Mr. Rick Veitch was the man whose hand I shook and 
congratulated on his artistic emancipation and explosion in his fine 
_Rarebit Fiends_ dream books. Like Mack White, Veitch was 
extremely hospitable and exhibited a warm , gentle sense of humor as 
we discussed his dream work, and the rugged nature of self-publishing. 
Apparently Veitch's super-hero readership from _Bratpack_ and other 
earlier efforts is having a difficult time understanding the ecstatic and 
explosive _Rarebit Fiends_, and his orders are way down. Please try 
out _Rarebit Fiends_, if you have not already, and encourage your 
comix-buying friends to do likewise. It is a unique book, a rare 
glimpse of a mature comix artist rejecting the shackles of the 
mainstream to become an inspired master of his art. Plus,  you may be 
treated to a few pages of my "dream" work in a back-up guest story in 
an issue in the near future, as Roarin' Rick was fairly impressed with 
my traveling portfolio. 

I left the scene then to catch the last sunshine of the day and cruise 
magnificent Zilker Park (with its 100, 000 hacky-sack and frisbee golf 
players) and the swell, rocky hill scenery around the west side of town 
before the apres-event dingus at the Scholz Garden pub. I did not get to 
meet some of the larger luminaries at the SOI gathering (Dave Sim, 
Gerhard, Martin Wagner, Sam Hurt), but there were plenty of other 
folks lined up to slobber on them, never fear. I think that Scott 
Deschaines was present as well, but I wasn't quite sure. I did not, 
unfortunately, contact any of our Austin based comix-listers (sorry 
Noah, Dr. Lizardo, et al), but there was no time to make arrangements. 
Maybe next time.

The apres-event turned out to be a no event, because Scholz Garden 
turned out to be CLOSED on Sundays (odd customs in this town!-- a 
bar closed on the weekend?), and I missed any revised plans for 
hoisting a few elsewhere. I be interested to know what happened if any 
of you Austin-listers were witness. I just decided (as darkness fell) to 
forego joining the fellows practicing their Germanic bellowing at the 
adjoining Saegerbund Hall and head on back to H-Town.  I was beat, a 
little bent, but quite happy-- the first Spirits of Independence Tour 
Stop was a tremendous success in my estimation. I hope that further 
Stops will be equally enjoyable and that those attending will post their 
observations as well.

Thanks to all,
--Scott A. Gilbert
Houston, TEXAS