Kirk Anderson 15 Ken Avidor This Book Is Most Especially Dedicated to Mom, Dad, and Grandma June, 22 Roger Lootine Because They’Re the Tops
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Superheroes, STRIP ARTISTS, & TALKING ANIMALS Minnesota’s Contemporary Cartoonists Britt Aamodt Contents 1 Introduction This book is dedicated to cartoonists past and present, who build dreams on a dime, 5 Strip Artists: The House That Charlie Built work too much, sleep too little, and have always appreciated life for what it really is- the best source material for art ever conceived by humankind. 9 Kirk Anderson 15 Ken Avidor This book is most especially dedicated to Mom, Dad, and Grandma June, 22 Roger Lootine because they’re the tops. 30 Andy Singer 35 The Superman Legacy: Comic Book Artists in Minnesota 39 Terry Beatty 47 Doug Mahnke 53 Patrick Gleason 59 Peter Gross 72 Dan Jurgens 81 Ryan Kelly 87 Gordon Purcell 95 Alternative Underground: The Rise of Do-It-Yourselfers and Indie Presses ©2011 by the Minnesota Historical Society. All International Standard Book Number 98 Big Time Attic: Zander & Kevin Cannon rights reserved. No part of this book may be used ISBN 13: 978-0-87351-777-5 or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without 106 Will Dinski written permission, except in the case of brief Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 114 Christopher Jones & Melissa Kaercher quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. 120 Barbara Schulz For information, write to Minnesota Historical Society Aamodt, Britt. 126 Zak Sally Press, 345 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul, MN 55102–1906. Superheroes, strip artists, & talking animals : 133 Tim Sievert Minnesota’s contemporary cartoonists / Britt Aamodt. 141 King Mini/Vincent Stall The Minnesota Historical Society Press is a member of p. cm. the Association of American University Presses. Includes index. 150 Reynold Kissling ISBN 978-0-87351-777-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 157 Danno Klonowski/Dank! Manufactured in the United States of America 1. Comic books, strips, etc.—Minnesota—History— 164 Bob Lipski & Brian Bastian 21st century. 2. Cartoonists—Minnesota—Biography. 172 Brittney Sabo 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 I. Title. II. Title: Superheroes, strip artists, and 180 Steven Stwalley talking animals. III. Title: Minnesota’s contemporary The paper used in this publication meets the cartoonists. minimum requirements of the American National NC1305.A22 2011 189 Cartoonists on the Web Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence for 741.5' 9776—dc22 193 Acknowledgments Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. 2010030563 195 Index Introduction here do you begin a book about cartoonists? Well, first, you can pare down the numbers a bit. After all, the world is lousy with cartoonists. WJust lousy. You open the alternative weekly, and there they are. You find them on editorial pages, in Hollywood movies, on television, on library shelving carts, in between sofa cushions, in comic book stores, and, for cry- ing out loud, on the Internet. Next thing you know, they’ll be turning up on the doorstep with copies of The Watchtower. But wait a second. That’s their art turning up in all those places. Their comic strips, political cartoons, graphic novels, ’zines, comic books, mini- comics, webcomics, comical comics. What about the cartoonists them- selves? Probably back at home, hard at work on the next great American whatchamacallit. Cartoonists spend a lot of time at the drawing board. Sure, they get out and move among you, but like the awesomely disguised Clark Kent (That guy? Superman? Get outta here!), you wouldn’t know it to look at them. Quite unlike the stereotypes of scruffy dudes with drooping pants and hanging shirttails, cartoonists look like everyone else. They might even re- semble the person you just cut off with your grocery cart, making him wait in line while you pay your bill in nickels and dimes. Only difference is, this offended grocer goes home and mercilessly parodies you in art, posting the result online so everybody in the universe knows you have nostrils the size of wind tunnels and a forehead that blinks “Passive-Aggressive.” The world is just lousy with cartoonists, but you would never know it. So, it comes down to a book like this to pull them out of their comfy obscurity for a spell and stand them front and center. Alongside their work, of course. Because you can’t talk cartoonists without showing the cartoonists’ art. And really, the art is the point of this book. It’s great art. It’s Minnesota art. Oh, that’s right. Did anyone mention this book singles out Minnesota cartoonists? Specifically contemporary Minnesota cartoonists? Had to draw the line somewhere. Because, as mentioned elsewhere, cartoonists abound. Not so numerous as Twins baseball fans or Ponzi-scheming, white-collar crooks, but then art is long and arduous. You don’t get to be a cartoonist overnight. You don’t arrive at a promised land of effortless creation—ever. Because for cartoonists, the art is earned every day, through a multitude of failed pages and a self-discipline that sputters fiercely and always refuses to quit. Many are called; few are chosen. 1 The cartoonists featured in this book were selected with a few basic cri- ists come from? Some moved here for school. Some married into the state. teria in mind. First, their art needed to stand on its own, to draw the reader Some sailed in on job offers or on recommendations of friends already en- in with a certain spark, whether that spark was technical mastery, individual sconced in the Cities. Some woke up one day and said, “What the #$@?! style, storytelling, or humor. Too, the cartoonists were chosen to represent Where am I?” Many cartoonists arrived the old-fashioned way: They were categories within the larger scope of comic art. born here. Dan Jurgens works in mainstream superhero comic books. He’s the guy If you’re talking Minnesota cartoonists, “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz who killed Superman in the early 1990s. Likewise, Christopher Jones draws tops the list. Though this book isn’t about Schulz or the generations that superheroes for the mainstreams (Batman, for preceded him, in small ways it trades on that legacy in the section chapters one. Could the guy be any cooler?), but he has and artist profiles. The sections are divided into strip artists, comic book You don’t get to be a cartoonist also gravitated to indies, penciling the far-out Dr. artists, and independent cartoonists, who work with non-mainstream pub- overnight. You don’t arrive Blink: Superhero Shrink about—what else?—a psy- lishers and self-publish books, webcomics, and minicomics. at a promised land of chiatrist to superpowered beings. Kirk Anderson By the way, this isn’t just an art book. You will encounter blocks of text kicks off the section on Minnesota comic strip art- as you leaf through the pages. But admit it: You’re only thumbing through effortless creation-ever. ists. He applied his keen-eyed talent to “Banana to scope the art. That’s the nature of comics. They steal the show. Providing Republic,” a strip about a misguided and wholly text for a shapely body of art is like reciting poetry after a sexy topless act immoral Third World government that, quite coincidentally, mirrored poli- exits stage left. cies instituted by the contemporary Bush administration. For the same reason, cartoonists tend to recede behind their work. It’s Selected cartoonists were also singled out to illustrate trends in com- hard for a cartooning Joe or Jane to compete against Superman, the Green ics and roles in the creative process. Peter Gross jumped into comics at the Lantern, hot-tempered Arctic pirates, and dead chickens. So, the biographi- height of the self-published, black-and-white boom, exemplified by theTeen - cal profiles attempt to yank them from the shadow of their creations to talk age Mutant Ninja Turtles, in the 1980s. He did it all. He scripted, penciled, about themselves—as a child, Doug Mahnke fought crime in the guise of inked, lettered, printed, and distributed his monthly comic Empire Lanes na- his super-sudsy alter ego Soap Man—and their careers—Christopher Jones tionwide. This all-in-one approach departed from the assembly-line process, published his first comic strip at age ten. which continues to dictate mainstream comic book publishing. One person These contemporary cartoonists share only a state of residence and a writes a script, which others pencil, ink, letter, and color in sequence. Apart dedication to a singular art form that has been variously praised, put down, from penciling work produced with writer-collaborator Max Allan Collins demonized, popularized, ghettoized, refined, revamped, and adored for over (Ms. Tree, Return to Perdition), Terry Beatty has devoted eleven years to ink- a century now. They do not constitute the be-all and end-all of Minnesota ing a number of Batman titles. Melissa Kaercher letters and colors scanned contemporary cartooning, but a sly incitement to search beyond the pages pencil-and-inks with her computer. In true do-it-yourself fashion, Danno of this book for work by Duane Barnhart, Sam Hiti, Peter Krause, Chris Mon- Klonowski photocopies his self-produced minicomic series Manly Tales of roe, Daniel J. Olson, Tom Richmond, Steve Sack, Mike Sgier, David Stein- Cowardice, which he sells at regional conventions. licht, and Jerry Van Amerongen, among many, many more. Spring and fall, the Midwest Comic Book Association hosts conventions Don’t know who these folks are? You’re in luck. Luck, incidentally, is at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. But cartoonists get around. They make spelled “web search.” Cartoonists have blogs, websites, and social network- appearances at conventions and small press expos throughout the United ing personas; and you can find a list of sites at the end of the book.