Bruce Cockburn and random notes

Comments from Thanksgiving 2009 on Facebook

This is an awesome song, I heard him do it live the first time 1978
in a small club in Chicago called The Quiet Knight.
We hung out with him backstage in this tiny room the whole time. The Lord Of The Starfields on YouTube, check it out.

If Bruce Cockburn was not such a personal friend having a huge impact on my career as an Artist, I would not be mentioning this, but the fact is he came along at a time when I had to make the final decision to step it up once and for all. And what did it for me was Bruce's dedication to his Art regardless of acclaim, fame or fortune. We both know he was kept out of the BIG Music Biz in America, but that is exactly what I needed to inspire me in my career as an Artist, to do it for the Art if that were all I got out of it....... Bruce's example of suffering through the business to get to the Music, and his personal way with people, made a lasting impression on me and my art. After spending two days with him in 1978, I was off to the Races as they say. I just put the head phones on and started drawing, inking, designing while listening to this amazingly gifted Artist/Musician from Canada.....Bruce Cockburn. Somehow, the pain disappeared, the doubts dissolved, the stumbling blocks were removed and I ran free to do the art for the sake of doing it.

But seven years later, Robert Crumb challenged me again to do it for the sake of the Art in a phone interview. Funny thing about that was the perception by some "well meaning friends" who were under the assumption back in the early 80's that Robert was making tons of money from his comics......?????

I never argued with those "well meaning friends" but found out from Mr. Crumb that that was not exactly the case at the time........He proved that to me and others in 1988 when he charged only $50 for a two page comic of his, we reprinted. Since those two witnesses, Bruce Cockburn and R. Crumb have so clearly laid out the path, I suggest if you are aspiring to be an Artist do it for the Art or dont do it.

If by chance and a lot of Luck, you can earn a living from your work, then more Power to you. But that may never happen, so I suggest you find someone to mentor you along, someone who is able to point you in the right direction. Happy Holidays

R.Crumb's Prophesy and the Book of Genesis

I just want to say this one thing about the Serpent from R. Crumb's Book of Genesis, Crumb did him right, with legs and arms. It was after the garden thing that the Lord God said He would crush the serpent's head and make the serpent slither on the ground. What would you do if you met a Lizard Man creature covered in precious stones? You would probably take his advice too............ eat from a tree to become as god or goddess, just like Adam and Eve did.

A friend Josephine posted on my Facebook concerning this, she writes, "I am going to get Crumb's book" My response was....."yes, (but) remember it is the Bible and even if Crumb (himself) does not believe it is the literal Word of God, he did illustrate it literally and with great respect to the Torah, Israel and Ishmael's descendants too. It is quite obvious to even the casual observer Crumb's own talents are uniquely God given, so you will be reading the Bible just by looking at the pictures if you get this Book of Genesis by R.Crumb. By all means buy it and read it, and if you can get it at a book signing, all the better.

And even if you just want read it in a King James text, because maybe you never read such stories in the Old Testament, you will find the same stories. Only difference is no one ever illustrated it like it is literally written before now. Particularly, Noah having sex with his daughters, after they got him drunk. I am going out so far as to say this will change the way we view the Torah and the Holy Scriptures in years to come, regardless of what Robert or any one of us says about it.

R. Crumb told me over the phone, while I was doing an interview with him in 1985 for Cornerstone magazine, that I would soon be doing other things. He literally prophesied I was going to fall out of favor and lose my job at Cornerstone, as the staff cartoonist. I was stunned, I had nothing to come back with. I remember specifically to this day what R.Crumb said to me. He said, "the die was cast and I would be soon doing other things for Jesus". It was prophetic and almost instantaneous, for shortly after that phone conversation, I was out looking for free lance work. Don't believe it? Ask Skip Williamson, he hired me.

At a time, when I was in no way shape or form ready for going out to fend for my family as a freelancer. There I was out of favor and out of my position as the Comic artist, at the top of my comic career or so I thought. R.Crumb is like Bob Dylan, a prophet to our generation, ask around if you don't believe it. I only know I spent two hours on the phone with him and it changed everything back in 1985. And just because he took great care and time to do a perfect satire on my comic entitled "A Rock and Roll Classic" in Zap no.#10. And after touching on every issue we could think of..... finally he just said, "Mr Cox, Jesus has other things for you, my friend, the die is cast , your days are numbered at Cornerstone...." He was right...

So I am warning folks, not to trifle, this is the Bible and it carries it's warning with in it's pages that God is not mocked, nor is He a Man that He should repent. Only a Fool says in his heart there is No God......and it says it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God, I can testify to that. I am very happy for R. Crumb and his heirs, as this will continue to sell long after he is gone, providing for his family and their descendants for generations. From my perspective it is clearly the Hand of God, a Gift to me and many others, proof that God loves them and has never abandon us even in the hardest times since those cold days in Chicago 1985. Can you still remember how hard it was?

The Book of Genesis, illustrated by a wonderful friend, it is all I want or need for Christmas 2009. Last year I got my one and only Christmas present, to see a parallel movie version of my Dietrich Bonhoeffer Graphic Novel: RESISTANCE, to a tee in certain parts, on the big screen with Tom Cruise in Valkryie on Christmas day. This Christmas, it will be reading R. Crumb's Master Piece, the Illustrated Book of Genesis. I can also testify, there is a Father Christmas, another one of my four kinds of high.......

HARVEY KURTZMAN & MY MILLION DOLLAR CAREER

Well, I thought I was going to just drop in and write this down then take it "Over Yonder Wall".....but a funny thing happened on the way to the Open Salon forum today. I stopped in to read Skip Williamson's post and what he had hoped for over there, in terms of being a place of wide open celebration of mind and body, soul and spirit instead of being an editor's recluse, which it actually is for the most part. Having said that and after posting a comment basically agreeing that Open Salon is dead, I lost my whole train of Comic thought. Oh well, I guess I will just have to wing it and offend as many as possible over here on The Comic Book College Weeklies without trying too hard, I suppose?

But let's go back to the beginning, more specifically the title of this little diddy? What? Me Worry? and start from the beginning. As I was saying earlier (last week's FaceBook) I am inveribly, a direct descendant of the Comic Genius of Harvey Kurtzman. Granted, Harvey is probably turning over in his grave right now for making that assumption, not to mention I did NOT get written permission, but I think there are many witnesses still living who, would in fact, agree that Harv himself would approve of the entire premise of this article, giving him complete credit for inspiring and guiding some of the Universe's funniest moments of All Time....... God was that over the top? I know You thought some of it was pretty funny, but, of course, they would not believe me for saying it, but You if You said it.....well I guess that's another chapter for another time..........maybe folks will believe R.Crumb's Book of Genesis?

What else can you call it? Divine Intervention? Divine Appointment? Fate? A Gift from the gods? In truth, laughter is the best medicine in the whole World. The Word says somewhere though I never actually read it, that God loves a cheerful giver. I have laughed on so many occasioned to the Bank that it is not funny. So, what else can we assume that it is when your life has come into contact with some many of the right creative people because of the influence of this one man? Fact, Skip Williamson, Jay Lynch, Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, all were directly influenced in their careers by Harvey Kurtzman. Fact, having embarked on an educational journey through an institution known as Culver-Stockton College on the banks of the mighty Missisippi in a little Midwest college town known as Canton, Mo, I met Skip Williamson. Fact Skip Williamson, for some strange and unknown reason took a liking to a rather obnoxious kid (me) from the suburbs of Chicago and introduced him (Me) to his friends Jay Lynch and Robert Crumb whom also took a strange liking or disliking to this kid from the Burbs (Me)?. Fact, this kid, (Me) became a Millionaire (Spent it all) later in life because of these encounters, as well a became a pretty good cartoonist/artist though I have to wait till I die before I can actually say that with some Authority. WTF?

All because of the these guys, and Dr.Williamson, Skip's father, my Humanities Professor, intersecting my life at several different but distinct times and places changing the way I thought of myself and those around me. Not to mention, when it was my turn to produce an artistic comic work, I had their invisible guiding influences helping me along. And even when there was no work , there was work to be done. Why? because I had become an comic book artist, and an artist can always find work, or some project he or she or Me can call "work" while we are waiting for the money to prove we are who we say we are, an Artist. (Mostly that is all designed for THE support group, who need some reason to put up with that terribly gifted individual in their life, the Artiste).

Originally, I did not understand, or even know there was a direct line of descendants. I thought it was all just the Invisible Hand of God Almighty that arranged all of this. (Maybe that is how it really did happen?)But for a long time, that was the only way I could envision how things evolved in my life, in those terms. But as I get older I began to see how the Invisible God works through people, in strange and marvelous ways, His wonders to perform????????????? As they say, and seeing the influence that these individuals have had on their generation and the one following and the one following them, you have to acknowledge that there is more going on here than meets the naked eye. Unless you don't want to "see" what is really happening, then none of this will make any sense to you anyway. As for the 1st Million dollars, really that was kind of easy once I decided to go for the throat. People just basically threw the $$ dough at me..."Here, they said...I want that"!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Origins of My Comic Career & Smokin' Tokin' Orangutangs

Well, I can't exactly pin it down to any one date, but there were specific moments in my life that defined my Comic career, which is still evolving, changing, and moving to this day. I am inspired to write some of those moments here because of the writings of my long time, good friend, Skip Williamson. Skip has had a major impact on my life since I first saw him on the campus Culver-Stockton College in 1965. He was the only cool Beatnik on campus, that I can remember with a beard. Wow what a shock !!!! I thought everyone at college would have beards and or goat tees, wearing leather sandals!!!!!!!!!!! Wrong...........but let me, skip college and fast forward to the Spring of 1968, Chicago.

I had just been discharged by the US Navy for confessing to smoking Marijuana and was on my way home to Sweet Home Chicago Suburb in Brookfield. But first I spent about three months in San Francisco waiting for the official discharge, General: Under Honorable Conditions. They put all of the druggies in "D" barracks. Typical Government operation, D for Drug addicts, easy to remember, simple to deploy, nothing to difficult for Chief Petty Officers to understand. Well, we were all getting out and had nothing better to do, than, well, drugs.

What? The Navy had no protocol for drug taking in their entire history going back to John Paul Jones. It was an epidemic by 1968 and they just said..."here, you guys stay in this area till we release you". So we had the stereo set up in the rec room and just listened to Traffic, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, the Stones, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience, the 13th Floor Elevators and got high. The Navy forced us to leave the lights on all night, which did not bother too many of us because Meth was everywhere in the barracks, anyway, no one slept that I could remember, we would just crash and get up later and start over................all day or night, it was always on in "D" barracks that Spring in San Francisco. I mean we could go ashore, but there were more drugs on Treasure Island Naval Base than Haight/Ashbury, or so it seemed. Plus the Summer of Love was over by the Spring of 1968. The atomsphere on Haight St. was extreme violence. Hell's Angels, San francisco Police, and tons of mace. I was there when the Police maced everyone inside the infamous Straight Theater . It was not too comical.

Finally, my orders came for my final physical and a ticket home. So, I went down to the infirmary, got my blood test and as I was standing in line, I blacked out, fell flat on my chin, broke my jaw. I had to have my mouth wired shut for 6 weeks. Get my wires off in April, I finally got my walking papers to fly back to Chicago with two pounds of some good grass I purchased outside of Francisco. As the Beatles song went...JoJo left his home in Tucson Arizona for some California Grass......... I left for Sweet Home Chicago with some California Grass....In those days, there was no dogs sniffing your bags, no security whatsoever. Transporting large quantities of dope was pretty easy , provided you did not look like a R. Crumb comic character. That came later at Skip's Apartment, that wonderful summer in Chicago, 1968. A lot of Cheap Thrills to come.

I got a job at the Brookfield Zoo that fateful summer, driving the tour guide train around the Zoo. We had three trains with two tour guides for each train. Since my friend, Gary Grunnet, got me the job, I knew everyone would be getting high, everyday, at the Zoo and I would fit right in. It was a perfect cartoon setting to start my Comic career. On weekends, me, and maybe another friend from the burbs would drive down to Chicago to hang out with Skip and his wife Cecil at their totally cool pad just off Clark street. We brought the reefer, and Skip had the great tunes. Cecil had munchies for everyone. That is probably when I officially became a Comic, right there at Skip's place when Robert Crumb and Jay Lynch came over and we all went to Lincoln Park in my 1963 Rambler but more about that later (as I am currently working on the Graphic Novel version of that entire incident.)

Don't get me wrong, I was a pretty funny guy at the Brookfield Zoo gig, too. We would take our breaks and go up behind the animal outdoor exhibitions and smoked hash or reefer in the brushes then come back to the train station , loaded and we would start the train up and drive around listening to Born To Be Wild going about 8 MPH. One of us was on the microphone at the back giving the "Rap" while the other was just stoned out driving this 8 car, 75 passenger train with car tire wheels around the Zoo, second largest in the World next to San Diego at that time. So, as a tour guide "Rapper", we each had a different style of craziness but mostly we copied each other's phrases and descriptions of the different Exhibits and funny antedotes.

Like at the Elephant House we would say something like..." And over on your right, ladies and gentleman , you will notice the Pachyderm House.........Superman is buried beneath this exhibit as well as we have the largest Pachyderm in the world here.... She is famous for attacking her trainers at the Ringling Bros Barnum & bailey Circus several years ago, killing two people......." The passengers would gasp and Moms and Dads would say.... 'look there kids..... a rogue killer Elephant, how cute".............

We used to feed the Orangutangs cigarettes on our breaks, too. They all loved to smoke. We would walk up to their cage and take out a cigarette, light it, smoke a few puffs and then flipped it to them through the bars. They would see us coming and line up with their hands out to be the first to catch a Smoke. The people standing around were amazed. The Orangutangs were from Borneo and when we drove by them with the tour train we used to say they liked to smoke Marlboros the best in Borneo, no believed us till they saw us flip them cigarettes. It was a great show, to watch them scramble for the smoke by all the Orangutangs, the lucky one who caught it first would put it to their huge lips and take a drag then smile and blow smoke out their nostrils and mouth then smile again and take another puff. They would generally hold the cigarette underhanded between their thumb and their first two fingers, the way a pansy would smoke. Or some Hollywood starlet. Once an Orangutang had the cigarette in his or her hand, the others would chase that one all around the cage trying to get the cigarette for themselves, except for Fatty.........

Fatty was the King of the Orangutangs. He weighted in at around 450 lbs and just sat there. He would just backhand anything or anyone that got close to him. When King Fatty wanted the cigarette , he would basically kick the crap out of whoever had it, force them to drop and run. Then he would smoke it, and dare anyone to mess with him.....to say the least no one did........he was the King.

One time we decided to flip them joints just to see what would happen, one for each of the seven Orangutangs with a giant dobie for King Fatty. It was a risky move. We decided we better do it before people got into the park or else we would be in deep sh^t, possibly. So a couple of the guys decided to do it before the park opened up one sunday morning. The Orangutangs loved it, they all had a joint of their own and thought it was great fun, so did we. On our breaks, we would go check in on their condition, like the song "just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in........ The Orangutangs were all great performers for the Public. But that morning after smoking a few joints, they got way out of hand. Once in a while they would have sex during the day in front of people. But that day, they all got into it, it was, well, an Orangutang orgy, that was the only way to describe it. King Fatty was swinging from the ceiling and then would tackle a female to the ground mount her for a while then move on to the next Honey Orangutang, the place was up for grabs!!!!!!!! People were running to see it from all directions. Finally the Zoo Keepers got out the tarps and covered the entire cage but you could still hear the grunting, moaning......and cheetah type laughter. Every heard???????????? never mind....................we had to play it cool, like we were as shocked as everyone else.........it was hard to get a straight face.

The Zoo Keepers suspected something was up, but no one got busted that day. When the Democratic Convention finally arrived in August, the Train drivers were all polarized against Mayor Daly and the Chicago Police. As the police rioted that week, we broadcasted from the Tour Guide PA system our political convictions as we travelled around the Zoo, pretty stoned out. I went down one afternoon on Tuesday to Grant park to hear Phil Ochs in the bandshell and watched the cops bust Tom Hayden. By this time I was learning how to actually keep on truckin' like a Robert Crumb comic character from Zap Comics and beginning my Street Guerilla Theater Comic career. Skip was there, he could tell ya.....

MindShaft's Next Issue Coming out in August

Giola has posted the new cover of the August Issue of Mindshaft on our Facebook. It looks like a must have issue. Cover art is stunning. Some of our favs are in this issue, good friends R. Crumb and Skip Williamson to name a few. We recommend you reserve a copy today, but we dont really know how you do that. Maybe if you Google it, you can email Giola with your order. Keep in mind Mindshaft does not come out every month and they use old school printing process I am told to great effect. Tell 'em we sent 'cha, okey dokey

Mindshaft Magazine Sends a Thank You

Gioia Palmieri wrote us a nice Thank note on Facebook saying they were happy to see we posted their new issue of Mindshaft with Jay Lynch's Dou Tone Cover on The Comic Book College Weeklies blog. So we decided that it must have been ok even though we did not ask permission to use it, till just about 10 minutes ago, officially. That is why I took it down the other day, but now it is going back up, cover and all. So here is what they write on FaceBook, open an account and join this group......
Mineshaft is an independently published magazine that showcases art, comics, and literature bringing you exciting art from some of the world's greatests artists like R. Crumb, who designed our logos, Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Jay Lynch, Billy Childish, Robert Armstrong, Andrei Codrescu, Bruce Simon, Pat Moriarity, Sophie Crumb, Ed Piskor, J.R. Helton, Frank Stack, Aaron Lange, Bill Griffith, Joseph Remnant, Dennis Eichhorn, David Collier, Christoph Mueller, & More! It was started in 1999, comes out three times a year, and is printed on offset press. Mineshaft is edited and published by Gioia Palmieri and Everett Rand.

Welcome to the Mineshaft Magazine News & Views Group. Contributors, readers, and friends are welcome to post their own news, photos, videos, etc. regarding their art and latest projects as well as discussing Mineshaft, ask questions, give criticism, opinions and other feedback on the Facebook page. We joined the group. Nice cover Jay.

Sorry Guy Comics hits the Fan.........

We recently got a link sent to us on Facebook for Skip Williamson's Open Salon blog post about Independent Film Maker John Kinhart, creator of Sorry Guy comics. John is working on an independent doc film project about the life and art of Skip Williamson. But it seems that John originally approached Art Spiegelman and was turned down. So in the tradition of great, self effacing, truthful, autobiographical, Comic stories, John did a great strip about meeting Mr. Speigelman at some Lecture Hall. You just need to click on Sorry Guy's link http://sorrycomics.blogspot.com/ and read it yourself, it is dated May 16th 2009. We have asked John if we could reprint it here along with some kind of news update on the Doc. In the meantime, you can read Skip Williamson's article @
http://open.salon.com/blog/snappy_sam/2009/05/23/sorry_comics
Sorry Comics - Skip Williamson - Open Salon

Screamin' Jay Hawkins in Airport lounge - Pearl Harbour '68

In fall of 1967, I was shipped out to Pearl Harbour on the island of Oahu, Hawaii to languish as a yeoman at ComPact Serv, a "wonderful" desk job that consisted mainly of getting the mail for the officers in my work station and an occasional 10 cent coke for the LT. Hawaii was great for the first two weeks, hanging out at Waikiki, going to the North Shore, watching them surf the big waves. But after 2 weeks, it all turned terribly boring and treadfully horrifying, to say the least. My friends back home were all envious as they were surfers that thought this was the dream job, being in Hawaii, no Viet Nam, surf every day etc.

Wrong, it was anything but that. As a matter of fact, it was Hell on earth as a young white dude from the mainland. They called us Howllies, I am sure it is spelled different than that, but that is how it sounded. It meant unwanted, white person, kind of like the word "nigger" is used as a racial slur, to be exact. It was the first time, I really felt racial prejudice as a white guy. Even though growing up in Brookfield/ La grange Il, one of the few western suburbs of Chicago that had integrated schools in the 50's, but nothing in life had prepared me for Hawaii 1967/68. The vibes were so intense everywhere you went, if you were white, that we, white sailors had few places to go. The black sailors fit in just about everywhere it seemed but not the white boys. So you had to pick and choose your spots as they say.

One friday night, I decided to go to the Airport Lounge near base with some "white guys" to have a few beers and listen to the jams of a top 40 California band. The Hondells, I believe they were called. So one of the sailors who was about my age, similar background and his friend, a "lifer" second class petty officer about 40,twice our age, pile into a cab. We were just 20 years old at the time but that was legal drinking age in Hawaii. I wondered why my friend Bill had asked the "Chief" to come along, but I never bothered to ask. We got to the bar, ordered drinks and sat back to listen to the band. "Chief" started to hustle this native chick right away. It was pretty uncomfortable at first, as there was not that many people in the bar. but then the band got up on stage, they were a "Beach Boy type band" a one hit wonder band, remember "Go little Honda? that was theirs, (of you dont remember it, that would be admitting your friggin' age). They ended up in Hawaii, playing this joint called the "Airport Lounge", next to, you guessed it The Airport. The keyboardist was a guy named Chuck Girard, who became better known as the singer/song writer of an early Christian Rock Group called "Love Song" about 5 years later.

So they are doing their set when Chuck says,"ladies and gentlemen", he was quick to point out that the crowd was mostly sailors and then there was the one Hawaiian lady at our table. He says, "We got a special treat for you all tonight, we want to welcome and bringon stage, the one and only,..... Screamin' Jay Hawkins" lets have a big round of applause for Screamin'Jay "I PUT A SPELL ON YOU" Hawkins.............." I was stunned, I went slightly crazy, clapping real loud.....well, then I stopped as everyone in the bar turned around to see who was screaming for Screamin' Jay Hawkins. I thought holy sh*t Batman, no one knows who this is?????????? So they break into a raunchy version of "I Put a Spell on You" with Screamin' Jay at the Helm and I am transported, as in gone, I cant believe it. I am thinking to myself, no one is going to believe this back home, Chicago.

So after the number was finished, Mr Hawkins is walking by our table and I jumped up and said "Screamin Jay. can I buy you a drink Sir"? He said, "dont mind if I do son". I sat him down next to me at the end of the booth (away from the others) and ordered him some kind of cocktail with a strange name. Well, the lounge was really dark and Screamin' Jay was really dark and I can only remember the whites of his eyes and his big grinnin' white teeth. I was a little drunk and started a rather nervous conversation about Chicago Blues men which I had little real knowledge of at that time, outside of Rock and Rollers, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. My real understanding of Blues music, came not from Chicago Blues men themselves but from their White British counterparts, the rock groups like The Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds,who had all done covers of famous blues songs/artists. I used to read the labels of their records to see who wrote these killer tunes. So I was familiar with names like John Lee Hooker, Ellis Mc Daniels (Bo Diddley), Wille Dixon and Screamin Jay Hawkins but not their original versions.

Ok, so right about now the "Chief",this redneck salty old racist sailor, is really getting uptight with me because I brought this greasy Black guy to his table for a drink! I found later that The Chief was going to bash both of us right there. Well, I paid the Chief no mind as I knew this was huge, once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the one and only Screamin" Jay Hawkins. I bought the drinks and by God, I was going to get my money's worth. Finally, I think, Jay realized the situation was getting tenser by the moment and he excused himself, slipping away in to the night. I just sat there pondering how I would tell everyone back home, I just met and had a drink with the one and only Screamin Jay Hawkins, that they did not even know yet? I don't think my surfer friends, at that time, save Artist, Skip Williamson, even knew who Screamin' Jay Hawkins was. No one did believe it at JPUSA, till ten years later........

I was working for the infamous Cornerstone magazine (Jpusa newspaper) in Chicago, doing art and advertising and interviews for their music section when I met Chuck Girard of LoveSong at his hotel room before a gig in the suburbs. He was telling us his testimony how he played in a one hit wonder "Beach Boy" type band. I said wait a minute, did you say you had a hit record on top 40 then ended up in a bar near the Airport in Hawaii in the Fall of 1967? He said yeah..... I said dude, did you ever bring Screamin Jay Hawkins up on stage to do "I Put a Spell On You"? He said yeah I remember doing that, I said I was there that night, I bought Screamin Jay a drink and almost got my lights punched out for it!!!!! I said, "You were playing the Keyboards, right?" He said yeah. Jon Trot just rolled his eyes.

As Chuck Girard ( leader singer for Christian Rock Band, Love Song) can testify, both stories did happen. When Drew Friedman's "Screamin Jay Hawkins" Art print showed up on my Facebook Highlights the other day, I thought it was time to tell the tale. Drew gave me permission to post it here and below is a link to his website where you can see and purchase more of his fab work, and if you get stationed in Hawaii sometime, just be patient, you will get out alive, if you be cool.......
Fine Art Prints Available at http://drewfriedman.net/
Posted by Comic Book College Weeklies at 4:11 PM 0 comments
Labels: From the President's Desk
Wednesday, May 27, 2009


Fine Art Prints Available at http://drewfriedman.net/

Update on R. Crumb's "Book of Genesis"

From the President's Desk

Here is preview of the cover art

Here at the Comic Book College Weeklies, we recently got word from long time friend, Jay Lynch, that Robert Crumb was working on illustrating the Bible..."Holy Scriptural Interpretations, Batman, that would be colossal if true"?
"Yes, Robin, I can see the All Time Best Seller actually make the NY Times best seller list for the first time..... if it is true, Robin"? Well, folks it is true. We asked Denis Kitchen if he was handling it for Crumb and here is what Denis wrote back......

I agented the book. But it’s not the entire Bible. It’s called The Book of Genesis According to R. Crumb. Done straight (that is literally,......) Coming from W. W. Norton probably late 2009. ---Denis

Wacky Packs and The Underground

Just for Fun - Totally Pointless
Description:
Wacky Packages are a series of trading cards featuring parodies of American consumer products. The cards were produced by the Topps Company beginning in 1967, usually in a sticker format. The original series sold for two years, and the concept proved popular enough that it has been revived every few years since. Per trader legend, at one time the product outsold Topps baseball cards.

Relying on the talents of such comics artists as Kim Deitch, George Evans, Drew Friedman, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch, Norman Saunders, Art Spiegelman, Bob Stewart and Tom Sutton, the cards spoofed well-known brands and packaging, such as "Crust" (instead of Crest) toothpaste, "Blisterine" (instead of Listerine), and "Neveready" batteries (for Eveready Industries batteries). The initial series was followed by a somewhat different Wacky Ads line in 1969, featuring gags and roughs by Lynch and Deitch with finished paintings by Sutton. These cards were designed more like miniature billboards with a die-cut around the parodied product, so it could pop out of the horizontal billboard scene.

Wacky Packages returned in 1973 for a highly successful run. According to trader legend, these cards were then the only Topps product to achieve higher sales than its flagship line of baseball cards. They continued until 1977 through a total of 16 series. Some cards were sold in reprinted editions beginning in 1979 to 1980. (4 series with puzzle/checklist backs)

Newly designed series were produced in 1985 and 1991, but these strayed from the original concept and were not as successful. A new series of stickers was released in 2004, and continued into a sixth set in 2007. These series have been very successful with the return of cartoonist Jay Lynch, plus newcomers David Gross, Strephon Taylor, George Wright, Adam Harris and Neil Camera. This series also marks a return to the use of underground comix artists including M. Wartella. In 2007, Topps released its series 5 and 6 in the Wacky Package Series.

In February 2008, Topps released a series of Wacky Packages called Flashbacks. This series contained artwork from previously released cards as well as unreleased artwork to make a set of 72 base cards. Moving towards the trend with other types of trading cards, this set also featured a number of rare chase cards. Article reprinted from Facebook's Wacky Packages Group copyright 2009. Join this Group at Facebook and join the FUN

R. Crumb and The Heroes of The Blues

Robert did a series of trading cards several years ago. They were masterfully done in bright colors. Kitchen Sink Press has them for sale on their website www.deniskitchen.com. Go there then click into the gift shoppe area, you should find them easily enough. If you order a set please tell em I sent ya, enjoy this little video and preview the cards Crumb did for free.

Skip Williamson and Commander Cody

Everytime Commander Cody came to Town (Chicago) our good friend Skip Williamson would be on the VIP guest list. I was aware that Skip was tight with Cody and the band, the Lost Planet Airmen but we never discussed the Backstage antics. It was none of my business, I knew Skip well enough to know if he wanted to tell me a story or two, he would, and he did and we created a few together even. I recently asked Skip if he would consider writing an episode or two about The Commander and those crazy days back in Chicago. Skip Williamson is truly a remarkable writer besides being a great artist, and has many asking for hard cover editions of his writing talent. If that happens, we will surely post up the news at Comic Book College Weeklies, in the meantime, stay tuned...and be sure you scroll down to watch the video

Rob Tyner Undergound Cartoonist of The MC5

Well we are off the Subject a little but you never know who may be tuning in for the first time. So keep in mind that the leader singer of the, MC5 Rob Tyner was an Underground Cartoonist. He was pretty good too, as I recall. But where he really got off was in the MC5, short for the Motor City 5. Total Toon Band before they ever heard that expression. Actually maybe that expession has never been used in this context before. But from a Tune Head's Toon perspective you can make the connection. At least I thought you could. Maybe you can t even get this at all, I dunno. I just thought you might like it, like it yes I do, like it like it yes, I know its only Rock and Roll But we Like it.........Yes we do Yeah

Fine Art of Baseball, R.Crumb, Anime, and The Collapse of Western Civilization

Ok so what does this Title mean? Actually, nothing. But maybe we can make it mean something for our current purposes. It seems that back in the day there was a real American Anime Scene. By that I mean there were enough artists around to actually create a Revolution in Pop Culture Media that could have actually spawned something like what there is in Japan. But it did not happen. Even though many would have welcomed the change from Elmer Fudd to Hentai in a heart beat. Dont know what Hentai is? Do your little Wikipedia search now then come back to read more fully informed, kind of.

Anyway, what does www.fineartofbaseball.com have to do with all of this? Not much except we are conducting a little experiment to see who and who is not viewing and or reading our little Blog Spot Here. Not that we can actually figure that out but we want to see what could happen by mixing and matching the above subjects. Basically the American Cartoonist got screwed. While the Japanese dove into American Culture head long, we were not allowed to dive into their Culture. Why was this? They love Elvis, we love Elvis, they like the Marlboro Man, we like the Marlboro Man. They love motorcycles and slick back greasy Hair dos, we liked slick back greaser Hair too. They like Star Wars. We still like Star Wars, go figure? So what's the Point? SEX and VIOLENCE IS DESTROYING THE CHILDREN, we don't condone voyeurism though we are all voyeuristic to some extent, some more than others. But in Japan they don't make it against the Law to be Voyeuristic.

Ok, only in America do we have a Legal Defense Fund for Cartoonists, what is up with that? In Japan they don't even understand the reasoning behind such an Org. Here, it is like, EXTREMELY necessary to have a Legal Defense Team for Comic Artists. In Japan, anything goes, Free Market Economy, you like Violence and real Blood spray in your comics, great, you like Hentai? Great, whatever and everyone reads the Comics, 8 to 80 and beyond. They probably thought everyone in America does too. Wrong, no one reads the comics IN AMERICA they put them in baggies in a box in a closet or vault or on Ebay but no one actually reads them, GOD FORBID YOU ACTUALLY READ THE DAMN THINGS!!!!!, what kind of a Moron are you that you actually read the stupid stuff? ( Well some of us do actually still read them, but you get the drift)

In America as long as it is worth money then you are smart for buying it. In Japan they buy it to actually read it and they buy it in droves. Legal Defense Fund for Comics is like the Obama administration trying to design a CAR, it does n't have to be this way, but oh yeah it is, and oh yeah Uneeda good Lawyer son and Uneeda good battery operated car that can go all of 100 miles before having to pull over and recharge the batteries for 8 to 12 hours. Kind of makes going to the Beach suck just to think about it.

But back to the original idea or experiment for this post, www.fineartofbaseball.com has your duty free Japanese Anime Comics and related stuff. Check it out when you get an hour of free time? So let's hoist this little jewel up there and see what happens? Oh yeah, about reading comics online? It actually is rather difficult to see the words, comics not on paper maybe something all together different. But how do we get money for it, is the question. I will say that I read Sorry Guy's Blue Toon the other day and had no problems reading it and it was really good too, but some others are hard to read, maybe you guys could blow this up a little, as in nuking this blog with comments, LOL. On second thought nevermind.

The Leningrad Cowboys are the Greatest Hair Band of All time

In case you were getting bored, I thought you might like this Finnish Rock Band calling themselves the Leningrad Cowboys. They often perform in concert with the Russian Federation Red Army Choir doing back up vocals and various instrutments. I am going to try to post a video of the Leningrad Cowboys with the world famous Red Army Choir and some B 52's look alike go go dancers doing Sweet Home Alabama to a crowd of thousands. Check it out, they are fab, use more hair gel than all the Do Wop Groups of the 1950s combined and are just plain more fun than the Obama Administration, something that is missing in music today, fun that is (not the current Adminstration) as in humor, side splitting, gut bustin' laughter, joy and whatever else liberates the soul of Man. There is a possibility that this will not actually work on the blog here. So in case that be the situation, go to www.youtube.com and search for the Leningrad Cowboys doing Sweet Home Alabama with the Red Army Choir and then turn it UP!!!!! This is the greatest Hair Band of All Time.

The Brush and the Influence of Robert Crumb Deleted

King AdBeck said...

Wait a minute! What happened to that post about Robert Williams' brushwork? Did I hallucinate that?

I had a dream or should I say, I could not sleep the night I posted the whole thing about the brush. When my conscience bothers me that much, I try to adjust everything as fast as possible. I just had no peace after posting it. But I am glad you got to read it. Robert W. Cox
April 21, 2009 12:09 PM

R.Crumb, I noticed has since, the time of our last encounter, circa 1988, has returned to the Pen. His brief period using the brush was brilliant but probably inconvenient to say the least, I dont know that for a fact but....... With the brush and India Ink, one must be careful to wash the brush after each use, as India Ink has shellac in it, causing everything to harden pretty fast. Hence, your tech pens would get permanently clogged using India ink, they say do not use india ink actually but when you use it with a brush or crow quill nib, you must be sure to use soap and water to clean the hairs and water to clean pen points after each use or kiss that brush/nib good bye. And since Crumb's pen and inks sell for around $4000 plus a piece well, if it aint broke dont fix it.
Anyway, he did emulate my brush style in 1984 in order to satire it for a fabulous piece he printed in Zap 10# 1984. We spoke a few times on the phone from 1985 till 1988, he gave me permission to reprint his satire of my comics in sequel in the Safe Comix, published by Graphic graphix in 1988. He only asked for $25 bucks a page as I re call. I asked him if he had a copy of His Sketch Book in comic book form and he sent me a personalized signed copy with in three days. (Amazing, thank you Robert) This was after I left Chicago (Cornerstone Magazine) and before Robert and his wonderful, brilliant wife Aline, moved to France.
If you get to revisit Crumb's movie, you will see them packing up their house in Northern California. A person could actually call R. Crumb on the phone at his home there by looking it up in the local phone book. I know, because that is how I called him up for an interview for Cornerstone Magazine that never got printed. I had to barter with that Robert Crumb Interview tape to buy time for my family with the editor in 1985. She took the taped interview and never published it. I got a safe haven till June of 1986 but never was allowed to publish anything of importance at JPUSA again. I was extremely marginalized after that whole incident with Crumb. The funny thing was, that while interviewing R. Crumb, he just all of sudden came out and said to me that my days at JPUSA/Cornerstone were numbered. He told me the die had been cast and I would be moving on soon. I was rather stunned by his prophesy about my future at the time. And probably more shocked when it all came true with in the same year. I did take my copyrights with me and last Fall finally created the Graphic Novel RESISTANCE: The Life Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer published by Bootleg Comix.
If there was one thing I learned and took with me from Skip Williamson. Jay Lynch, Robert Crumb and the entire Underground Comic scene it was, that my work was mine, and my copyrights of everything I do, belong to me, regardless. Thank you Robert, for challenging me that day back in 1985, I finally did my art for the sake of just doing it. Oh yeah and if you don't wash your brushes out, they don't work too good, I finally gave up the Brush and went back to the Pencil in 1989 and did some of my best work with Pencil Lead, my fingers and an Offset Heidelburg Kord One Color Press

Bijou Funnies #1with 'Nard n Pat Cover by Jay Lynch

Well if we are going to do #2 Bijou, then it is only fitting to do the original #1 with Jay Lynch's Nard and Pat cover. We found this one at Comix Bazaar.com on sale for $129.95. Jay told last year that some Bijous in perfect condition are as high as $800. Rather amazing for a 50 cent comic book. I think I had an original copy, but dont recall what happened to it. Or maybe I was just hanging around when it came out but never bought one? I don't remember if I had one or not but I do remember the excitement we all shared at the time of it's publication.

Bijou Funnies with Snappy Sammy Smoot Cover by Skip Williamson

Well, now here is a Classic, Bijou Funnies #2 with Skip Williamson's Snappy Sammy Smoot cover. We found it online for only $19.95 at Comix Bazaar.com. Bijou Funnies was a Jay Lynch and Skip Williamson combined effort that Jay published under the name of Bijou Publishing Empire. Skip and Jay had been getting published by a number of smaller offbeat publications as well as Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine. When Help folded the two just decided to go for it. The comic was published out of Chicago, and featured Jay Lynch, Skip Williamson, R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Jay Kinney, and Dave Herring in 1968. Skip did the second issue cover with Snappy Sammy Smoot.

Air Pirates and Rebel Dog Comics

King Adbeck of Rebel Dog comics sent me an email about the Underground Comix scene today. I will post some of it here to start the dialog. Anyone with insight or first hand knowledge is invited to speak out on the subject going forward. Here goes.........

R.

I actually did see that post about Jay and the Ramones, but what really occurred to me was how little is known about a lot of the underground work of the era. I mean, most people know Crumb and have maybe some sort of passing acquaintance with some other names like Spain Rodriguez or Vaughn Bode, but the majority of the whole 'comix' scene has gone largely unrecognized and uncelebrated. A lot of this work, by its very nature, has never been reprinted or seen any kind of large-scale distribution and most of these young cats don't have a freakin' clue. I'm no slouch when it comes to comics and consider myself an avid student of its history, but I'll admit to not knowing too terribly much about the underground scene. Like, Skip Williamson is a name not unknown to me, but I couldn't necessarily point to anything specific. The internet offers the possibility of rectifying that. I was always keen to see a copy of like, say, Air Pirates Funnies, but those kind of things will probably never see the light of day again. Obviously.

My real point, if indeed I have one, is that as someone who was there and directly involved, you're in a great position to give some insight to all of us young turks about what went down. And maybe champion the cause and reacquaint people with names they should know. So I hope you will keep posting and remember that there are a bunch of folks out there that are genuinely interested - though they may have a hard time finding you. What may seem like old news to you is probably all-new territory to a whole new generation of cartoonists and upstarts.

AdBeck

Well, here is where the rubber meets the road, as they say, and yes I was there, and yes I have this blog and yes I will keep on posting but there will need to be others willing to speak their minds on the subject who were either doing it themselves or knew those doing it personally or something because my connection was in Chicago with Skip Williamson and Jay Lynch. I met several artists that came through Chicago at the Chicago Comic Con or I met them at Skip's apartment on the North Side. So for the West Coast School we will need some help. I met Denis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Press out of Wisconsin at the Conrad Hilton version of the Chicago Comic Con as well as Will Eisner but I was never formally introduced. Denis was there in the Dealer's room selling Kitchen Sink and a whole host of Underground Comix even after the bubble had burst. Denis is currently doing fabulous work promoting and publishing major Artists and Books as well as handling several Artist Estates. I hope he would connect up here or start his own blog, he has so much more to say then I on more things related. But he is very busy as well. You can go to his website and follow the links to the store to make purchases at www.deniskitchen.com. R. Crumb's family has a website as well, that is another good place. I am not sure of the exact url but you could do a search and find it easy enough.
Skip Williamson has a blog called My Bitter Agenda which is in fact his autobiography that is a wealth of stories, episodes, adventures and just plain fun you can check out. There are a number of comic dealers specializing in Underground Comix, that one can access through a Google search. Some things are very expensive some works are not. I saw a number of Vaugh Bode's stuff that seemed affordable. Air Pirates (No.1 $199) are probably there. Spain Rodriguez comics are online, and anyone truly interested needs to check out Spain's work. S. Clay Wilson OMG...........I saw Robert Williams on TV last fall at some big Custom Car show on the Speed channel, they interviewed him, but never said who he really was. I am sitting on thc couch and Robert Williams (Zap Comics), comes on TV being asked what he thought of the World's Biggest Classic Car Show on Earth, I am thinking what kind of dumb question is that? Robert says "Awesome, fabulous machines" and walks off.......Duh? What was that? I am guessing, one of the producers must be a friend of Williams and says let's put Robert Williams on, famous for soft porn art in Zap Comics but we wont mention that, AND see if anyone gets it? Yeah I got it Man............you need to check out Robert Williams, it was all in brush. Throw away your art pens and get a brush and a bottle of India Ink, it will change the way you have sex.
Of course there is Art Spiegelman who actually got his "Maus" comic into the public schools in South Carolina? Probably everywhere. My daughter read it in 5th grade, she was not even born yet when we were getting every new issue of RAW magazine that had the comic Maus insert inside. RAW, brainchild of Art's wife, Francoise Mouly, was just the real Avant Garde in the 1980's America, hands down. Artists like Gary Panter and a whole host of folks that went on from there. That will have to be another post. All great seminal work, all in our Cornerstone Staff resource library that I should have taken when I left Chicago, but would never have made it out the door with, I was fortunate to be able to just take my own works out.
Ok the cows are out of the barn so let all start celebrating this uniquely American Heritage of American Art, before we die, thanks King, you know as an artist you just want someone to read your work, if they arent going to pay you, then at least read the stuff, we know they are collecting it.

SORRY GUY FOLLOWS THE WEEKLIES

From the President's Desk

After a serious layoff of posting here, I was surprised to see that some new followers have joined the Weeklies. Sorry Guy joined last month and I strongly recommend you go to his blog and read his works. I dont know if Sorry Guy has ever checked out Robert Crumb's work or not but he is following in the Crumb tradition of making excellent comics from his own life, unless of course it is all fiction made to look like a life. Either way it works. His style is as compelling as the story lines are. I think we mentioned to him that his Sorry Guy Comics are worth assassinating a few of the Witch's Trees to print in paper. Of course who these days has the discernment to spot a Spying Witch Tree anymore? Alas gone are those good ol days of real paper Underground comics. But if you have some Time on your hands go check out Sorry Guy's blog and tell him Frog sent you.

Robert W. Cox, President
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