DUNE & Ex City Part 2 + INTRUDER

Covers from four of the month DUNE compilations.
I'll add artist names as I learn them.
I only know one now.  ;)

DUNE Revisited 

 

Last week I wrote about DUNE, a collaborative comics event that happens every third Tuesday at Cafe Racer at 5828 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle. 

Deep irony:  It is occurring as I type.  But I did not go for, well, reasons. (Read Down) 

I did want to follow up on last week's post.  Cafe Racer has long fostered creative communities, and hosted a comics hang-out called Friends of the Nib (hosted by revered cartoonist Jim Woodring) and Bureau of Drawers.  I was too new to the scene to know the difference, I didn't even know how important an artist Jim Woodring was at the time.  I just showed up and made some drawings.  But both folded and morphed in succession and then I  stayed home to draw after that.

There's another story here, one that includes a shooting at Cafe Racer.  I am so sad for those we lost, and so grateful we didn't lose more.

After that, some 33 or so months ago, Cartoonist Max Clotfelter started up DUNE.  You show up, you draw a page (or two), you leave your coveted originals with Max along with $3 and leave.  Next month, you show up again, and you get your coveted originals back along with a minicomic compilation of everyone drawing in the building at the same time as you.

DUNE is pure art.  BECAUSE no extras are run to be sold--only enough compilations of the drawings from last week to give back one publication for each--there is no commodification of your work.  It's just the joy of comics.  Pure and simple.

I don't make it out to DUNE more than once in three months.  Partially because I work solo, A LOT. 

Yes I was the first person down the fire escape
in my pajamas.  Why do you ask?

Today I am working on literally six projects, and also my apartment building caught on fire, no joke.

However, I do make it to DUNE, because I get to say hello to amazing people and take home an entire community in a saddle-stitched zine.

I asked Max a few questions to illuminate his process, and here are the responses:

Gone Girl Comics:  Why did you start DUNE?
 

Max Clotfelter:  I was part of this local anthology (INTRUDER) where participation had to remain pretty exclusive just because of the logistics of deadlines and the high cost of printing. It was just too hard to invite everyone we wanted to participate. We were also meeting lots of new local comics folks who wanted to get involved with a group project. So I tried to think of the easiest way to make an open invitation anthology project and DUNE grew from there.

Gone Girl Comics: Why do you run DUNE the way you do, with copies just for participants?

Max Clotfelter: It's all about keeping it as simple as possible. Everyone has to finish their page in one night at the Café, just so I don't have to deal with a bunch of emails from people sending me stuff later on. The minute the clock strikes 11pm the contents are finished and all I have to do then is take it down to the copy shop and make the book. Also, I only make one copy per participant because it keeps the cost down and doesn't leave any room for the debate over what to do with the extra copies. Anyone who wants a copy is more than welcome to participate no matter how well they can draw!

Gone Girl Comics:  What do you think it does for Seattle comics?

Max Clotfelter: Hopefully it gives people a place to hang out and meet each other. It's also fun for me to sit down and force myself to draw a comic page in 4 hours. I love it when people collect their pages into their own mini comics. I also hope it inspires similar kinds of events around town."

INTRUDER poster art by Seth Goodkind.
Seth is also the curator of
Exterminator City
and
worked on EXTRUDER
a comics compilation of INTRUDER artists.

I, (GGC) myself, would like to add that this seems replicatable in the same way that Slam Poetry grew up in Chicago and was dispersed to become a National phenomena.  Could be good.  But remember to honor the founder, as slam should still honor Marc "Slampapi" Smith.  More about DUNE here.

INTRUDER

 

Speaking of Marcs, Marc J. Palm is the founder a INTRUDER, a free Seattle-based comics newspaper.
In this corner of Seattle comics, Intruder bridges the DUNE comics night, many of the artists that work with Push/Pull Gallery as well as the comics tabling event Exterminator City.  When asked, he referred me to the website, http://intrudercomics.com/  

"INTRUDER is a free, quarterly, co-op, comics newspaper that started in March of 2012 consisting of 16+ Seattle based, darkly comedic cartoonists. Subscribe to get yours $12 for 4 issues! (cheap) paypal - swellzombie@hotmail.com"

He then added: Intruder was started because there was nothing like it in Seattle at the time and we felt like comics were still important here.

Here here.

Exterminator City, Saturday!
Poster art by Bunny Lee.

Exterminator City #4

Did I mention that Exterminator City, one of the nations only neighborhood comics events, is happening this weekend, Saturday August 22nd, at Push/Pull Gallery?  (8537 Greenwood Ave N, underground in the Greenwood Collective, to be exact.)

Did I mention there were not one but two awesome shows related to both comics arts and twin peaks on the walls?

Did I mention that INTRUDER will be there, with free comics as well as their compilation, EXTRUDER?

Did I mention I've spent 3 nights in a row staring into the abyss of my own ghosts to come up with a new poetry chapbook in addition to the comics I'll have for sale?  (Gone Girl Comics #1, #2, Jezinkas and the poetry chapbook:  The Essentialist.)

It includes 25 poems--half of which have been published before and half of which have just hung out in secret, waiting to see the light of day.  No comics in this one, but half of the reason why I stayed home tonight was to draw a kick-ass cover.

So, come see me Saturday at Exterminator City, 11 - 4, Saturday August 22nd.

Until next week (When it's all about me, really.  I have been working on the graphic novel.)

C-log posts on comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.