Category Archives: Generation X

November 19, 2015 · 10:30 am

Review: GONE GIRL #1 and #2 by Noel Franklin

GONE GIRL COMICS #1 by Noel Franklin

Noel Franklin explores various Gen X concerns, with a Seattle sensibility, in her ongoing comics series, GONE GIRL. It will grab you right away with its distinctive use of chiaroscuro. Franklin’s artwork comes from a printmaking background and that is what you’ll find here, printmaking turned into comics.

What will charm you is Franklin’s recollections of such things as Seattle during the grunge era. Looking back on it, it was a fleeting time but perhaps no more fleeting than any other scene. Things happen. Time marches on. Fortunately, we have such keepsakes as GONE GIRL.

From GONE GIRL COMICS #1

This is a comic on a slow boil. Take a careful look and every bit of it has been patiently put together. That owes, in no small measure, to the Gen X ethos which I proudly share with Franklin. Yes, we are Gen Xers. Baby Boomers still hold their own. Millennials shine in their own way. And Generation X still informs discussion at-large in spite of ourselves. In our youth, many of us often adopted a spacey belligerence mixed with pre-snark weird humor. In the end, we always demand authenticity.

GONE GIRL COMICS #2 by Noel Franklin

Each 24-page issue of GONE GIRL collects an assortment of stories. For the first issue, Franklin features recollections that take us all over Seattle in the ’90s. There is a moving tribute to the OK Hotel which hosted some of the greatest alt-rock acts of the era. She recounts that in 1991 Nirvana first performed “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at the OK Hotel. In 2001, the Nisqually earthquake left the venerable music venue structurally unsound and had to be closed down.

From GONE GIRL COMICS #2

The second issue features stories ranging from childhood recollections of Chicago to a fantasy piece about anachrophobia. They are all held together by a fiercely independent vision which brings me back to the idea of a Gen X spirit running through these pages. It seems to me that we were creative trail-blazers without fully realizing it or making a particularly big show about it. All this was pre-internet. We didn’t just draw something and then post it on Tumblr. No, instead, it was like the recollections Franklin shares here about doing an odd day job to get through art school. In her case, she was working as a welder to pay her way through a degree in Photography. Back then, it seems that the art-making process was more far-ranging and we deliberately took the road less travelled. However you want to look at it, this leads to compelling art and remarkable work like this series.

For more details, visit Noel Franklin right here. Visit her on Patreon right here.

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Filed under Alternative Comics, Comics, Generation X, Noel Franklin, Patreon, Short Run, Short Run Comix & Arts Festival

Tagged as Art, arts, comics, Entertainment, Generation X, graphic novels, Media, Noel Franklin, Patreon, Pop Culture, Publishing, Seattle, Short Run

September 20, 2014 · 8:14 am

Review: SUGAR SKULL by Charles Burns

Welcome to Hipsterville: SUGAR SKULL by Charles Burns

Welcome to hipsterville. If there is something that is both scary and fascinating to observe (like a train wreck) it is the activity of a hipster. Charles Burns completes his ode to the lives of hipsters gone terribly wrong in the final part of his Nitnit trilogy, “Sugar Skull.” Outside of a Stephen King novel, this new book by Burns offers up plenty to be creeped out over. Think of it as “Carrie” for the Gen X set.

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Comics in 2014: A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES

“A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories” collects the work of a longtime cartoonist of the Seattle School, yours truly, Henry Chamberlain. We cartoonists grew up in the Generation X ethos of DIY, small press, and a pride for a certain alternative comics aesthetic. Make no mistake, just like alternative rock from the 1990s, there is something specific that is meant by alternative comics. To the point, these are comics that favor the offbeat and idiosyncratic. This spirit rings true today as it embraces an independent vision. Stay tuned. This collection will rock your world, very alternatively, in 2014.

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Filed under Alternative Comics, Comics, Generation X, graphic novels, Henry Chamberlain, Independent Comics, Seattle, Seattle School of Comics, Small Press, Sorrento Hotel

Tagged as '90s, 1990s, alternative, alternative comics, Alternative Rock, Art, arts, Books, comics, Entertainment, Generation X, graphic novels, henry chamberlain, Hotels, Independent Comics, Indie, indie comics, Pop Culture, Seattle, Small Press, Sorrento Hotel, Travel

May 4, 2013 · 11:10 pm

What It Feels Like To Ride The Kickstarter Beast

I love Kickstarter. The ride has been exhilarating. You learn so much when you do a Kickstarter campaign. It really does come down to basics. You learn about yourself, what you’re trying to communicate, how you communicate. This video is interesting to me. I like it. And I know it could be improved upon, believe me. But, overall, I like it. I even love it. And I love my campaign that you can view HERE.

I like myself. Wait, check that, I lOVE myself. That’s important because you have to have a thick skin and accept whatever happens during a campaign. You need to keep perspective. You need to be able to step back and ask yourself if you’ve reached as many people as you’re going to reach during a campaign. I’m still gauging that. Maybe there are some people that I reached but wasn’t able to get them to that last step, the actual pledge. Maybe I missed a whole lot of people somehow. Well, so it goes. That’s the healthy approach. But, yes, there’s plenty of people still to reach. Big hint here to WordPress to make this a Freshly Pressed post! I will state here, without a doubt, I also love WordPress!

And I love all my readers: Hey, go for it! Support this campaign as best you can! Repost this. Give it an official LIKE. Spread the word in any which way you can. Maybe I just had to ask.

You learn, in a pretty significant way, what really matters in goal setting. You set out to achieve a compelling goal that is within your grasp and is in need of funds. Sounds pretty simple. And it can be. For me, my project came naturally to me. And, with only hours left in this campaign, I am so glad I did it, even if I don’t reach my goal. However, who wouldn’t like to reach their goal, especially one that has been carefully thought out and nurtured as mine has? Well, you’re right, I do dearly want to see my comics project make it.

This is a work years in the making and something that will attract readers from many directions: horror, sci-fi, humor, even romance. It will attract readers who love good quirky and offbeat stories. You know who you are! It will attract readers of good solid alternative comics with attention to slice-of-life details. If you love the more artful and literary comics, then this is for you. Each of the short works is an unusual story of self-discovery. One involves a man who must come to grips with killing a bear. Another, the title work, is about a luxury hotel with charming ghosts who are disturbed my a couple of guests with way too much emotional baggage. This story, set in the Sorrento Hotel, refers back to a lot of Seattle history and has a steampunk quality to it. There are a total of four short works that originated from 24-Hour Comics Day experiments. The long story is a coming-of-age piece about a young man’s first adventure in New York City. You can interpret that story in more than one way. So, I’ll keep fighting the good fight. I will. Because it’s so worth it.

You need to carry yourself like you’ve already won, even if it seems like there’s a certain level of indifference. You do this because you trust in yourself the most.

And I’ll definitely keep you posted after this campaign comes to a close on May 6. I’d love to read your feedback and share more of what I’ve learned. But, for now, there’s a campaign still under way! How bad do I want this thing? Pretty bad! You’ve got all the rest of this weekend and all the way through Monday. After that, we’ll talk and see how it goes. Just go to Kickstarter, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES on Kickstarter thru May 6, and head over HERE.

KICKSTARTER: A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO at 30 Percent Support

A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES is a quirky batch of comics that is steadily gaining ground as the subject of a fundraising campaign at Kickstarter. It launched on April 3 and has reached the 30 percent mark in pledges. The campaign runs through May 6. You can view it HERE.

Now, here’s the thing about this one, it has a raw honesty to it that it shares with other Generation X artists. That’s where this artist, Henry Chamberlain, dates back to. That sort of blunt honesty has been refined over the years although an outsider’s view still remains. Think of Charles Burns, for example: acerbic, alienated, yet very heartfelt and authentic. You can find that in this collection of comics. That’s important to bring out here because this book includes the graphic novel, ALICE IN NEW YORK, which is an older work and very much aligned to that spirit. The other part of the book collects recent work, done in the last three years, that originated with 24-Hour Comics challenges. Altogether, you get one artist’s vision over a span of many years.

So, let’s focus in with a few more words about the graphic novel, “Alice in New York” that is part of this collection. What makes it share a Gen X sensibility has to do with the main character’s feeling of being at a loss. For many of a creative and intellectual bent, it just felt like we were in for a long stretch of lowered expectations. Sure, that’s pretty shortsighted. But, growing up in the ’80s, with Reagan and Thatcher running the show, with the Baby Boomers having hogged the spotlight for so long, with a perpetual rehash of pop culture, it didn’t look so good. Of course, we all knew things would change one way or another but it fostered a healthy sense of cynicism and self-deprecation.

You have the main character, Henry, a young man on his first visit to New York City still holding on to dreams of previous generations, from the myth of the Great American Novel to the lure of fifteen minutes of fame. Is it any wonder the boy is a wreck? But, he stumbles upon just the right circumstances and meets the right people to help him out. Is he too lucky? Well, sometimes you make the most of what you get, create your own luck. Add to that a little magic from Alice in Wonderland, and you have a story that transcends any generation which is what you want to do in the end!

Generation X’s way of life is not for everyone. You basically had to be there. Just saying that is so Gen X. If you’re looking for something to read that is a voice of a generation, while stubbornly refusing to be labeled, and ending up being so much more, then check out this work at Kickstarter HERE.

Review: X’ED OUT by Charles Burns

If you have not yet read what Charles Burns has been up to lately, don’t panic. You have options. There are two installments of his current wild ride, “X’ed Out” and “The Hive.” Both graphic novels can work as stand alones and you will do fine whether you read one first or the other. Essentially, this is a story that follows the main character mostly through flashbacks and alternates with his doppelganger in a parallel story set in a more cartoony and sinister world. Enjoy it as a multi-layered horror story. We’ll focus here on “X’ed Out,” the first graphic novel in the series which came out in 2010. And you can then proceed to a review of “The Hive” in the next post.

“X’ed Out” is as much about the angst of Generation X as it is a horror story. The two themes actually compliment each other rather nicely here. You will find equal amounts of supernatural horror and the self-inflicted horror of disaffected youth. Consider any art school crowd of a generation ago (or any generation, really) and you will find an inner core of self-loathing malcontented rebels ready to set the world on fire. What will it take? Start up a band? How about a magazine? But what will it ultimately take to make the pain go away? What happens when raw idealism and Prozac aren’t enough?

We begin with the cartoony doppelganger. He is sitting up after a restless sleep in an old fold out bed. He has a bandage across the side of his head which can’t be a good sign. He has no idea of where he is. And, once he makes his way out into the outside, we see that this is a very strange place he has found himself in. As we progress through the story, we see that this world is more real in some ways than the hipster world that Doug and his girlfriend, Sarah, are so enthralled by. It’s as if the chickens have come home to roost, as if all those extreme misfits staying up late at night have finally summoned up the Devil. There’s a hint that Sarah may have actually done something like that. And then there’s that strange bandage across the side of Doug’s head.

It really is easy to enjoy both of these installments in either order. Although you can sense the force of the narrative progressing from the first book to the second, the numerous transitions in both books can act as so many elements building up, providing clues. Who is the old man in the creepy cartoon world that Doug’s doppelganger is spying on? Wait, now we have a scene with the old man followed by a scene with Doug and they’re all wearing the same purple bathrobe . Is it a much older Doug in one scene? Maybe. But, in another scene, we know the old man is Doug’s father. “X’ed” will definitely leave you wondering about what will happen next, who is who, and what is what. It’s when the last book in the trilogy, “Sugar Skull,” arrives in 2014 that the sequence will be clear and the resolution unmistakable.

“X’ed Out” and “The Hive” are available in bookstores, comics shops and online. You will find in many shops that both books are neatly displayed side by side. Visit Pantheon Books.