One of the flyers promoting my 24-Hour Comics Day drawing marathon at HotelHotel PizzaBar
Here is my 24-hour comic for 24-Hour Comics Day 2015. I hope you enjoy it and get a kick out of what I call “24-Hour Comics Logic.” It kicks in just when you need it. I’ll have more to say in another post later this week about Hotel Hotel, the venue for this year’s 24HCD. For now, thanks so much to the support of Hotel Hotel hostel and our friends at Comics Dungeon.
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Fremont, Hostels, Hotel Hotel, Hotel Hotel Hostel, Hotels, Seattle, The Fremont Troll, Travel
Here I go again! My latest 24-hour comics adventure begins now!
Let the games begin! For those of you out there who don’t know about the annual 24-Hour Comics Day, here is a link to the founder of all this creative craziness, cartoonist and historian Scott McCloud. Check it out right here.
This is the official site for the annual 24-Hour Comics Day taking place this weekend around the world. Check that out right here.
And I’ll see you back here in 24 hours!
And, if you’re in the Seattle area, stop by at my latest 24-hour venue, HotelHotel PizzaBar, right here. I’ll be drawing up a storm all night long. Just ask, and you’ll find me. Most likely, just walk right in and I’ll be there.
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Hotel Hotel Hostel, Seattle, Travel
We begin Jonathan Case’s new graphic novel, “The New Deal,” in New York City, 1936. It’s the depths of the Great Depression. NYC is pretty darn cold in the winter, especially when money is so scarce. There’s a young guy, Frank O’Malley, and he’s pleading with passersby to consider buying a ticket to an avant-garde production of Macbeth. Tough sale especially when, just next to Frank is his Uncle Pack hawking apples for six cents each. A potential customer tries to haggle the price down by a penny but Uncle Pack won’t budge. Quickly, we move on as Frank races to his regular job as a bellman at the Waldorf Astoria. And with that Case has hooked you in as the plot thickens and we find Frank to be way over his head.
Pages from THE NEW DEAL
Case delivers a solid story built upon his character-driven script and his engaging drawing style. His sly sense of humor and intrigue works its way through every page. He has managed to create characters that feel real while inhabiting the hyperreal world of screwball comedies of the 1930s. We cannot help but be curious about the relationship between a Caucasian bellman, Frank O’Malley, and an African-American maid, Theresa Harris. In public, they keep at a distance and address each other by their surnames. In private, they are playful with each other but still hold back. What we do know is that they care about each other very much and the plot that unfolds will test them.
This is an exceptionally well-paced and substantial story. It has one foot in the ’30s and the other in today’s sensibilities. This allows us to explore the relationship between Frank and Theresa and the inner world of Theresa with great subtlety. You learn to accept Frank who has to struggle with proving his trustworthiness. And you follow Theresa as she must navigate through the obstacles before her. The more complicated our story gets, the more Frank and Theresa are forced to face what it is that keeps attracting them to each other.
Make no mistake, this is a perfect blend of mystery, humor, and offbeat love story. If there’s any mention of FDR’s “New Deal,” it is only in passing. This is not a history lesson, at least not directly. That said, while you’ll learn a thing or two about swells and dolls and fancy hotels, you will also get a good sense of the cold realities of that era.
This is Jonathan Case’s best work yet. You may know him from his artwork for the critically-acclaimed graphic novel, “Green River Killer: A True Detective Story,” which I reviewed here. Or you may have caught his work for the DC Comics title, “Batman ’66.” You will definitely want to read “The New Deal,” a thoroughly entertaining and remarkable work.
THE NEW DEAL is a hardcover, published by Dark Horse Comics, available as of September 23. You can find it at all your favorite booksellers including through Jonathan’s website right here. As always, be sure to visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics right here.
Filed under Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Hotels, Humor, Jonathan Case, mystery
Max and Lucia come in for a safe landing at Seattle’s Art-obsessed Hotel Max after a visit to Popland.
During the “Pop Departures” exhibition at Seattle Art Museum, Hotel Max is displaying its own Pop Up Pop Art Show featuring Pop Art masters from the show at SAM. To book your own Pop Art Getaway, visit our friends at Hotel Max right here.
Filed under Andy Warhol, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Hotels, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Pop Art, SAM, SEA/PDX, Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Travel
Filed under Comics, Comix, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Portland, SEA/PDX, Seattle, Webcomics
Someone in the front row just asked, “Is this ‘SEA/PDX: MAX AT HOTEL MAX: Getting to Know Max, Part 1?'” The answer is, “Yes. Please sit down.” I just trimmed back the title a bit for brevity and style sense. Anyway, everyone is welcome. You’re in the right place. Have a seat. Remain seated, it will be better that way.
You will now see what my 24HCD activity last week has set in motion.
As I had mentioned last week, we are rolling out a new webcomic here at Comics Grinder. You can find it right here and we’ll try to keep to a weekly schedule, like posting Sunday into Monday, for the foreseeable future.
So, welcome to SEA/PDX. In this comic, you will get to know Max. He attaches himself to various interesting places and things. He finds himself attached to Hotel Max, a unique hotel in Seattle, a one-of-kind venue that showcases original art. Of course, this appeals to the artistic Max. He loves art and he loves adventure. That has brought him to Hotel Max.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll settle in and see what makes Max tick. There’s a mystery woman in his life, Lucia, and so we’ll see a lot of her too.
For now, I hope you enjoy this nice helping of comics directly linked to my 24HCD and under the subtitle, “Max at Hotel Max.”
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, SEA/PDX, Seattle
I share with you here some of what I’ve accomplished during my 24-hour comics sojourn. I also want to take the opportunity to provide a proper review of Hotel Max.
Filed under Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Seattle, Travel
This is Part One which equals six pages. As I go to check-in at Hotel Max, I have three more parts to complete. The story thus far: We meet Max and Lucia and already there is intrigue. Who, or what, are these two? There’s a supernatural vibe going on here. Max is part of Seattle. Lucia is part of Portland. Both of them find themselves attached to certain things. Max, at this point, finds himself attached to Hotel Max! In this story, we will get to know Max and Lucia. We will come to see that the Seattle monorail acts as a portal for both of them and allows them easy access to their relatively long distance relationship. Quite frankly, they aren’t totally sure who or what they are. They feel like they live in a dream and yet they manage to function day to day. This is part of a bigger webcomic that will unroll in the coming months. We will see how things develop in the coming year for “SEA/PDX,” that is the umbrella title.
What would you like to learn about Max and Lucia? Where will our story take us? Stay tuned!
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, SEA/PDX, Seattle, Supernatural
The cool thing about 24-hour comics, if you pace yourself just right, is that truly anything can happen. You go in with a blueprint and you also leave things to chance. That’s how I do it. At least for me, I feel it’s important to remain flexible and organic about the process and incorporate things that happen during the 24-hour cycle into the narrative. So, let’s start with the facts. And here’s where, if the timing is good and I read your comments, either here or in a private email, you can suggest something for our story. That will be more clear as to how to proceed once I post the first batch of comics in the next couple of hours.
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Max at Hotel Max Comics
Just like sex, 24-hour comics are intense and personal. If you have a personal style hidden deep within you, it will emerge, it will explode, during a 24-hour comics session.
A 24-hour comic is sort of like a quickie in the world of comics. This initial activity is not something you’ve carefully plotted and refined over months, maybe years. No, in this special case, it all happens in a relatively short span of time. You go at it for 24-hours and the end result will be you, a spent hulk of your former self, and a new baby.
What happens to the new baby? Well, this comic will still be a little raw but, depending on many factors, it could be good to go as is or it may need to go through the hopper a few times until it gets to where it needs to be.
A 24-hour comic is not some silly stunt. Oh, Lord, no, it’s a sacred activity. It’s a fun activity. It’s an essential activity! It will toss out the old cobwebs and force a cartoonist to stand naked before the world and show it what he or she has got.
And so begins my 24-hour comic for 2014. It is timed to be aligned with the annual international observance that takes place the first weekend of October. Officially, it runs from October 4-5. Mine is still in the ballpark clocking in at October 5-6. The fact is, you can have a 24-hour comic session at any time of the year. Well, I’ve already fired the starting gun in my mind. I’m going from 11am to 11am. I will roughly split this up into four parts. The first part will be, should be, complete before I check in at Hotel Max. With any luck, I can get that posted BEFORE I check in and the rest will be posted as I go and will likely spill over a few days.
The good news, and there’s plenty, is that this comic is part of a bigger comic. Plans are to take this further. We’ll see a webcomic develop in the course of these next months. Well, gotta go for now…
Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Seattle
