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Notes: David Lasky

David Lasky is a Seattle-based cartoonist who co-produces the occasional comic book Urban Hipster for Alternative Comics. He also produces smaller work which is widely admired, both for its quiet and polished quality and for its ambition. He’s a sort of social nexus of Seattle cartooning, widely liked and deeply knowledgeable. His good will and helpfulness are boundless. Among other things, he conceived and executed the legendary minicomic adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulyssess, the striking Carter Family Comics (with co-author Frank Young) in Kramer’s Ergot 4, and more.

I spoke with David on Feb 17, 2004, in preparation for an article to appear in the Stranger.

David Lasky

Just about a year ago, I interviewed you and Greg Stump about Urban Hipster, and we talked about the Seattle comics scene. What’s changed since a year ago?

DL: What usually changes in the scene is the economics of Seattle. Cartoonists originally were drawn here because of – besides Fantagraphics being here – it was just a really affordable place to live, years and years ago. It was a livable city, that was how it was marketed to the world. And now it’s kind of expensive to live here and there’s no jobs. I think people are tending to leave, which is too bad.

Has the migration accelerated since a year ago?

DL: Um, I think the Seattle winter has accelerated things but also the fact there are so few jobs out there makes it hard for artists.

Specific individuals in mind or more generally?

DL: I think people – just in the last couple months – have been announcing that they’re leaving. Elijah Brubaker is leaving for Portland. Other arts-community type people have been making noises about wanting to leave.

Who? Can you give me names or cite specific individuals?

DL: No, not offhand. Just ‘cause they haven’t actually announced it – but they’re talking about looking for jobs in other cities, basically. I guess Elijah’s the only cartoonist I can think of who is actually leaving town. But in a small community that’s someone we’re losing and nobody’s – the kids aren’t flocking to Seattle right now.

How many people are in that community?

DL: My circle of friends is about ten people and then the larger comics community, I don’t know, could be a hundred people or more depending on how you want to define the comics community. There’s mainstream people and publishers and journalists…

What publishers are there, besides Fantagraphics, in the greater northwest?

DL: Down in Portland there’s Dylan Williams – Portland is where all the publishers are. Dark Horse, Top Shelf, and Dylan Williams’ company that’s made Orchids. Sparkplug. Sparkplug comic books. He’s doing – uh, publishing – Jason Shiga and Jeff Levine and a lot of the really interesting experimental cartoonists who the major alternative labels kind of overlook.

In Seattle, aside from Fantagraphics, uh… I can’t think of anyone right now who’s publishing.

Davey Oil and Slide Rule has been a really exciting thing for me that’s happening in our scene.

Tell me why Slide Rule is exciting for you.

DL: Because he’s taking young and experimental cartoonists who most people who shop for comics don’t really look at – he’s taking them to Seattle’s arts and clubs communities and showing comics live with music and animation. . . He’s thinking outside the box with people who wouldn’t normally see it.

[David also told me that a new Moxie is to be scripted by Mark Campos. Moxie is the Fine Comics collective’s comics anthology.]

What can you tell me about the Fine Comics website? Is it up yet?

DL: Dalton Webb is the administrator and the designer. He just got a homepage set up but it doesn’t link to anything. But we do hope to put some content on it soon. I’ll email you his contact info and show you what we’ve got so far.

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Craigslist posting

Painter (Fine Artist) / Gambler

Excerpts:

POSITION OPEN UNTIL FILLED

JOB DESCRIPTION:
We are looking for a Painter (Fine Artist) / Gambler who could win a small sum in a casino, rent out a villa, stock it with food & drink, and invite a lot of people to come and live there.

…

EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND:

…

* Proven capacity to drift aimlessly, nihilistically through the nightmare of life. Typical outsider, drifter, a loner with asthma, whose frequent changes of address prevented you from participating in either normal school curriculum or sporting pursuits – yet fully capable of teaching at the college of university level if the occasion permitted it. Former experience in interior and furniture design A + .

Now that’s a job.

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Notes: Craig Thompson

In preparation for my late February Stranger story on the Seattle comics community, i spoke to a number of observers and participants; I’m running my notes and transcriptions here for a few days. This entry features what I wrote down from my conversation with Portland’s Craig Thompson.

Craig Thompson

What can you tell me about the Seattle comics scene and how it’s changed and evolved? What kind of an influence has it been on you?

CT: I keep in touch with Jennifer Daydreamer. And uh, that’s about the only person I’m keeping in touch with lately. But the Seattle scene is one of my main reasons for moving to the Northwest; it’s sort of accidental that I ended up in Portland instead. At that time the scene was – it was Tom Hart, Ed Brubaker, Megan Kelso, Jennifer Daydreamer – all those folks are still friends of mine; it just happens that a lot of them have left Seattle.

Just yesterday, I randomly ran into Joe [Sacco] and at the other end of the spectrum, Greg Rucha. I think he writes Batman or something – he’s a big part of the mainstream world. It’s funny how we just all randomly ran into each other.

My last real job and probably the best day job I ever had was working as a graphic designer at Dark Horse. Dark Horse is a great opportunity.

In the creative department where I was at there was fifty people or so. And most of them had their own thing that they were doing too.

Is Portland a cheaper place to live than Seattle?

CT: That’s why it’s a great environment for artists.

Does Portland have a tight-knit comics community?

CT: I’d like to say ‘yeah,’ but probably ‘no.’ It’s a pretty broken-up scene. But there are smaller scenes, like the mini-comics kids and stuff that are a lot more tight-knit. Maybe it’s ’cause those other guys – like myself – I wouldn’t say burned out, but we work so much during the day that our social life isn’t. . . But I always meet comic kids who have like, jam sessions and stuff like that. Not just kids, but people more from the self-published world.

But I do hang out with other cartoonists. You know, we meet up, we have that connection.

Here in Seattle, there’s a comics-related multimedia performance thing called Slide Rule, where local creators read or perform their works as slide shows in front of a live audience. Do you have anything like that in Portland?

CT: There is actually. Nocturnal, this gallery in town, does regular animation-slash-slideshows. It definitely is a combination. Some stuff will be fully animated, some stuff will be kinda half-ass animation, where it’s like slowly morphing images. And then there’s full-on slideshow accompanied by live music. That’s Nocturnal. I can’t think of the name of the shows.

I did a little digging afterwards, and the Nocturnal shows are organized by Peter Sorfa , who has a website at www.sorfa.com.

In an earlier interview, Craig told me that a Blankets record is being recorded. In this conversation he told me it will be out in the summer.