Constant Comics

The previous litmus test for superhero status as a comics artist was the 24-hour comic, a grueling trial of artistic output. A 24-hour comic, for those who don’t know, is a 24 page comic, created from scratch in a single 24-hour period, usually with the aid of a large quantity of coffee, Mountain Dew, Red Bull, etc. Having tried this before, I can attest to the fact that it’s a difficult ordeal, fraught with the perils of exhaustion, delirium, and questionable artistic choices.

But look out. There’s a new challenger in town.

John Campbell (stereotypist on livejournal) is currently creating hourly comics, consisting of 2 panels drawn for every hour he is awake in the month of January.  He’s done this a few times in previous years, and the results are all available on the Hourly Comics website, sorted by day. The end result is similar to American Elf or Snakepit, but at a much more granular level. Like those daily comics, some installments feature almost no notable action, while others veer into the unexpected and absurd. You develop a sense of intimacy, despite the relatively crude drawing style. Like XKCD, the subject matter transcends any limitations the art might create.

If you enjoy the hourly comics, you’ll probably also enjoy his 50 Answers project, absurdist comic strips drawn as responses to reader-submitted questions. There’s plenty of other material on his Livejournal page to indulge in as well.

State of Comic Retailing, Seattle edition

We love the The Stranger. This probably isn’t news, as we have mentioned our beloved weekly several times. And through various events, like Harvey Pekar at Town Hall or Los Bros Hernandez at Fantagraphics, we’ve seen the same friendly face representing our paper of choice.

Paul Constant is awesome. He is knowledgable and varied in the books that he reviews, and obviously has some respectable literary chops. But this week, while reading Constant Reader, I started to bang my head on my desk after reading his piece. Constant started off benignly enough, bringing up some recycled points about the average superhero comics reader and how the overall face of comics are changing. And then he went there.

He brought up the overwhelming awesome contained within the mecca-type indie comic book store. You know, the notoriously awesome ones like Rocketship and Comic Relief. These stores are special because of how different they are from your average shop. And then he bashed on the small Seattle’s chain Zanadu. My physical reaction to his observation was eye-rolling and scoffing:

Once, when I brought an attractive female friend into the store, she was twice approached by slavering male customers and asked if she needed help finding anything.

For the record, after the gazillion trips I’ve made to this particular store I can say I’ve never ever felt objectified or out of place. I’ve been able to talk shop with the female employees. I’ve been able to have special orders placed for me.

Further, I’ve lived in cultural wastelands where the local comic shop was so abysmal that I resorted to online shopping. Too many gaming nerds, too little selection, and too many weird looks left me running away, never to be seen again.

We comic readers in Seattle are lucky. We have enough decent shops to have a selection, an even better Fantagraphics gallery, and a smart comic loving audience. What’s to hate on, Mr. Constant?