SPECTATORS - Part 107
Plus, controversial comic art!
When was the last time you were apart from your phone for several consecutive (waking) hours?
Brian here, not judging you, as this was reportedly my average daily screen time for the past week:
Healthy and normal!
Last weekend, I went to see comedian John Mulaney at the Hollywood Bowl, and he was absurdly in the pocket for well over an hour, especially his hilarious bit about the family passwords Gen X kids were given to prevent kidnappings. Still, the most exhilarating part of the evening was being forced to lock my stupid phone into one of those Yondr pouches that prevents the filming of live events.
My wife and I showed up early to get dinner at the Bowl, and the experience of walking around and making actual eye contact with other perplexed, Yondr-pouched Angelenos who were suddenly unable to retreat to their glowing rectangles was kind of magical.
A young person sitting in front of me watched a lone hawk circle the Hollywood Sign and lamented, “That would have been a sick photo,” but alas, was forced to simply live in the moment. One older dude with an analog wristwatch was the only person in the entire auditorium who knew what time it was. Wonderful.
But after that unexpected detox, I’m now back on the grid 24/7 (or 23.65/7 according to my latest screen time report), and you’re probably reading these very words on your phone, so let’s not give each other too a hard time about our nightmarish 21st century addictions.
After all, even without smartphones, in their far-flung future, Spectators protagonists Val and Sam are still just as hooked on watching stuff as the rest of us, as seen in today’s installment from artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks:
How many tiny windows did Niko draw in that double-page spread?!
To be continued next week, as Val and Sam mosey towards our story’s final location. (And you can get caught up/refreshed anytime in our handy archives.)
Niko, Fonografiks and I are planning to finish our epic graphic novel by the end of the year, but there’s still a lot of work to be done, so thanks again to you generous readers who’ve upgraded to a paid subscription with your fellow giraffes in The Tower.
Sorry I don’t have all of the details yet, but after the horrific flooding in Brazil last week, comic creators have been working to raise funds for those affected, and I’ll be contributing… something to a second benefit auction this coming weekend, so please follow the below Twitter/X account for more info.
You can also make a donation directly to this Brazilian NGO using the directions below, thanks again.
In last week’s chat thread with you Tower types, we were discussing which country you’d most like to live in other than the one where you currently reside.
According to a quick scan by intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe, the most popular choices were…
Fifth Place: Italy
Fourth Place: France
Third Place: Canada
Second Place: New Zealand
And the number one selection by a considerable margin:
Japan
But many other nations were represented, even the beleaguered ol’ U.S. of A., courtesy reader amorriscode:
I’m about to relocate from Canada to the US to be reunited with my partner. The comic book scene in the Bay Area seems awesome and I’m excited to explore it!
Tower member Carrie B. wrote:
I was in Scotland last year, such a beautiful country. I would probably live in the highlands or a port town like Oban. Great whiskey, awesome cows, great hiking. And the accents and men in kilts!
And Kidar A. had one of the most popular comments:
I’m moving back to Guyana so I can drink rum and enjoy the sun the whole day 🇬🇾
But only one person could be awarded this award-nominated German hardcover of Paper Girls, and Genesis selected Jason B.:
Probably Germany, but I’d have to improve my German. I like the grown-up politics and the brakes they put on capitalism’s excesses. And I’d get to be European again, instead of being stuck on Brexit’s sunlit uplands...
Glückwunsch, Jason! Here’s hoping that prize helps with your German practice.
And speaking of international translations of past comics, reader Andrew D. asked:
Do you ever get involved with the translations? There must be concepts in SAGA that don’t translate directly into other languages.
As I told Andrew in our chat, I wish I could, but I long ago discovered that if I started helping with every aspect of each of my series’ translations (like answering thorny questions about Narrator Hazel’s age in Saga), I would never be able to write new stuff.
So I try to work only with publishers who already have great reputations with local readers, and then give their favorite translators a lot of trust and freedom and undying gratitude.
In our last dispatch, I asked which pieces from my oddball collection of original comic art you might like to see next, and the results were decisive, despite my own worthless vote:
You philistines clearly have little to no interest in historic comic strips, only the forbidden and taboo! Or at least the mildly naughty.
Well, fine. For this latest installment of Come Up and See My Etchings, I’ll give you what you asked for with some controversial and/or “problematic” art… starting with a historic comic strip.
Take that, uncultured brutes!
So yeah, during the pandemic, my brain broke and I started collecting artwork by influential early cartoonists. One name that was frequently mentioned by important writers and artists of the era was Al Capp, a celebrity of such magnitude in his day, Richard Nixon once tried to get him to run for office..
Not too long ago, I saw this gigantic Sunday strip of Capp’s signature creation Li’l Abner (an often mean-spirited satire about American life aimed at a more adult audience) offered for a pittance from an estate sale, so I picked it up to add to my hoard.
It features strong depictions of most of the main characters in that top tier, and I liked that the comic was self-referential, presumably the cartoonist poking fun at himself.
But then I started doing more research, and discovered that this strip was actually Al Capp’s vicious attack on his former mentor, part of a lifelong rivalry that would ultimately damage both men’s reputations, and cost one of them his life.
You can read more about this unbelievably sordid tale in a series of harrowing reports over at The Comics Journal, but be aware that the whole story contains accounts of sexual assault, suicide, and more endlessly depressing details from the depths of our perpetually dark industry.
Welcome to the funny pages, kids!
Thankfully, most of the comic artwork in my collection wasn’t created by monsters (as far as I know), but I do own other pages that would probably have a difficult time being published today. Hell, I’ve written some of those pages, as I’ve admitted in past installments:
A few of the below pieces of potentially offensive and/or “of its time” art I actually love unreservedly and display without apology. Others I keep somewhere they won’t be seen by my increasingly troubled friends and family members.
Still, I think all of these works are important artifacts of our medium’s complicated history, so I thought I’d share a few with any of you fellow weirdos who might also be curious.
Everyone else, stay sane, have a great week, and we’ll see you for more free Spectators next Monday evening.
COME UP AND SEE MY ETCHINGS
Let’s start with an uncomfortable Lex Luthor scene from the pages of Swamp Thing #79, written and pencilled by the legendarily provocative Rick Veitch, inked by Alfredo Alcala, lettered by John Costanza, and edited by Karen Berger.
Clearly, the way sexual harassment is portrayed has changed significantly over the decades, as you can see in this 1999 Spider-Man scene from none other than Stan Lee and Larry Lieber…