Spawns of Insomnia (2002)

We've been documenting local cartoonists for quite a while. Here are a few clips from Spawns of Insomnia produced by Ron Austin back in 2002. The Spawns event was sponsored by Cartoonists Northwest, and was a fairly early version of the popular 24-Hour Comics challenge made famous by Scott McCloud in the 1990s.

These clips feature artists Roberta Gregory, Mark Monlux, Donna Barr, Larry Lewis, Phil Foglio, John Lustig, Dan McConnell, and many others. Artists stayed up for 24 hours straight to write and draw a full-page comic. The video was a fun production produced back in the earlier days of digital video (only 12 years ago -but it seems like many technological decades have passed). The comic event took place June 2002 on Capitol Hill in Seattle.


Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


For more information about the 24 hour comic events and the official rules: http://scottmccloud.com/4-inventions/24hr/dare/

That's Ski Life by Bob Cram!

While editing Bezango, WA at the Third Place Books coffee area (in Lake Forest Park, WA) I couldn't believe me eyes when I saw a NEW cartoon book by Bob Cram on display! 

Bob Cram was the King 5 Cartoon Weather Man from 1963-1972, and an avid award-winning Seattle illustrator for may years. If you lived in the Northwest during the 1960s-1970s you may also recall that he hosted a television show called Ski Nanny. 

In 2005 Skiing Heritage Magazine had this to say about Bob Cram: "With sixty years of published work, Bob Cram arguably had the most productive career of any American ski cartoonist."

His new book is titled That's Ski Life: Comic Strips, Illustrations, and Gags by Skiing's Favorite Cartoonist.  The book is published 2013 by Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park.  It contains many cartoons republished from the 1940s-2000. Bob Cram also writes about himself, his career, and the back-story behind many of these comics.

Contact Third Place Books directly to find out how you can order one online. http://www.thirdplacebooks.com/

Latest Scottish Ninja Posted on Youtube

Rob Mullin and Beau Obremski have posted the latest episode of Scottish Ninjas.  Nice professional animation. Voice-over mostly (all?) done by Rob. BTW-Some rated R content (if that matters).




Visit their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/scottishninjas?feature=watch

Scottish Ninjas

Beau Drawing The Scottish Ninjas from AUSTINAMANDES on Vimeo.

Scottish Ninjas is an animation and comic created by Rob Mullin and Beau Obremski. They have a bunch of videos on Youtube, and the second season will be out soon. Beau does the majority of animation and Rob does most of the character voices. They co-write the material. The animation is very well done!  The humor is pretty raw, but if you're into watching ninjas in kilts and martial arts and some blood and guts, you will enjoy their show!

http://www.scottishninjas.com/

Paul Tumey Reviews Society is NIX

Nice review by Paul Tumey for The Comics Journal located at:
Society Is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy at the Dawn of the American Comic Strip 1895-1915. 

The PROJECTS Comic Festival in Portland

It sounds like another successful experimental comics event went down in Portland, OR. This was the second anniversary of The Projects. We were able to make it there and film last year, 2012, but couldn't get down there this time. I highly recommend a visit if they have it again in 2014.

To quote their tumblr site: THE PROJECTS is a festival of experimental comics and narrative arts..." "4 days of workshops, exhibitions, panels, performances, projections and collaborative projects."

http://theprojectspdx.tumblr.com/

Transcripts Completed

We have transcribed about 120 pages of summaries and excerpts from the artists interviews conducted over the last 3 years.  It also features logged footage from events such as The Seattle Comic Con, Short Run, The Projects, Cartoonists Northwest, and other groups and festivals. More things will certainly be filmed over the next month or so, and that information will be added to the transcript.

We can safely say: Let the editing the begin.