Staples and Stickers and Stamps

by jyviola on April 4, 2011 at 1:01 am

As the number of titles in the Manatee Power library increases, we spend more and more time throughout the year printing, cutting, stapling, folding, stickering, and stamping. Shortly after one book is finished, we run out of another. Although I do feel a strong sense of love and pride as I’m assembling the first physical manifestation of a new book – and the twentieth – my excitement fades by the 200th.  So we tried to be a little smarter about minicomics production. My sister, Randi, joined Rebecca and I on Saturday for a massive stapling-and-stickering-and-stamping extravaganza in an ambitious effort to make all the minicomics we’ll need for the year. We… didn’t quite make it to the end. The world of bookmaking becomes a little sleepy if you order sake with your sushi. But we came close! A weight has been lifted by my generous family and I already feel a little lighter (and it’s not from the sake).

MoCCA Fest 2011

Some of these fine books are coming with me this weekend to the MoCCA Festival at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City. After skipping it last year, I’m excited to be going back! There are many great cartoonists at MoCCA and I always fall in love with something new. And, like at SPX, it’s so much fun to talk to readers and introduce myself to new ones. MoCCA runs Saturday April 9th and Sunday April 10th from 11am-6pm. If you go, please come by table E17!

While I’m in the city I’ll be staying with my good friend Ray, who I’ve convinced to attend Punchdrunk’s incomparable MacBeth-by-way-of-Hitchock theater piece,  Sleep No More. Rebecca and I experienced it twice when it was in Boston and I urge anyone who can to see its new incarnation in New York. It warrants a blog post of it its own and, after we go, I’ll try to write one.

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Working Together

by jyviola on March 26, 2011 at 4:28 pm

My wife Rebecca and I work in the same office, an arrangement that often bewilders people. “How can you work together all day without driving each other crazy?” we’ve been asked too many times to count. About a month ago, a co-worker asked her, “When you get home, do you ever tell him you’re sick of looking at his face?” Now we don’t work in the same department, and our individual work crosses paths only occasionally. But this does not sway people who are convinced they could never work in the same environment as their spouses. People, mind you, who are raising children together, which is the most intimate collaborative work anyone can do. (Is that how they know they can’t work together?)

I can’t share our secret. It is just too incredibly secret. If I told you how we did it, you would know too much about us. Instantly, you would be sick of looking at our faces.

Show and Tell

We’ve recently been working together, outside the office, on comics. It’s a potentially delicate arrangement because we may want to push different things, and we live together and love each other and hurt feelings and all that. But so far it’s been satisfying and we’re hoping to continue experimenting this year, probably on this site. Debuting this weekend, as I write this, at the New England Comics Arts in the Classroom Conference in Providence is a new comics anthology about teaching and learning called Show and Tell. It includes a short comic drawn by me, written by Rebecca (she taught for several years). This is our second collaboration, and like the first, it’s full of talented cartoonists. If you don’t happen to be at the conference this weekend, it will be available at a bunch of comic shows this year, or you can order a copy from the Ninth Art Press website.

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The Failures of Friendship

by jyviola on March 23, 2011 at 8:07 am

Hello to all the new readers I met at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair last weekend! We had a great time and I continue to be thrilled by all the enthusiasm Buffalo has for my depressing comics. Thanks especially to Chris Fritton, who always does a spectacular job organizing a hitch-less event that is a pleasure to exhibit at.

Minicomics Bundle

When not exploring the triumph of romantic love, a lot of popular culture focuses on the power of friendship. But what if your friends aren’t anything special? What if friendship’s endurance is more like a stubbornness? Introducing a new collection of Herman comics: Herman the Manatee & His Lousy Friends, now for sale in my store. I’m particularly happy with this one; a long span of time had elapsed since the comics in Volume 3, so I did some heavier editing than usual. Because only the best strips were selected for inclusion, I promise that even the most sophisticated, the most discerning, the most cosmopolitan Herman fans will not be disappointed. It features lots of depression and anxiety, as well as the Knuckles-trawling storyline. Also, you can now purchase all four volumes for just $10! It’s like you’re stealing from me! Some friend!

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City of Light

by jyviola on March 3, 2011 at 8:17 pm

From the outside, you may look at Buffalo and see a slowly dying city. Regretful grey skies, punishing winds, and hollow buildings all contribute to the slow freeze of your gut.  You’re polite; you gratefully accept its chicken wings, but behind your grin you’re wondering how long you have to stay here before you can go visit Niagara Falls or something. Buffalo is ashamed of its old, wheezing body. Like a former high school football star, it wants you to see it for what it used to be.

“The City of Light!” it cries. “That’s what they used to call me.  Not Paris – me! I was the first American city to be completely lit by electricity. Tesla used it to wow the world when I hosted the Pan American Exposition. That’s right, a World’s Fair! I was a big deal, you know. The eighth largest city in the country.”

Must have been swell, you say.

“I came up with Cool Whip! Did you know that? They don’t tell you that in school, but it’s true! Really! The City of Light!” it cries again, calling for its own encore. “Not Paris!”

Buffalo was a real superstar, you admit.

“And I still could be! When the steel industry left, everyone said my life was over. But look at me – I’m still here! What do they know? And I’ll be Number Eight again. All I need to do is make this place more attractive for businesses. I’ve prettied up the airport, and now I got to work on the waterfront. Business loves a waterfront!”

What about just trying to make your life more comfortable? Find out what makes you happy and nurture that. You’ve got a really vibrant independent arts scene, maybe if you focus your resources on that, the city will flourish.

“I’ve got some big money sponsoring the next Albright-Knox show! It’s called ‘The Art of Getting Real,’ featuring thirteen reconstructions of the houses from MTV’s Real World!”

Uh, no, I mean you’ve got a community of poets and artists who–

“Phhhhh! Since when did they create jobs?”

Well they’re the ones who are thriving, in spite of your mediocrity and repeated failures—

“Hey! I invented the disco floor!”

All I’m saying is they make you interesting. You aren’t cool to live in. You’re a corrupt old man who reeks of desperation. But you have a creative side that is worth celebrating and supporting; these are the people who will prolong your life. These are the folks who will make you attractive, theirs it the culture that will make you fun, that will attract commerce, that will stop your college students from running away. If you don’t invest in them, you’ll continue this slow death and no one will show up at your funeral.

“I HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.”

Look, just come to the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair on March 19th and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. It’s at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum from noon to 6pm. It’s a beautiful building full of poets, authors, small presses, artists, zinesters, oh and cartoonists (including Jason Viola). It’s a really special event; last year was completely awesome and I’m sure this year will be even better. Come and check it out.

“Hahahahahahahahaha! You expect me to believe that? As if any of my libraries are still open!”

(To be fair, not all of Buffalo’s library branches have closed yet. But they’re working on it.)

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Welcome!

by jyviola on January 20, 2011 at 12:40 pm

Oh hi, welcome to my new site! I didn’t even notice you coming in. It’s so good to have you, really, I have spent a lot of time cleaning up. It doesn’t always look like this! But you know, it’s possible I’ve missed some things so please let me know if you find some pieces of broken links or if something does not look the way you’d expect.

This place is the new home of all my comics! Right now, I’ve got three up here but there are more to come. Of particular interest to you may be my latest story, online for the first time, Who is Amy Amoeba?

Herman the Manatee will begin updating again next week in his new room at: http://www.manateepower.com/herman.

And if you haven’t already, you can read my first comic, Rabbit Shadows.

Thanks for stopping by; it is always nice to have a visitor as attractive and good-humored as I imagine you to be. I wish we could do this all the time.

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