My Comic Book Racket
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| X marks the spot in this composition. |
I got to
Staple! in Austin a day late this year. My pal Sam Hurt invited me to come up
to hang out, but I confused the date and missed the busy Saturday. All worked
out well though, I managed to sell some stuff on Sunday, talk my project up to
a lot of artists, with a subset of attractive female type artists; the day
passed nicely. Austin is a happy hunting ground for me because every other man
in San Antonio has some magical aspects too him, but Austin just has a lot of
men who remember being magical in youth but now their only power is their
income.
I was
delighted to meet up with Monica Gallagher once again, I have followed her comics
work for years, particularly her web comic Bonnie ‘n Collide. This year I was
able to afford to buy a wonderful original Bonnie strip that is now a prize possession!
Displaying their work on tables in a row down from Monica’s were a trio of kind
and beautiful young cartoonists; Great Hat, Great Red Wig, and Nancy Nebula.
Each enchanted me so deeply that I am relieved that they were there so close together
that I couldn’t focus on just one. I felt like I passed the yes/no with each
of them, and I love them each differently, but that is just a distinction
without meaning. Sam agreed that it
would be fun to do an oral history about his cartooning career; I can’t wait to
go back to Austin!
Pat Travers is a fixture at San Antonio Festivals and a great soul of Rock and Roll.
