Thursday, August 14, 2003

San Francisco Event OK, I’m on my West Coast tour now plugging “American Splendor and I was just at a San Francisco event involving the showing of that movie connected with the opening of my art show at the Cartoon Art Museum. While there I met with some of the pioneers of the alternative comic movement of the 1960s, which was the first, and, I think, the best of the alternative movements. I met with Spain Rodriguez, creator of “Trashman,” George Di Caprio, author of “Greaser Comics,” and pioneering distributor and publisher Ron Turner, of Last Gasp. These were guys I hadn’t seen for years, and they were a sight for sore eyes. It was especially nice meeting again with George, who’s been so great about helping me promote my work and was such a great host to me when I came out to Los Angeles in the 1990s. I think one of the reasons I like George and Spain’s work so much is that it has working class roots and is informed by left wing political ideas. A lot of younger cartoonists don’t seem as politically concerned or aware these days and I think that’s a shame, because this country’s in a real mess, politically and economically. The underground cartoonists of the 60s and early 70s fought against the oppressor, but many of today’s comic book artists don’t seem to realize that there’s one around. 11:03:34 AM