my comics journal

[josephrey]

it's time i started contributing to the cause, man. just...uh, give me a few. moving, changing jobs, getting over fiance´- you know, killers of time.

i think i used to go fishing near toms river. i spent a large chunk of time in folsom, which i believe is up to two traffic lights! progress is a bitch.

[chris stevens]

my grandmother, natalie, passed away last week.
she fell in the fall, breaking her hip, and never recovered. we brought her home for the last few weeks so that she could die with some dignity, among her loved ones, and not with strangers in a nursing home.
we were very close. i was raised by my mother and grandmother, and it was my grandmother who watched me while my mother worked. we read books together, watched scary movies, and walked to the library saturday afternoons. she would have been so proud to see me published, and if she could have made it until june, she would have. my story 'blue', which leads off jason rodriguez's 'postcards' anthology, is due in june from random house books.she would have approved of the fact it's a hardcover and been a bit awkward in her appreciation of the actual story as it is lifted from real life...or real life as it was the last few years.
i wrote something for her service two weeks ago. i knew i was going to be the only speaker and, truth be told, i'd thought about writing this euology for the past ten years, through a series of illnesses and attacks that threatened to take her life but never quite managed. i wound up writing what i could the morning of the service. i read it to my best friend during the drive over to the funeral home to make sure it was ok; to test whether i could make it through the reading.

"natalie was a window into another world for me, and the older i got the more i appreciated the view she afforded.

a man makes of himself what he will but i would not be, for better or worse,
the man i am today without my grandmother's guidance and her love.

there's not much to say except that i loved her dearly, and she loved me.
she loved unconditionally and with a deep reserve of forgiveness.

she loved life, and honored it by living a life of example.
i can't think of a person i know who wouldn't learn something about human nature if they spent some time with natalie.

she was able to admit when she was wrong but she would not compromise when she was not.

she was proud without being vain; the young beauty who in time became a mother and, then, a grandmother.

in an era where it was uncommon, natalie was a provider. she wasn't only wife and mother but with a sick husband at home she was the breadwinner.
she worked for over forty years without complaint, taking care of a family and, in the process, providing an example for her children; her daughter denise and son howard.

denise and howard and i have often joked, teasing my grandmother about 'who was her favorite?' between us. she'd say the same thing everytime 'there are no favorites. i love you all the same.'
and her love was honest enough that just might have been true.

she loved her children completely.
natalie and denise shared a life together and both lives were made better for it. their devotion, the depth and complexities and sheer love of their relationship leaves me in awe at the marvel that life is.
and perhaps no-where was delight more pure in natalie than in her mother's pride in seeing her son, howard, succeed in all ways in becoming the kind of man she'd hoped she would raise.

my grandmother wasn't sentimental about death and i'm going to try not to be, at least for today. today i'm going to sit by that window my grandmother natalie opened so many years ago and see the world through her eyes. it's a kinder, loving world.

natalie wolfson jan. 25th 1926 - feb. 19th 2007
--

i've got some good comics in the works, a couple of new projects that i'm getting excited about. i love working with artists and the thrill from working with different people, it's intoxicating. i might have a few sketches to post next week.

--

i found a piece of original art i thought i'd lost during my recent move. that made me happy. one of the painted headshots from the cover of the superb meathaus anthology #8, 'headgames'. farel had given it to me well over a year before the book actually came out last fall, and i thought the damn thing was lost forever and i was bummed about it. turned up, in all places, tucked inside fed x envelopes sent to me from arthur adams that i'd kept in a corner. what can i say, i keep everything, i'm an archivist.
but i'm super-happy to have found the piece and i'm looking forward to hanging it in my new little study.

--

my book is called 'dream compass'.
seeing as how some different folks have joined in here as of late i figure it's a good a time as any to say thanks to everyone who has been supportive of me and my book along the way. hopefully your interest will be rewarded when it's all said and done. it's a much better book than i ever thought i'd get a chance to make, and it has taken much longer to see it done than i ever thought it would. and the fact that a lot of the readers of this journal have sort of 'hung in there' with me through emails or phone calls has always made a difference for me.

Sorry to hear that man...my condolences.

[hannu]

My condolences as well, Chris. She sounded like a wonderful lady. I never knew my grandparents, you were most fortunate to have her in your life.

[mikeexner3]

I'm sorry for your loss, Chris, but it does sound like you were blessed to know and to be a part of that woman's life. I'm glad to hear that you're still making progress towards your dream, and just know that I'm pulling for you 100%.

[Lovecraft13]

Sorry to hear about your grandma.

[j giar]

I'm sorry Chris!
Stay well and use the memories you've written about to get you through. She sounded like a wonderful lady. Jim

[quahkm]

my heartfelt condolence to your loss, Chris...

A

[chris stevens]

tommy, hannu, mike, josh, jim, alan: thank you all very much. little bursts of kindness help brighten the day. thanks guys.

here's a sketch from a project i'm just getting started on...




way too early to say much of anything yet but it's one i'm really excited about.

[chris stevens]

one more...

[chris stevens]

just finished up a session of one of the more thrilling parts of the creative process, what i say to my wife is 'research' but in my mind is more like sleuthing: finding ways to contact people i need to talk to.
these range from artists i want to work with or editors i'd like to talk with to authors and other creators whose work i admire;they can be people i've been interested in all my life or ones i've just come across in the course of working on a project.

that might sound strange, or even creepy, to some people. but like i said, it really is one of my favorite parts of producing stories. it's like putting together a puzzle a lot of times. one piece finally leads, after collecting and placing various others, to that complete image; to that contact info.
and most of the time it's a phone number. that first call ratchets up the thrill and the nerve in the thing. i know i had butterflies in my belly the first time i talked to paul pope, or harvey pekar, or arthur adams.
god, i hope i never lose that feeling.

[chris stevens]

well i guess this link sheds some light on the sketches i posted recently...


http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...0-1944fb3125dd

[eltonpruitt]

Originally Posted by chris stevens

well i guess this link sheds some light on the sketches i posted recently...


http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...0-1944fb3125dd

When do we get to the part where you dish on the artist?

[ehobbs]

Elton pretty much took the words right out of my mouth.

[chris stevens]

there's an interview up at newsarama that i did for jason rodriguez and 'postcards'. 'postcards' is in previews this month and jason's got a lot of balls in the air. hasn't dropped one yet. here's a link to our conversation...

http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/04/02...ran/#more-3244

jason and i are working on a new project now. a graphic novel about sam cooke. this project is pretty much taking over my mind. it's a good feeling.
i was going to post a few more sketches but imageshack isn't playing nice with me today. artist rob guillory, who can be found here...

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...6-284f83b4fa9a

...is bringing sam to life with us. elton wants the dish. well, rob for me is living proof of the collaborative benefits of myspace. we 'met' by exchanging a few mutually complimentary messages. the messages were warm and we decided that 6 months down the line, when we were both free, we'd look to hook up on something. give or take a month or two here we are, twisting the night away.