It's Alive!

 

RELUCTANT SADIST #8 has gone out into the world and is finding it's way onto a podcast and mentions on various blogs and websites. Here's the latest roundup!

Tony Osmond on "The Awesome Comics Podcast" reviewed it on episode #453 (This Podcast is Going Silent!) and was generous with his enthusiasm. Check it out for yourself; the review starts at the (01:38:40) mark. The ACP guys also were kind enough to list RS#8 on the Recommends page of the podcast's website.

Gary Usher over at the fine Comics, Comix and Zine News Blog, "Trigger Warnings" posted a notice about RS#8's release back in February - New Alternative and Small Press Comix Arrivals (February Week 4)

Rick Bradford over at the mighty Poopsheet Foundation, a massive comic zine database archive, added RS#8, so now has a complete RS collection!

And last, but not least, the indefatigable Thomas Campbell of The Comics Blogger, posted about RS#8 on his Instagram account to announce "Now in Stock!". Thomas is my USA distributor, so check out his store (cheaper postage if you're in the US then I can do).

If you are a creative person making a thing, keep sending out review copies or links to anyone and everyone you can, and don't forget to share, comment and like what other folks are doing. That's the best way we can build some community.

Keep smiling,

OK HW

Distributed Here, There and Everywhere

RS has a new distributor! This one is in North Carolina in the good old US of A, The Comics Blogger, a review blog, zine and shop run by Thomas Campbell. Here’s the link,

https://www.comicsblogger.net/product/reluctant-sadist-8

It’s super handy to have a US distro point as the postage will be much less for US folks, then me shipping it all the way from Latvia. Also, Thomas has been tabling at shows, so I’m hoping he sometimes will include RS in the mix.

This distro is in addition to the ones I have here in Riga, Latvia (Bolderaja Art Bar and Down Street Records and Athens, Greece (Jemma Comics – RS#8). I’m always open to new options, so any and all suggestions appreciated!

It’s no point letting those extra copies gather dust in a box! It’s important to get them out there into the world and I appreciate the people and shops that have support my comix by stocking them.

OK HW

In the Stacks

         

I don’t recall when and where I learned that some copies of RELUCTANT SADIST had made their way into a university’s library archive, maybe it was back in the 1990s, but I felt surprised and even a bit of pride. Back in the 1980s, when I was first creating my comix, it was part of an “underground” scene and not generally accepted by mainstream or academic culture. I’m not an academic, don’t have a formal four year degree, so I don’t think about how culture is studied on that level. There has been a sea change in how popular and underground culture is now being appreciated and researched in colleges and universities. It’s easy for big movies, books, comics to be added to a collection, but how does some hand-made, self-published comix or zine get noticed and acquired? And why does it matter?

I’ll attempt to answer the second question first. Having your comix or zine, included in a university library will make it easier for it to be potentially studied and referenced as part of a research paper that is reflecting on our culture as a whole. Researchers see how individual comix/books/movies/music fit in and connect to other works of art in other eras and cultures. They try to understand trends and movements of where our society has been and where it might be going. Archiving materials preserves them in their original form as that provides information as well. So, if your comix is part of one of those collections, it means that a tiny part of your creative history will survive you past when you are gone. Maybe it’s a bit of an ego trip, but that appeals to me. I’m also curious to know how the work I did in the 1980s fits into the big picture.

How does a university library or archive notice and acquire materials? I don’t know the formal process and I’m sure it is different from one institution to another, so I’ll stick to relaying my own case. There were two courses of entry that my comix have taken to an academic archive; donated in as part of a private collection and direct donation. Currently, I know of three American Universities that have copies of RS (from the original 1980s run) in their collections; Iowa State University, Michigan State University, and Washington State University (detailed information and links below). I spent some time surfing the web and checking out many other collections, and found this useful list of “Zine Libraries” on the Barnard College website incase you want to get started looking to see if your own work is collected.

The second way my work has been acquired by these academic libraries has been through direct donation. I have reached out to these three universities and offered to donate a copy of RS #8 and two out of the three accepted. The third is in the process of moving their entire collection in a new building and have halted all donations for a couple of years. I’m open to donating to other academic libraries and archives, so if you know of one, or work for one, please contact me.

Now, if any professional archivist or librarian happens to read this post and would like to add to it or correct any information I’m presenting; please do. I’m just accounting for my experience and don’t want to misrepresent anything.

Here are the universities that have Reluctant Sadist in their collections:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Iowa State University
Special Collections Department
MS 636
Underground Comix Collection, 1947-2007
https://findingaids.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS636.html

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Michigan State University Libraries
Special Collections Division
Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection

“Relkin” to “Relvas”
https://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/rrri/relk.htm

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Lynn R. Hansen Underground Comics Collection

http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/sc003_2.htm

Keep smiling,
OK HW

RS#8 Update – Wild in the World

 
It’s been 35 years since I last put out an issue of RELUCTANT SADIST. The world is a very different place since 1989, I don’t have to tell you. Between the internet and social media alone, it’s a weird new world. I chose to continue with producing a print version of the comix as I was doing before; same size, digest-size, a folded sheet of letter or A4 size paper because I want to hold something, other than a smartphone, in my hands. A physical object, particularly a book creates a space in reality that digital never will. I like the idea that these zines could be around for centuries, traveling around from one person to another or forgotten in a box only to be discovered some decades later. I can’t fall into a story told digitally like I can when it’s printed on a paper. There’s no touch or smell, no familiar smudge or corner torn or folded like a printed copy provides. The physical is just more, well, real, so it was worth the effort and cost to have the comix properly printed.

I had 300 copies printed, which seems like a lot, but I’ve already found good homes for 40 of those, so I don’t think it’ll be long before I’m doing a second print run.

To celebrate the arrival of this new issue of RELUCTANT SADIST, I held an unveiling party, which will be detailed in another post soon. It was a fine and wild moment and there is plenty of photographic and video evidence to share.

You can order copies of RS#8 directly from me through my shop, or if you are in Riga, Latvia you can find it stocked at Bolderaja Art Bar and at Down Street Records. If you happen to find yourself in Athens, Greece, get yourself over to Jemma Comics and Press where you can find RS#8 stocked with the large selection of small press comics or even order through their website. I’m working on getting distribution in the USA and the UK, so stay tuned!

OK HW

RESPECTO! Gets Some Respect!

 A good news update on my comix story “RESPECTO!” (background info is in my September blog post). House of Harley, the British Comics publisher of the annual anthology publication UGLY MUG, has been doing a great job sending out review copies of UGLY MUG #7, that my story RESPECTO! appeared in, and it’s getting some positive feedback and attention.

First up is THE AWESOME COMICS PODCAST (Vince Hunt, Dan Butcher and Tony Osmond) which I was unaware of until now. I believe it was Tony’s pick to review UGLY MUG #7 (please correct me if I’m wrong), which begins at the one hour and fifty-nine minute mark (1:59) and “RESPECTO!” is talked with enthusiasm, at the (2:02) mark. I really enjoy how these three guys banter about comics, even when they aren’t talking about my stuff  and will add them to my extremely-too-long podcast queue. Here’s ACP episode #433 – ‘Monster MONSTER”. Enjoy!

Next up is a YouTube based video podcast called “Talking Small Press Comics” with Larned Justin and Steve Keeter. In episode #56, they review UGLY MUG #7 beginning at the (31:35) mark and mention “RESPECTO!” twice, first at (34:58) and again at (38:02). Unfortunately, they fail to give me credit (I did sign my comic in the first panel and I’m credited in the back of the book), which was a minor thing. I do appreciate how much they enjoyed the story and art. It’s fun to watch them flip through the book and show pages to the audience via their webcams. Larned and Steve look like they are having a lot of fun looking at the comics.

This is cued to the RESPECTO! part of the talk, but if you want to listen to the entire section on UGLY MUG #7, go back to the 31:35 mark.

Last up is a traditional blog post mention in Win Wiacek’s “NOW READ THIS!” from November 30, 2023, “Ugly Mug #5, 6 & 7”. Overall Win seems to be a fan of UGLY MUG and though “RESPECTO!” is only mentioned and not talked about in detail, I do appreciate being in such great company. This was another comics/comix blog that I wasn’t familiar with and look forward to digging through previous posts and reading new entries.

Ugly Mug #5, 6 & 7

It’s very satisfying to see something you create being seen and talked about within the comics community. One of the beautiful things about the internet is how easy and immediate it facilitates community and connection. That’s a true boon for small, weird art groups to connect and support each other as these podcasts and blog do for underground (? is there really an underground scene now? A topic for another time…) art, comix, music, film, etc.

Copies of UGLY MUG #7 can be ordered through LULU press.

Read more about UGLY MUG at House of Harley.

OK HW

The Last Logo

 2023 has been a big year for Weaverwerx; a resurrection of sorts after years of little to no activity. I have taken a workspace in the old Kino Studios in Riga, Latvia and have begun to pursue comix, drawings and film projects again. As part of this new era, I have revamped the Weaverwerx website, which was the perfect opportunity design a new logo. Now embarking on a new logo design may seem like a simple process, but even the "richest" and "smartest" person in the world can fuck it up, resulting in losing years of positive branding, good will and billions of dollars. Luckily I don't have those kinds of pressures on me. I'm just this guy trying to carve out my own tiny niche in the real and virtual world. The only person I need to please is myself, but that is easier said than done. I'm a fickle, difficult to please customer when it comes to my own work and have a special mutant power for overthinking that would give Professor X a headache. Somehow I managed to find my way, creating and discarding a dozen different concepts before landing on one that feels right, so right in fact that it will likely (always leave yourself an out) be the LAST WEAVERWERX LOGO. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the new look.

Yes, it is a critter, animal, creature of some type and needs a nickname, which I am puzzling out. Any suggestions? I think of artistic ideas as being like creatures roaming around looking for a worthy person to be their portal into our world. These ideas animals can be enormously powerful and lucrative and creative people bring them forth with nothing more than a pencil and blank sheet of paper. This critter here is hungry and lustful and curious. It wants your attention. I wanted this logo to be part watchdog, part chupacabra, part feral cat, and part alien from another world. I want it to guard my back, but also push me when I need it, like everyday. From a design point-of-view, I wanted an image that would stay in folks' minds and not be confused with another thing; not too complex, but not too simple. Maybe even something that will provoke some affection. I also think it'll look damn fine on a t-shirt!

Time to show how the sausage was made. Here are my raw, rough brainstorming sketches as I worked through various possibilities, including some boring, too generic non-character options.

Some of those "shrunken head" and Tiki God-ish designs could wind up making cameo appearances in some future comix stories, so keep your eyes peeled.

The previous Weaverwerx logo was a simple hand-drawn W with scribbly circle around it, which I call the "Hairball Logo". I'm ditching it because it is too generic. It could be used for a hair salon or a bar or sock company, whatever. I like the hand-drawn quality, but that's about it. I only used this one for a couple of years, so it was really just a placeholder.

Before that one, I had been using this dapper chap with the square head and formal suit. This design originated in the late 1990s and was fun, but it looked too much of it's time. I do like the "round peg in the square hole" head and the "W" suit collar. It was also a load of fun to animate, but times have changed, so time to say adieu.

Now that the Logo saga has been been settled, time to get on with creating some actual content or something...

Keep smiling,

OK HW

UGLY MUG #7 – RESPECTO! Finds a Home in the UK Comix Scene

It has been too long since I had a comix story in print, actually in any form available in a public way. You would have to go all the way back to December of 2010 (!) where I had a three-page Xmas story called “Santa Dali” printed in the zine "Pork Belly: Special Santa Issue”. How and why it's been so long since I dropped out of the scene is no matter, just too busy living, but now I'm back with a four-page story called "RESPECTO!" that is right at home in the pages of UGLY MUG #7, an annual British anthology of weirdness lovingly curated and published by The House of Harley. UGLY MUG is a print only publication that can be ordered through the HOH website. Besides my tale, the rest of the 120 pages is filled by a stable of wild ink-slingers including SAVAGE PENCIL (The Legend), John Bagnall, Ed Pinsent, Tom Baxter Tiffin, Jason Atomic and many others.

My story "RESPECTO!" has two inspirations; first was an unfortunate message exchange with an unhinged individual hurling insults and threats at me and in the same breath demanding respect, totally unaware of the hypocrisy of what they were saying . It made me think about what respect is and how do we go about trying to get it. The second inspiration was to use the bizarre and beautiful African masks that I love to study and draw. There may be some who will call this "cultural appropriation", but my intent is to show my respect for this art and culture. These are not my designs, just my interpretation. To dispel any confusion, I have included the origin tribe and region information with each character and hope people will be curious enough to do their own research and learn about African tribal art.

OK HW

Order UGLY MUG #7 at The House of Harley