ACT-I-VATE

ACT-I-VATE is a free comics cyber-studio conceived by Dean Haspiel and Dan Goldman and hosted on LiveJournal. I am an infrequent contributor, but here are some samples of what I've ACT-I-VATEd so far...

Lionel's Lament

Dean Haspiel and I reunite with a unique two-man narrative corpse. Lionel's Lament is an unscripted impromptu dynamic dialogue between Dean and me. The story begins with an episode by me, episode 2 is by Dean, episode 3 by Josh, and so on. Created over a three-year period beginning in the summer of 2001, Lionel's all-too-human, pathetically heroic story is now available in its entirety.

"Father Outside"

The literary journal The Common Review published this collaboration between me and poet Nick Flynn in its Fall 2004 issue. Then the Academy of American Poets put the collaboration up on their website, at poets.org. I really like the way they present the piece in three formats: the original poem, Nick reading it aloud, and our comics collaboration. (This piece —— along with two other collaborations I did with Nick Flynn —— is published in The Vagabonds #2.)

Fortune Small Business

In 2002–2003, I did a series of satirical finance strips for Fortune Small Business magazine. The gig came about, of course, through Titans of Finance. R. Walker turned down the job, so I took on the writing chores as well, with lots of help from FSB editor Jason Tanz.

"Corporal Punishment"

I originally created this one-pager on Iraq for World War 3 Illustrated, but they turned it down because it was "too obscure." It was eventually published in the StripBurger collection, WarBurger. The comic is supposed to be a portrait of the U.S.'s relationship with Iraq dating back to the first Gulf War. I'm the first to admit that it's an odd, slightly schizophrenic piece, (probably reflecting my own shifting perceptions of the situation). So maybe the WW3 folks were right...

"The Butler Did It" (24-hour comic)

On March 9, 2002, I took part in a 24-hour-comic "lockdown." The goal, essentially, is to sit down and draw a complete twenty-four page comic story in — you guessed it — twenty-four consecutive hours. I had this whole meta-fiction idea about a day in the life of Nestor, the butler in the Tintin comics. Unfortunately, that was much too ambitious.

"Song for September 11th"

I did this three-pager for Alternative Comics' benefit anthology, 9-11: Emergency Relief, a response by mostly New York- and Washington-area cartoonists to the events of September 11, 2001. I took the Kander-Ebb song, "New York New York," and juxtaposed its lyrics with the events of that day as I experienced them.

"Cartoon Physics, Part 1"

An adaptation of a poem by Nick Flynn, this was published in the fall 2001 issue of CrossRoads, the magazine of the Poetry Society of America. Nick's poems have appeared in the Paris Review, Ploughshares, and The Nation, among other journals and magazines, Some Ether, a book of his poems published by Graywolf Press, won a "Discovery"/The Nation Award, as well as the PEN/American Center's Joyce Osterweil Award.

"Titans of Finance"

A short-lived monthly feature on TheStreet.com, "Titans" is still archivd in TheStreet's "Weekender" section. They did a fabulous job of translating the comic to the web environment, so check it out.

"How to Squat"

A classic from way back — Keyhole Mini-Comics #1, to be exact — now dressed up (or partly undressed, as the case may be) in colorful new clothes for your online enjoyment... and toilet edification.

"Eric's Goodbye"

Done in conjunction with a PBS special called "Close to Home," this little story was illustrated by a girl named Kristen. It's still part of the WNET website, in the Back Page Comix section of OVERBOARD: "In each issue, a featured comic book artist illustrated a story written by kids aged 11-15. Their stories are based upon real-life events about addiction." A nice project, it reminded me a little of the way I translated David Greenberger's stories for Duplex Planet Illustrated.

"What's the Origin of the Word 'Cop'?"

This piece, which was researched & reported by my multi-talented wife, Sari Wilson, appeared in the special crime & punishment issue of Maxine, a cool zine published out of Chicago. Later, it was cited in the July 2002 edition of Aussie writer Eric Shackle's ebook.

"West Town Story"

In the mid 1990s I created this strip, which appeared in several alternative weeklies. It was my attempt to explore the challenge of wordless comics. I made the task even harder by using featureless, genderless characters as my protagonists.

"Crowd Goes Wild"

My first collaboration with Titans of Finance writer Rob Walker, this story is based on an experience Rob & I had in Budapest, Hungary, as we attended a circus. Some details have been changed...

[ top ]