I'm a big fan of Alec Longstreth's work. This was a more ambitious review, taking on then-emerging copyright controversy and turning it into a pro-indie comics rant. It's probably a bit rambling, but I still stand by my views. I just would have changed where it ended up appearing. A tip: don't try to publish pieces like this on a website full of pro-Marvel/DC cosplay fetishists. It won't go well.
The graphic above was not the original image for the article since the collection hadn't come out yet. That has since changed, and you can order a copy today. I suggest getting it from Longstreth's website. The only thing worth mentioning is something I didn't mention when the piece first appeared. The graphic below is page is a sketch from my girlriend's daughter, who was a huge Owly fan. It probably wasn't necessary, but I'm including it here because what the hell. Originally February 24, 2012. Edited for clarity.
The last in this series of my reviews of fantasy-based work carries some commentary. It's been a hell of a start this year in regards creator rights and a particular company giving word that comic book artists may get in trouble for the long-tolerated practice of drawing company characters. This wouldn't seem like the biggest deal to me if I hadn't gone to my first comic convention in Boston last year and seen how many artists both mainstream and indie were selling prints of Marvel and DC characters.
So maybe, just maybe, rather than mull over the ramifications of wanting a Batman or Morpheus sketch, maybe we as comic readers can do our part to alleviate fear in the creative community by supporting creator owned work that today has to be regulated to side projects unless you have Bone-like levels of fortune to match your skills and/or a Cerebus-like tenacity, both of which being incredibly hard to duplicate.
Comics as an art from have made leaps and bounds in recent years, but in a more ideal world, Basewood, a project by artist, illustrator and Center for Cartoon Studies instructor Alec Longstreth, just might have been finished sooner. Maybe not, since this was an ambitious project he took on at a young age and kept on track partly due to his CCS involvement and refusing to cut his hair until each issue was done. Even so, it was finished this past winter with little fanfare outside of the independent crowd, and Longstreth is currently seeking a way to publish it. Maybe with enough support, this doesn't have to be.
My apologies to Mr. Longstreth for wrapping a review of his work in a manifesto. I will get to the book now. Basewood began with a feel similar to the Bone series (which Longstreth lists as an immense influence). What happens in the course of five chapters plotted and drawn over the course of a decade, the story takes solid shape in Longsteth's own style as a man flees a vicious dragon into the woods where he finds shelter, friendship and starts to piece together his broken memory of how he arrived there in the first place.
Part of the length of time taken to complete this story seems related to the fact that Longstreth wanted it to give the book a consistently strong drawing style throughout. Indeed, there is little difference of quality between his first chapters and Transition, a comic story he completed and published while in the middle of his project.. The story moves along fluidly except for chapter 4, which is more tell than show at times but reads better when you have all five issues at hand, which I now do.
In the end, what we will have in Basewood (once it's collected) is a solid book I could give to most kids able to read Bone.. It's a very strong first "serious" book by Longstreth (though I am a fan of all his lighter material as well, all of which you should check out).
I'm confident that this will be published as a collection in one way or another. Still, I want to hand off the issues I have now to someone young soon. We need less sketches of the same old and more attempts at original creation. And it's good to copy at first, but I like to think that handing off self-published zines like this, or even just copies of black and white work, can lead a young reader to believe more easily that they can produce their own work and have it be read. I have a feeling creators are going to need more of that kind of encouragement in the future. I thank Longstreth for his contributions. They are appreciated.
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