Al Columbia

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Al Columbia

Born 1970
Nationality American
Area(s) Cartoonist
Illustrator
Writer
Inker
Colorist
Photographer
Pseudonym(s) Lucien
Orange Sunshine
Jack Lazy
Notable works The Biologic Show
"I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool"
"The Trumpets They Play!"

Al Columbia (born 1970) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, writer, photographer and musician.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

As a teenager Columbia worked as an assistant to Bill Sienkiewicz on Alan Moore's ill-fated Big Numbers project. When Sienkiewicz withdrew from the project after two issues, Moore and his publishers asked Columbia to become the series's sole artist. After working on the artwork for the next two issues, Columbia also withdrew from the series for reasons that remain unclear; Big Numbers #3 and #4 were never published, and the series remains unfinished to this day. A thinly fictionalized version of these events is portrayed in Eddie Campbell's 2001 graphic novel How to Be an Artist.

Columbia's first solo comic book was the 48-page Doghead, released by Tundra Publishing in 1992. He contributed to three issues of the horror anthology From Beyonde, initially under the pen name "Lucien" and then under his own name. His stories "The Biologic Show" and "Tar Frogs" also appeared in the British magazine Deadline. In these works, which focused on visceral and disturbing subject matter including mutilation, incest, and the occult, he moved away from the painterly photorealism of his time with Sienkiewicz towards a scabrous but equally virtuosic pen-and-ink style that emphasized grotesque physiognomic details such as grinning mouths full of teeth and leering, reptilian eyes.

In 1994 Fantagraphics Books published Columbia's comic The Biologic Show #0. It contained redrawn versions of his stories from Deadline along with new works. It received mostly enthusiastic reviews and accolades from other cartoonists including Mike Allred and Jim Woodring. The Biologic Show #1 followed in 1995, featuring the first installment of a never-completed graphic novel, Peloria; an issue #2 was advertised but never appeared. Also in 1995, "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool" became the first of a series of two-color short stories by Columbia to appear in the Fantagraphics anthology Zero Zero. In these works, noted for their striking visual rhythms and their vivid atmosphere of dread, he adopted a more streamlined drawing style strongly evocative of early animated cartoons, particularly the works of Fleischer Studios. In later stories such as "Amnesia" and "Alfred the Great" Columbia combined cel animation-influenced drawings of characters with extremely detailed chiaroscuro backgrounds and some use of digital illustration techniques. "The Trumpets They Play!", a widely praised work in this style based on the Book of Revelation, appeared in BLAB! #10 in 1998.

During the 1990s Columbia did various ancillary tasks on other cartoonists' projects, such as inking Gilbert Hernandez's cover illustration for the Fall/Winter 1995 Fantagraphics catalog and providing computer coloring for Archer Prewitt's Sof' Boy #2 comic. Although he gave short interviews to several zines including Velour and Ain't Nothin' Like Fuckin' Moonshine during this period, the small quantity of his published output and the cancellation of several previously announced titles and anthology contributions, compounded with lingering questions about the fate of Big Numbers, made him an object of much speculation. "Whatever happened to Al Columbia?" became a perennial thread on The Comics Journal's online message board. Columbia himself appeared on the board and in the magazine's letters page to attempt to clear up the many misconceptions about his career and tell his side of the Big Numbers debacle. This was subsequently detailed in a lengthy essay that appeared in the third issue of The Comics Interpreter.

[edit] Career since 2000

On November 19, 2001 an illustration by Columbia ran in The New York Times. Since 2003 he has written two issues of The Pogostick, a comic book illustrated by Ethan Persoff. His most recent venue for print publication has been the anthology MOME. He is also reportedly doing the writing for an upcoming comic titled The Legacy with artwork by Jon Adams. [1]

After a three-year delay, Columbia's website went online in late 2006. The Flash-based site features a frequently changing assortment of illustrations, photographs, music, and other multimedia content.

In April 2007, Columbia gave a telephone interview to an online comics blog. [2] In the interview, Columbia stated that although he used to be an avid reader (especially of Russian novelists such as Dostoyevsky and Vladimir Nabokov), he has not had the concentration to read an entire book in years (although he mentions an exception, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which he enjoyed). He also stated that he does not watch many movies, he considers the Pixies "the greatest band ever," that his own artwork sometimes make him uncomfortable, and that he finds his own images "weird" and "disturbing," not "beautiful." He plans to release a book of his last ten years of work in 2008.

On September 6, 2007, Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon debuted a month-long gallery show, entitled "The Land of Broken Hearts", featuring Columbia's works. Columbia himself made an appearance to sign prints and engage in a question and answer session. [3] The reception was filmed by Kevin Belli, a filmmaker who plans a documentary called "Whatever Happened to Al Columbia?". [4] Columbia also attended the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland in late September, 2007. [5]

[edit] Music

Columbia is a founding (but no longer active) member of the band The Action Suits, whose other members have included fellow cartoonists Peter Bagge and Eric Reynolds. Columbia drew the sleeve art for one of the band's singles. His current musical projects and activities have been sporadically documented on his website.

[edit] Recurring characters

From The Biologic Show onwards Columbia's comics have featured several recurring characters. Like other traditional cartoon characters, some of them have continued to appear after being apparently killed multiple times.

[edit] Seymour Sunshine

Columbia's most frequent protagonist, Seymour Sunshine is a hapless, passive everyman who is constantly menaced by bizarre creatures. His first appearance was in the wordless 2-page comic "No Tomorrow If I Must Return" in The Biologic Show #0. In most of his stories, including "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool" and "The Trumpets They Play!", Seymour is portrayed as being nearly mute, although in "Amnesia" he is more voluble.

[edit] Pim and Francie

A pair of male and female waifs whose irresponsible antics get them into horrific trouble, Pim and Francie first appeared in the story "Tar Frogs" in The Biologic Show #0 and were also the protagonists in "Peloria Part One". Their loosely-defined relationship with each other appears to be that of brother and sister; several of their comments imply that they are also incestuous lovers. Since the publication of the Biologic Show stories Columbia has allowed various other fragments of Pim and Francie artwork to see print, and in 2002 he was reportedly working on a full comic book based around the characters. [6]

[edit] Knishkebibble the Monkey-Boy

Described in the story "Amnesia" as a "childish icon for mischievous and filthy pleasures," Knishkebibble was first introduced in "Peloria Part One" as an associate of Pim's. In his appearances since then he has acted as Seymour Sunshine's sidekick, serving mostly to drag both of them into dangerous situations. He is portrayed as greedy, conniving, and vulgar, and usually speaks with a hillbilly accent.

[edit] The two-headed girl

A malevolent two-headed girl appears as an antagonist in several of Columbia's stories, including "The Biologic Show", "Peloria Part 1", and "The Blood-Clot Boy". The character usually goes unnamed, although in "The Blood-Clot Boy" she is identified as "Ruthie and Lucy".

[edit] Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great is a dwarf with an enormous prehensile tongue. In his eponymous story he rises to fame and fortune as a circus sideshow performer before his decadent lifestyle and bad temper precipitate a fall from grace. Alfred also appears on the cover of Dirty Stories 3.

[edit] Cheapy the Guinea Pig

Cheapy the Guinea Pig is an experimental subject who is used by genetic researchers in a variety of pointlessly cruel tests, such as one intended "to determine the length of time Cheapy can endure being struck repeatedly about the head and face with a ball-peen hammer before he expires." According to Columbia the character was inspired by a passage from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Laughter in the Dark.

[edit] Works

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[edit] Solo comics

[edit] Works in anthologies

  • "The Virus", 8 pages (artwork only); front cover and various illustrations, From Beyonde #1 (February 1991, Studio Insidio)
  • "Clara Mutilares", 11 pages; front cover and various illustrations, From Beyonde #2 (May 1991)
  • "Untitled", 4 pages; back cover, From Beyonde #3 (September 1991)
  • "Johnny 23", 4 pages, Taboo #8 (1995, Kitchen Sink Press)
  • "I Was Killing When Killing Wasn't Cool", 8 pages, Zero Zero #4 (August 1995, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Jack never woke up", 1 page (inside front cover), Zero Zero #8 (March/April 1996)
  • Untitled front cover, Newbies Eclectica #6 (1997, The Graphic Cartel)
  • "Walpurgischnacht '97", 1 page (back cover), Zero Zero #15 (March 1997)
  • "The Blood-Clot Boy", 6 pages, Zero Zero #16 (April/May 1997)
  • "Amnesia", 8 pages, Zero Zero #20 (September/October 1997)
  • "The Trumpets They Play!", 8 pages, BLAB! #10 (1998, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Alfred the Great", 5 pages, Zero Zero #26 (July/August 1999)
  • "Vladimir Nabokov's Cheapy the Guinea Pig" (back cover) and untitled front cover, Zero Zero #27 (August 2000)
  • Untitled wraparound cover, Dirty Stories Volume 3 (Spring 2002, Eros Comix/Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Chopped Up People", 9 pages, Mome #7 (Spring 2007, Fantagraphics Books)
  • "Fucking Felix", 9 pages, Mome #8 (Summer 2007)
  • "Pim & Francie", 2 pages, Mome #9 (Fall 2007)
  • "Cheapy the Guinea Pig in Morning Glory", 1 page, Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology (October 2007, Evil Twin Comics)
  • Untitled front and back covers, Mome #10 (Winter/Spring 2008)

[edit] Comics with Ethan Persoff (writing only)

  • The Pogostick #1 (February 2003, Fantagraphics Books)
  • The Pogostick #2 (December 2003)

[edit] Other works

  • 23 Skidoo [minicomic] (1994, Wow Cool)
  • Sleeve art and label, "Glazed Donuts" b/w "Andy the Android", 7" vinyl single by The Action Suits (1997, Spot On! Records)
  • Cover art, Canada, CD album by Loraxx (2000, Orchard Records)
  • "Movie Magic" [1 page comic] and front cover, The Stranger, March 16, 2000
  • Portrait of Nick Cave, Book of Changes: Interviews by Kristine McKenna (2001, Fantagraphics Books)

[edit] External links