Matt D. Archives

Here's the final cover for my upcoming mini-comic Xoc. I gotta do a few things for the inside cover but hope to ship it to the printer next week.

Questions by Rafer Roberts

You've worked on both solo projects and on collaborations. What is your approach working in either method, and do you prefer one over the other?

My preference is to work solo. It's very satisfying to move an idea from its initial inkling to a full blooded comic page (although, the failure to do so is particularly frustrating). I also think, in the end, that it's the solo projects that really test a cartoonist's mettle.

Collaborating can be a refreshing change, though, because of the way it divvies up the creative and technical labor. It's also fun because you don't really know what the final product will look like, so there's some healthy anticipation to see the subsequent stages, too.

That said, I do think that the ideal is the one person - one comic model, and I think collaborations require that at least one of the people be able to do a whole comic on their own. Otherwise, the division of talent and labor can be too rigidly separate, and that disjuncture affects both the fun of the process and the quality of the product.

A lot of your work could be described as happy or welcoming or friendly. I can only assume that your work is such due to you having a terrifying dark side. What lives inside your soul?

I think juxtaposition is a very interesting and rich vein to mine with comics. Visual style is one source of that contraposition, using it as a kind of foil or cutting agent against other aspects of content or writing. I've lately been trying to use style as a kind of disarming aspect for content. It had occurred to me at some point that a more overtly cartoon style would yield certain dividends, like a potentially broader range of tone as between the writing and drawing. That way, I could plausibly zigzag between extremes and keep things from ever really settling too much for the reader. By consciously playing the writing against the style, and vice versa, I get an extra layer of storytelling to play with.

What is your dream project and why haven't you worked on it yet?

Somehow disposing of the commercial notions of "graphic novels" and "original art" would be something of a dream, I guess, but in the meanwhile I'm still waiting for things to bubble up out of the brain.

Schedule of Events for the Counter Culture Fest IV:

10 a.m.
Journaling with Shauna Lee Lange

11 a.m.
Performance TBA

Noon
Making Comics with Matt Dembicki

1 p.m.
Pilesar (pronounced pie-LEE-zur) is a percussionist and songwriter who specializes in LO-FI 4-TRACK molestation. Instrumentation may include microphone, voice, toys, broken effects pedals, borrowed instruments, thrift store finds, tapes, and various environmental factors. As both a soloist and collaborator, Pilesar has released dozens of fiercely independent recordings on his DIY label, Chameleon Dish Archives. Many of those projects have also found a home on Soundclick.com and are free to download.

2 p.m.
Learn to Crochet with Erica Burns of the D.C. Craft Mafia. Participants will receive a washcloth or a small rosette they can turn into a brooch. Vanessa of NinnyCat Crochet and the D.C. Craft Mafia will be on hand to show you how easy it is!

3 p.m.
Performance

4 p.m.
Screenprinting with Gyotaku with Anthony Dihle

5 p.m.
Rifle Recoil

A MASTER OF THE DELAY PEDALS. Jeff Kessel, a.k.a. Rifle Recoil, has a pretty intriguing approach to his music - he largely builds his tunes on delay pedals into a big, bold sound. Some would call it a wall of sound. The Arlington, Va.-based tunesmith pulls a lot out of his limited array of parts. Worth checking out are his immaculate one-man cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic "All I Need" and the funky Prince-like original "Bad Girl."

6 p.m.
Embroidery with Erica Burns and Shayne of Novelty Kitten. Make your own embroidered plushie! Learn to hand embroider, stuff and hand sew a little plushie with members of the D.C. Craft Mafia.

7 p.m.
Geeks of comedy
The Geek Comedy Tour is a collective of the funniest stand-up comedians from the Washington, D.C., area. Each one is an experienced comic, having performed at bars, clubs, and colleges all over the East Coast. Telling their normal jokes to normal audiences but all of that was about to change.
There was something amiss. For you see, they were all gigantic dorks, and comedy club crowds don't fully appreciate jokes about comic books, anime, and video games. So, they've decided to let their freak flag fly, form together, and bring their geek jokes to the horde that needs them most. Since their formation two years ago, The Geek Comedy Tour has performed at a variety of venues, from anime conventions, college shows, and even the grand opening of a comic shop!

8 p.m.
Michael Auger's black-light workshop

Auger displays his techniques to crafting art that shine day-glo under black lighting.

9 p.m.
Donald Keesing

Keesing was the singer and rhythm guitarist for Rain Crow in 1988/89 and Mink Ranch in 1990. He sang with the short-lived 1982 DC Punk band White Zombies (not to be confused with the very popular NY band with the singular version of that name). He is currently working with Randy Austin (Overkill -DC '76, Slim Jims, Graverobbers w/Karl Straub, Throwbacks...) Bob Young (Tru Fax & The Insaniacs) and CB (Martha Hull & The Steady Jobs) in a band called Dollar Bin.

Here's an inked page from my upcoming Xoc mini-comics series.

Tables for the 4th Annual Counter Culture Festival are sold out.
30 vendors will sell their wares on Sunday, May 24th, at The Soundry in Vienna, VA. Below are write ups and Web links to several of them (the ones that responded to the request for info.)

8th Street Soaps are made from scratch in small batches with quality natural ingredients and a dash of whimsy. Based in DC, our goal is to make the world a better-smelling place. Visit www.8thStreetSoap.com.

Arty4ever.com offers offbeat artwork by Michael Auger. Discover an assortment of animals, crazy characters, mythical monsters, and more. Many of his unique paintings and gifts react to blacklight or glow in the dark. All are guaranteed to provoke a smile and are perfect for kids and kids-at-heart. Visit www.arty4ever.com.

August Adams is the author of National Darkroast Day, a satirical novel about a coffee company that tries to conquer America. He is also the author of the comic story 'Froggie.' Visit www.nationaldarkroastday.com

Bamn is the underdog tale of a down-and-out professional wrestler written and illustrated by the team of Jay Payne, David Dean, and Troy Jeffrey Allen. Surly and homeless, Bamn finds purpose when he decides to mentor a group of bullied high school misfits. The comic has been featured in The Gazette and The Washington Post. Visit www.BamnCan.com.

Andrew Cohen is the maker of Howzit Funnies, a collection of hijinx, rhythms, doodads and jazz, all put to a comic book beat. More information on his Funnies and other projects at howzitfunnies.blogspot.com.

Curls Studio's Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo will be selling original comics, greeting cards, handmade stuffed character dolls and more. The self-published comics include Curls, Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales,and The Legettes. Visit www.curls-studio.blogspot.com

John Bintz is wherever technology meets sequential art. He writes and draws two all-ages comic stories: A Moment of Clarity, the highly praised humor/slice-of-life comic adventure, and Dawn's Dictionary Drama, an experiment in forced creativity and utter silliness. He also works on the Inkscape and ComicPress projects, and he creates tools to speed up the production of Web and print comic projects.
A Moment of Clarity - http://claritycomic.com/
Dawn's Dictionary Drama - http://www.dawnsdictionarydrama.com/
WordPress Plugins for Webcomic authors - http://www.coswellproductions.com/wordpress/wordpress-plugins/

Jerry Carr is a local cartoonist who co-created the popular all-ages comic Cryptozoo Crew (currently in development as a major motion picture) with writer Allan Gross. Jerry is currently working with his cohorts in Badmonkeybrain Studios, and is developing two new comic properties--TikiMonkeyGirl and Brew Lagoon.

Full Sanction hates describing itself. It's a comic, it's a lifestyle, it's a friendship, it's a rivalry. It's black and white in a world of grays. And it has grays. Visit www.fullsanction.com.

Just for Jake: Hi! My name is Jake! I am a very happy 5 year old boy who has two rare conditions: Angelman Syndrome (AS) (caused by missing a part of chromosome 15) and agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) (absence of the major nerve cord in my brain). For more info about me and these conditions, please take a card and check out my website www.justforjake.org.
My Mom and Nana started making jewelry to raise money for my equipment and many therapies that will help me learn to walk and talk. I am making a lot of progress in big part with help from people like you! I can now walk with one supporting hand and can say "Mama" and "Papa."

Jen-A-Fusion Fashion Accessories offers hand-crafted fashion accessories, made from recycled, reclaimed, vintage and new materials. Visit jenafusion.blogspot.com

Steve Loya is an art teacher in the Northern Virginia area who also enjoys making some of his own art. He can be found dabbling in curious line drawings, paint splotch monsters, acrylic turtle portraits and creepy custom toys--whatever interests him at the moment. Visit http://steveloyaart.blogspot.com/

Brian Maze is the independent comic book creator of the supernatural themed Freak Central starring Monkeygoatboy and the fishmarket tale Flounder. More information can be found at www.monkeygoatboy.com

Shayne Rioux and her cat Patsy are the evil mistressminds behind Novelty Kitten. They offer silly cards and pins, Mustachio the puppet and more.
Shayne can be found online at noveltykitten.com, transcraftinental.com and geekcrafts.com.

Rebecca Simms is the creator of the sassy ninja comedy, Girl Ninja. Join Girl Ninja 'Sazumi' as she battles her way though demon and zombie foes from one end of the mall to the other, in this one-two punch, dark assassin comedy. Book one comic is available along with new mens and womens fitted tee shirts at the DC Counter Culture Festival IV. Free GN stickers will be handed out when you stop by the table. Visit www.myspace.com/girlninja

Skulls for breakfast, brains for lunch, we only want your fun stuff. Visit skullsforbreakfast.com.

Spaghetti Kiss is a company that features the apparel design and graphic novel work of Baltimore based artist, Michael Bracco. Visit Spaghettikiss.com

Three Crows Press is the self-publishing outfit of Matt Dembicki. Its comics include the awarding-winning Mr. Big, the space opera Spadefoot, the sci-fi thriller Liquid Revolver and the soon-to-be published Xoc. Visit threecrowspress.blogspot.com

tiny ghosts is a creepy, melancholy, sometimes depressing, sometimes darkly humorous, weekly, photo Web comic. Each comic is a combination of two sentences of a story and two photographs. The viewer is encouraged to use this fragment as a seed and develop the rest of the story in their own minds. http://www.tinyghosts.com