Nate Beaty's Brainfag

Bwana Ruled King of PDX Comix!

posted in Home Jabber on April 26, 2004

The battle was fierce. Walking away with the esteemed title of Pdx Indie Comix Guru, with a last-minute cutthroat Battle Royale, swiping all of "Mount" Renier's points in one fell swoop, was pu-pu brother Bwana Spoons. Aaron and I were schooled royale, not even finishing our last punchline panel of the "First Day of School" challenge.

An email from a co-organizer of Stumptown Comix Fest (where, consequently, the next Comic Art Battle will be held in June), John Worsley, summed up the festivities well:

The music selection was excellent, the artists were quick and quick-witted, and the crowd was into it. (..lil' snip)
To the featured contestants: Nate: One day, thousands of confounded comics historians will puzzle and pore over the "incomplete sixth panel" of your "First Day of School" rendition, trying to unearth the meaning behind "it." I blame you.
Ezra: Your zombie dentists will leave me with nightmares. Good luck with your tour, and watch out for oversized, novelty axe-weilding ice cream cones, pork chop-related or otherwise.
Alec: Nice to meet you, and I don't care what anyone says, it rules that you are oblivious to the nature of scabies. Avoid Tony Millionaire's "Maakies" with diligence if you intend to stay that way.
Aaron: I had to suspend my disbelief when you implied that old folks walking their shar-peis would be armed with (used!) bed pans, but considering they were dueling with a rabid, tampon-wielding donkey, I will concede that this is something of a picayune criticism.

(I admit I had to look up "picayune.")

Ezra, who organized the show, left today on a cross-country book & CD-release tour for his Changers graphic novels. The CD, fresh from the press, looked absolutely beautiful. However, mid-stream in listening to it on my Powerbook last night, it threw my computer into an absolute tizzy, bringing about the multilingual OSX gray-screen-of-death, and after powerdown & restart it gurgled & choked on the CD, not booting until I spit it out. What the hell, Ezra? Is this some sort of post-battle sabotage?

The Oregonian had a reporter & photographer there, and apparently we're going to be featured this Friday, so I'll send a snippet if it's flattering. Altho, when I told the reporter I draw "Brainfag" she said "Oh, I might not be able to get that in." "It's a medical term for brain fatigue." "Well, if I take that angle, I might be able to squeeze it by." Ah, too racy for the Oregonian! Scott said that's what I get for being so edgy.

I met a girl who's making this oncoming rush of summertime all the more exhilirating, hence the slow updates on brainfag.