A WALK THROUGH COMIX 2000

In 1998 or 1999, the artists of L’Association had the crazy idea to publish a 2000-page comic book for the turn of the millennium. A book of silent stories to be drawn and read by anyone on the planet. Somehow, they made it happen. The book, Comix 2000, came out (I think) in 2000.

I’ve always loved the book, and found it a great teaching tool for showing off different kinds of visual styles, storytelling styles, tricks and problem-solving, etc. Just before the real massive information hose of the internet, this book was an international gift of variety and humanity. It remains a gift: it is enormous, and heavy. Flipping through it takes effort. Browsing can seem random but stopping anywhere in the book is a gift that stopping on a click can’t be.

I’m creating exercises for nearly every entry, that can be accessed by diving into the SAW Comics Flow Working Group.

Additionally, this exercise is becoming becomes a sort of "Where are they now?" game, or more specifically, an exercise in tracking what comes of a cartoonist 19 years after they submitted a 3-8 page comic to a radical and yet welcoming anthology.

So far we've seen one become very famous with animations and running a satirical magazine (Dario Adanti), one mostly from the internet (Kalah Allen, a friend of mine whom I can't seem to contact) and most others so far who keep plugging at it. Jessica Abel of course has co-written comics text books but is mostly focusing on her Creative Focus Workshops now.

I field a lot of "What am I going to do with my life" questions at SAW, and my answer is always some variation on Figure out where you need to be now, and follow the leads that presents you.

The exercise of reading through this book is giving me some specific early 21st century models to relate.

Finally, I think one thing SAW is poised to do is be a PLACE, and be a NOW, in a time and world situation where everyone is everywhere all at once, distracted, worried, scared, unsure of where they belong.

Comix 2000, this several-pound, 2000-page hardcover book says “You are you, reading this book right now. Just be here.” That is an essential message right now, while we gather our personal resources and try to get our bearings in a fractured, if not heading-towards-apocalypse world.

If the below list is a bit jumbled, the rest of the series can be seen on youtube, here.