Written by Steven Stwalley for the BIG FUNNY project.
PRINT FOUND DEAD; KILLER AT LARGE
INTERNET, INDIFFERENT WORLD BROUGHT IN AS SUSPECTS. PUBLISHERS, EDITORS AND JOURNALISTS DENY ALL BLAME.
Print (544), the once-popular medium for putting words and pictures on thin sheets made of dead trees, was found dead today of an apparent homicide. Police found the now brittle carcass of the former celebrity blowing in the wind, slowly crumbling to dust. Print was best known for its books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and junk mail. The police investigation has no shortage of suspects.
The Internet was immediately brought in for questioning, citing claims that its Bolshevik-like free content and advertising was responsible for the crime. Readers, Advertisers and Apathy have also been brought in for questioning. “Print could simply no longer compete,” claimed one former newspaper journalist, currently employed as a dishwasher. “I hope they give the Internet the chair.” The chair, when contacted, had no comment.
FORMERLY POPULAR MEDIUM HAD ADVOCATES
Former publishers, editors, journalists, authors and other obsolete Luddites around the world mourned the death of the once-useful media. “Print put my kids through college,” cried one former editor, “now it can’t even cover me on my park bench and keep me warm.” “You can read what I think about Print’s demise if you subscribe to my blog. I twitter too,” sighed one former author, “Um, do you have any change?”
SOME SURPRISING SUSPECTS
In spite of their apparent mourning, some independent investigators have suggested that the crime could have been the work of one or more of Print’s advocates . . . an inside job. “Sure, it is hard to compete with free. But it isn’t like the newspapers put up much fight. Blatantly biased corporate news . . . canned news from the AP wire . . . hardly any investigative reporting or local coverage . . . hell, comic strips with panels the size of postage stamps. If the people making newspapers didn’t kill them directly, it wasn’t for lack of trying,” postulated one investigator.
PRINT WAS A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE
Print, while fondly remembered by some, was not without its critics.
“Sure Print used to be great . . . many people fondly recall how books could be used as door stops and paperweights, for example . . . um, back when people needed paperweights. But no one seems to want to talk about, say, porno mags . . . or, worse, comic books. It isn’t kosher to speak ill of the dead, I know . . . but come on . . . maybe Print’s death isn’t all bad,” claimed one former reader while blankly
gazing at banner ads.“If Print had been printed on hemp, this never would have happened,” suggested a smelly hippie.
SOME CLAIM CONSPIRACY
“Print provided a fairly permanent record of past events. As such it was exceedingly inconvenient to people in positions of authority. The internet changes constantly. All information is seemingly equal on the internet . . . truth is easily muddled when there are no reliable sources,” noted one paranoid conspiracy theorist, lurking in the shadows. “I don’t think print is dead at all. It’s just waiting for the right time to return. Elvis, too,” some nut exclaimed.
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The BIG FUNNY project opened in 2009, a collaboration between Altered Esthetics, the International Cartoonist Conspiracy, and Big Time Attic. The International Cartoonist Conspiracy is an informal collective of amateur and professional cartoonists that meets monthly for drawing sessions and collaboration. Big Time Attic is the Northeast Minneapolis–based cartooning studio of Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon.
BIG FUNNY, our collaborative project, was an oversized newspaper comics section like in the old days. The idea for this epic show came from a collaboration with Steven Stwalley, who brought actual historic comics from his personal collection as we learned about what comics used to look like. Like comics of yore, each artist received a full-size page to create their work. After we decided on our concept, we held an open call for artists. While submissions rolled in, we researched printers. Finding one that printed to the scale of newsprint used in older papers was surprisingly hard, particularly in an era when print media was falling by the wayside. But the crew putting the project together was endurant, and we were able to find a Minnesota printer to do a one-time run of our newspaper at a price that was high, but within our range.
We had submissions from dozens of artists from around the States. Curating was a challenge, as we were limited by both page count and budget. We wound up with a paper packed full of art and amusing articles. Imagine a newspaper that is all funnies! For the front page, Zander Cannon embellished the BIG FUNNY logo with characters from every project inside the paper. The newspapers arrived by pallet, and we were just giddy about their delivery. Hot off the press, quite literally! During the opening we sat around, read comics, and ate spaghetti. After the exhibit we took the project to farmers markets around Minneapolis and hawked papers dressed up like newsies. And the world was a happy place. Are comics a legit form of art? Without question. Extra, extra, read all about it!
The BIG FUNNY project opened in 2009, a collaboration between Altered Esthetics, the International Cartoonist Conspiracy, and Big Time Attic. The International Cartoonist Conspiracy is an informal collective of amateur and professional cartoonists that meets monthly for drawing sessions and collaboration. Big Time Attic is the Northeast Minneapolis–based cartooning studio of Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon.
BIG FUNNY, our collaborative project, was an oversized newspaper comics section like in the old days. The idea for this epic show came from a collaboration with Steven Stwalley, who brought actual historic comics from his personal collection as we learned about what comics used to look like. Like comics of yore, each artist received a full-size page to create their work. After we decided on our concept, we held an open call for artists. While submissions rolled in, we researched printers. Finding one that printed to the scale of newsprint used in older papers was surprisingly hard, particularly in an era when print media was falling by the wayside. But the crew putting the project together was endurant, and we were able to find a Minnesota printer to do a one-time run of our newspaper at a price that was high, but within our range.
We had submissions from dozens of artists from around the States. Curating was a challenge, as we were limited by both page count and budget. We wound up with a paper packed full of art and amusing articles. Imagine a newspaper that is all funnies! For the front page, Zander Cannon embellished the BIG FUNNY logo with characters from every project inside the paper. The newspapers arrived by pallet, and we were just giddy about their delivery. Hot off the press, quite literally! During the opening we sat around, read comics, and ate spaghetti. After the exhibit we took the project to farmers markets around Minneapolis and hawked papers dressed up like newsies. And the world was a happy place. Are comics a legit form of art? Without question.
This post is adapted from It’s Never Going To Work: A Tale of Art and Nonprofits in the Minneapolis Community. Book includes illustrations by Athena Currier. ©2019 Jamie Schumacher.
It’s Never Going To Work is a light-hearted, illustrated book that offers real-life insights on founding a community space and nonprofit. It provides tools, tips, resources, and camaraderie to community organizers and anybody attempting something new.