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There are many different approaches to creating an artistically successful minicomic. For example, Tom Gauld creates the comics equivalent of a literary short story: each of his minis has narrative heft and philosophical implications, economically delivered. Others treat handcrafted minicomics as an
objet d'art, as editor Jordan Crane did in his anthology
Non. Still others, however, experiment in their minicomics, simply putting their not-quite-ready-for-primetime work out there for the world to see.
"Not-quite-ready-for-primetime," in the case of Laura Park's impish
Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream mini, is a compliment; just as those redoubtable players took advantage of their relative freedom from network strictures to embrace a wider range of comedic stylings
[1], Park's self-published comic,
[2] embracing the mini format, rambles through cartooning idioms such as the gag panel, the autobiographical, the recipe and the fable. Park explained this diversity thusly: "autobiography is something I really enjoy reading (especially comics which are so suited to it) but I prefer making fictional comics. I keep a sketchbook and most of the autobio comics come directly from there."
Her restlessness in regards to subject matter extends to the media Park uses
[3] and to the styles she employs, everything from heavily detailed crosshatching (although still not without a certain cuteness) to a retro cartooniness that would have fit right into a '50s
Collier's (
I find this gag panel to be the most effective instance of this). Her composition is impressive for an up-and-comer; no matter how heavily textured her drawings get, the reader's eye is never confused: Park's images are clear. (However, and rather strangely for a cartoonist who writes and draws her own material, there seem to be small continuity errors in her work. In "Mighty Friendly Hijinkery with Lil' Cindy," Cindy narrates, "We was best friend [sic] but then he cut off my lucky braid […]" while she holds the remaining, presumably unlucky, one, as opposed to pointing to the clipped hair on the side of her head. I believe Brian Cronin also observed this tendency in his evaluation of her piece in
Superior Showcase #3.)
Park favors tableaux, but when she does panel-to-panel transitions, it's fluid. Layout-wise, she makes good use of her page (the mini is in the format of 8 ½" X 11" sheets of paper folded down in half and stapled): she cleverly runs a comic across the bottom of two pages with two separate strips over it. Her use of negative space on the cover of the mini to highlight her charming drawing is compelling, as well; not only did it cause me to purchase the comic, but it was also the image
Uncharted Territory's editor chose to run as last week's column's icon.
It appears that Park's cartooning prowess was not obtained academically: she allowed that "I'm mainly self-trained, I did a few semesters of art school where I made very embarrassing multimedia installations. I've pretty much always drawn though, so there's that." She was non-specific about her influences, but did comment: "I really love artwork with lots of details to discover."
This statement is true of
Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream, which bears up to rereading. The frontispiece, a portrait of Park's and her cat Lewis' stand-ins in a beautifully detailed kitchen, touches on a couple of the themes that crop up throughout the mini: Laura's whimsical relationship with Lewis (
they're practically costars — he's featured on the back)
[4] and her predilection for depicting food. Regarding the latter, Park reflected, "who doesn't love drawing food?! I love to cook, especially for other people, also
Flickr (where I post comics, etc) is aces for recipe sharing and not having a real camera I guess I try to participate with drawings. I like that most anyone has a recipe dear to them, to share. It's a small but nice bond!"
Currently, Park is based in Chicago — "loads of great cartoonists live here" — where she's been connecting with others for drawing sessions. Of the myriad ways in which minis can be categorized, a comic like
Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream can be the most exciting, because it gives the reader a sense of having "discovered" a cartoonist, and a desire to follow his or her work to watch it develop. I look forward to doing so with Park's upcoming projects, which include "a comic for
Mome, and I am still plonking away at my "book"
[5] which'll be a collection of sketchbook and autobiographical comics."
[6]All images ©2008 Laura Park
Notes:
[1] … everything from Belushi's anarchy to Chase's barbs to Radner's grotesqueries …
[2] I found it at the Buenaventura Press table at SDCC. Park explained: "Alvin [Buenaventura] kindly picked up a stack of my minicomics to distribute from HeroesCon."
[3] Park draws in "pens, pencils, and a little bit of crayon and brush. No markers because I can never get them to work out for me."
[4] Park also a does a comic in which Lewis sings "On the Sunny Side of the Street" to cheer her up, and this comes off as a sweet, rather than crazy-cat-lady, moment, which is quite an achievement.
[5] Her quotation marks — she clarified "My book will not be self-published but I am loathe to speak about it as I feel mighty jinxy!"
[6] Although I work for Fantagraphics, I was unaware of this until she answered my question.
Kristy Valenti currently works for The Comics Journal and Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
Uncharted Territory is © Kristy Valenti, 2010
