'Rabbit and the Tug of War'

Michael Thompson (Mvskoke Creek) was born in Holdenville, Okla., and raised on a south Georgia cattle farm along the Flint River. He has been a teacher, writer and occasional community activist in Georgia, Kansas, California and New Mexico. He and his wife, Tina Deschenie (Dine'/Hopi), have made numerous presentations on contemporary Native literature at state and national conferences. The story he provided, "Rabbit and the Tug of War," was adapted from the W. O. Tuggle collection of stories compiled by ethnographer John Swanton in the early 1900s.

Jacob Warrenfeltz is a D.C.-are comic book artist who is rendering the story. Jake provided a rough of Page 3 as well as the final pencils for the page so you can see his process for drawing the story. Next, Jake will ink it, color it and then letter it electronically.

When Your Hands Are Tied

This is a DVD that I came across in my research for the Trickster project. "When Your Hands Are Tied" has nothing to do with tricksters. It's an incredibly compelling, award-winning documentary that focuses on how young Native Americans are expressing themselves in today's world while keeping strong traditional lives. It made me feel sympathy and inspiration (and prompted me to do some self-examining). It's a great educational tool.

For more information, visit whenyourhandsaretied.org. Producer/director Mia Boccella Hartle provides complementary copies for schools and community organizations.

'Box of Daylight'

Ryan Huna Smith is an amazing artist who recently was named executive director of the Smoki Museum in Prescott, Arizona. Ryan is Chemehuevi/Navajo and has done a comic series where the heros are Native Americans. The book is called Tribal Force. Ryan is illustrating probably the most complicated story in the book, "Box of Daylight," penned by Gene Tagaban, a Tlingit storyteller/dancer/actor from Alaska. Below are a few rough sketches for the story.

Free Comic Book Day!

Beyond Comics will host several cartoonists involved with Trickster who will sign their own books during Free Comic Book Day this Saturday, May 3:

At the Frederick (Md.) shop:
Evan Keeling (Crumbsnatchers)
Rafer Roberts (Plastic Farm)

At the Gaithersburg (Md.) shop:
Matt Dembicki (Mr. Big, Spadefoot)
Andrew Cohen (Spadefoot, Howzit Funnies and Lawmonger)

I'll have sample art from Trickster!

Visit the shops, say hello, get some free comics (and buy some, too)!

'The Dangerous Beaver'

Cowlitz storyteller and editor Roy Wilson of Washington State compiled a book of Cowlitz stories (Legends of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe), most of which have been passed down among generations. What's unique is that he used original source material for many of the stories, either written or recorded. Roy, who served 32 years on his tribe's council, permitted us to use "The Dangerous Beaver," as told by family friend Mary Eyley in 1928. Small-press comics guru Jim "8ball" Coon of Upstate New York illustrated the story. Jim gave it a historical feel with the parchment-like texture he used on the pages, as if you were reading the original writing/rendering of the story.

'Trickster' Q-and-A

Robert Schmidt, a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who writes on business, gaming and multicultural subjects, did a brief Q&A with me and Christian Beranek, publisher of Little Foot Comics, about the scope of Trickster, how the idea came about and some of the bumps along the road. He has authored one book, The National Jobline Directory, and publishes Peace Party, the multicultural comic book featuring Native Americans. Rob, who describes himself as a "non-Native with no Cherokee princesses in his background," has studied Native issues extensively since 1990. He is presently developing various comic-book projects and his website, BlueCornComics.com.

'How the Alligator Got His Brown Scaly Skin'

Sometimes you wonder how certain pairings of writers and artists will work. Sometimes, they are simply a perfect match. Here's a wonderful story by Oklahoma Muscogee storyteller Joyce Bear called "How the Alligator Got His Brown Scaly Skin" illustrated by Megan Baehr. Savor this page and salivate that there's more to come!

Addendum: I'm always curious about the tools and materials artists use. Here's what Megan used to illustrate the story (which I swipped from her Web site -- "I used brown ink (Higgins) and watercolors (Winsor & Newton) on natural white, esparto pulp watercolor paper (Schoellershammer). I also used a bit of sepia Micron pen for the panel borders and word balloons which miraculously matched the Higgins ink PERFECTLY." She also created the font, using her own lettering.