Teen Views

On Oct. 18, 2008, a group of teen comic artists (supported by helpful adults from 7,000 B.C. in Santa Fe and co-sponsored by True Believer Comics and Gallery) participated in a sleepover of sorts—except that there was very little sleeping that night. “24 Hour Comics Day” was an opportunity for teens to participate in a creative challenge: make a 24-page comic book in 24 hours. The impressive results have been on exhibit in Warehouse 21’s visual arts gallery, where they can be viewed through the end of this month.

Some of the teen artists carefully practiced the styles of popular, established strips. Rafael Contreras and Consuelo Pascual collaborated on a wordless space adventure that uses the dramatically angled perspective of midcentury comics. And Sarah Martinez’s “Macabre Angel Chapter 2” is a skillful example of traditional comic art drawing inspired by Japanese Anime.

Other artists were more interested in fun and invention than in style. James Jones’ “S.e.f.f.: super, exciting, fantastic, fun” is a wildly dizzying and humorous romp through the history of western civilization, complete with heroes, villains, the crusades, Moses, Jesus, Joan of Arc, time warps, World War 2, Stalin, Lenin, and Hitler, who ultimately falls victim to the penguin with poisonous pie. Really. The main character in Benjy Geary’s comic adopts a one-eyed cat, Jack, and Nicolette Espinoza’s cats get ready for Halloween in “Spiffy Whiskers”.

Understandably, drawing a page an hour without a break proved a difficult challenge for some. Evan Clement’s story of Oswald Old, an architectural student who is visited by couchcrasher Jack, starts out with a promising narrative and skilled drawing, but it is clear that Clement ran out of time and rushed the pencil and the story’s conclusion. However, Clement proves early on that he knows how to use pictures to maximize information rather than didactically illustrating the text. In one of the first frames, for example, Clement’s text identifies Oswald as an architectural student over a picture of Oswald doing the dishes. A less interesting choice would have been to show the main character at a drafting table. But by showing Oswald washing dishes, Clement lets us know that Oswald is a guy who, above all, likes order. And that’s why a visit from Jack is going to be a disaster.

Caitlin Cass’ “At the Edge of the Lake” is the most complete, thoughtful, and powerful work in the exhibition. In it, Gloria Leonard comes of age. She survives a challenging childhood with her exhausted single mother, and dreams of her hopeful future while she wanders in the woods near her grandmother’s house. Cass uses dramatic shifts in value to create mood and drama, and the result is unforgettably emotional. In a frame in which the text reads, “And so she searched,” a woman shines a flashlight into the dark woods, and the beam reveals the details of bark and leaves. Cass shows the reader what is happening and also suggests what is not. The reader may not fully understand the meaning of the comic’s final frame, but it is obvious that the lonely and tenacious main character has, in adulthood, found something powerful in what frightened her most many years ago. Cass doesn’t placate the reader, and this, along with her drawing talent, is why her work is so impressive.

What stands out, overall, is that teens are bored, insecure, and worried about the future. A significant number of the comics illustrate the slow, unexciting life of adolescence, accessorized by self-loathing, violence, drinking and apathy. Victoria Espinoza outlines the ironic trials and tribulations of a girl’s high school track team, complete with blis ters, injuries, ice baths –– and eating disorders –– in “Typical Day in Cross Country.” In Emily Montoya’s “Wheel of Life,” the protagonist decides, “I’m 25, it’s time I did something with my life,” and later we see her working at a video rental store.

A comic by Kirstiann Bushman titled, “I promise I’ll remember by trying my best not to forget. Well, as much as I can remember, I suppose. Ha ha,” starts out in the banal, real life of a teen who takes the bus to school, eats out of vending machines and talks on her cell phone. After a get-toknow-you altercation with another teen, she ends up with a new friend, and together, they adopt animal personas in order to avoid sadness.

With a Greyhound bus ticket in his pocket but lacking shoes, a phone, or a wallet, the main character in Maxwell Hogen’s comic “D.A.R.E.” ends up thinking he killed a young girl during a violent incident in a public bathroom, only to find that he simply dozed off in the bus and dreamt the whole story.

The most revealing and stunningly drawn strip, by Antonio Marquez, starts out with a group of teenage guys smoking, talking and rough-housing around a bonfire. One character asks, “Do you think we drink too much?” And another answers, “Most kids do in this town. It’s just the easiest way to have fun.” It’s their senior year of high school and none of them knows what will happen after graduation, except that everything will change, and the reader can sense their sadness and fear at the prospect of an empty future. Their conversation wanders into fantasy (what would happen if they had to fight off zombies?) and reminiscing (two of their high school friends died in a violent episode). The strip ends with one of the teens asking, “What if a comet crashed earth?” Another character answers, “I guess we’d finish this bottle and enjoy the show.”

Hats off to Warehouse 21 for offering local youth a free, safe place for creativity and selfexpression. Santa Fe adults will learn about what the next generation thinks and feels if they wander inside.

If You Go

WHAT: “24 Hour Comics”
WHEN: Through January
WHERE: Warehouse 21 Teen Arts Center Visual Arts Gallery, 1614 Paseo de Peralta
CONTACT: (505) 989-4423 or www.warehouse21.org