Tumeyland

What are the consequences of murder? This is a story of murder seen as the ultimate escalation of desire -- therefore this is a fable about the destructive nature of desire. The narrator gets the pearls, but they become meaningless to him as he has a new desire -- the riches of a lost city. The disintegration of the map to this new desire -- to me -- symbolizes the loss of his soul and the fragmentation of his moral compass. Of course, I had none of this in mind as I made the comic. These are just ideas that come to me when I read it, years later. I always wondered why the Peter Lorre/pearl drinker didn't just redeem the pearl for the map at the pawn shop. It must have been a fake -- but then, why does the narrator kill him if he knows the pearls are fakes? Perhaps the murder is not about desire, but  instead a psychopathic urge to kill -- perhaps triggered by being conned.  Recently, comics guru Steve Willis read this story an...

From Hoppin' Frog #7 (2000) by Paul Tumey. First publication anywhere, anytime, man. Copyright 2012 Paul Tumey. All Rights Reserved.

On May 26, 2012 a group of friends and I went down to McCleary, Washington to spend Mini-Comics Day with one of my favorite cartoonists, Steve Willis . A big thank you to Jim Gill , who rented a vehicle and drove us there, and to Steve and his lovely partner, Sarah , for organizing the event (and for kindly protecting wild baby bunnies from Steve's cats to allow Steve to be there). I've been reading Steve's comics since 1990, when we were both part of the zine culture that traded self-published, photocopied publications through the mails. So it was especially great to finally meet and co-create with Newave master, and modern screwballist Steve Willis! It was a fun and inspiring day that produced 7 new mini comics, by my count (there could have been more). Here's a list, in order of when the comics were created. These are linked to Steve's blog, where he has published them! Untitled - by Steve Willis Headgear - by Jim Gill The Tapir's Pug Dog Sweater  -...

Here's six new drawings from a spontaneous jam session between me, my partner Claire, and her 11-year old daughter, Olivia. We each started with a blank sheet of paper, made part of a drawing on it, and then passed it to the person on our right. After one round, we had three drawings, each with work by the three of us. This is a very successful and fun rotation method I've used to create spontaneous comics and stories, as well as drawings. It's a creative conversation using different languages. It's also a great way to engage with your kids and your partner. In fact, my son Reid is often present at these jams, as well. In a future post, I'll share some of his amazing work. For our first round, Olivia started a drawing with flying pies that she colored: I then drew an observation platform with a funny little man on it. Claire finished up with the ethereal, angelic, and comically-sized flying pie catcher -- somehow the spirit of woman is tied to pi...