Tumeyland

Those were the instructions I received from New Orleans Chess Festival founder and organizer Michael Tisserand, who asked me to design the event's t-shirt. This annual event is free and attended by 250 kids -- a worthy cause, to be sure. I met Michael because we share a common interest: old comics. Michael is a journalist, chess instructor, and book author. He's written notable books on Zydeco music and New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. His latest project, years in the works, is a full-fledged, whole enchilada biography of Krazy Kat's creator, George Herriman. Micheal has been kind enough to read drafts of my various professional writings on comics and offer helpful suggestions. He also kindly let me give him an early version of one of my lectures, via Skype. So, when he contacted me to say the artist he had lined up to design his t-shirt wasn't going to be able to do it, and did I have any ideas, how could I say no?  I spent a few days thinking about it a...

The Floating Head of Humtulips (2012)  by Steve Willis, Jim Gill, Frank Young, and Paul Tumey Above: Steve Willis Above left: Jim Gill Above right: Paul Tumey Above left: Frank Young Above right: Steve Willis Above left: Jim Gill Above right: Paul Tumey Above: Steve Willis The Floating Head of Humtulips is a spontaneous, four-way collaboration minicomic by Steve Willis , Jim Gill , Frank Young , and me -- Paul Tumey. This was created in about 20 minutes in 2012 in the hometown of Steve Willis, McLeary, Washington. We were in a tiny public building that had a comical sign on its wall: "Building Occupency Maximum 75 People." This amused us for two reasons -- one was the misspelling, and two: getting 75 people in that tiny building, you'd really have to jam them in. Frank Young incorporated the sign into his page for the mini. Isn't Steve's last page/back cover perfect? All four of us comic book artists appea...