Comic Relief!

Nate Powell makes comic books. And do not insult him by calling them "graphic novels." He begins with a scene, develops characters and allows imagination to carry him away from the autobiographical and into an accessible story line that turns and tells truths with intelligence and purpose, despite the preconceived notion that comic books are a distasteful and unintelligent medium.\n"There's something about the consumer value of literature — where if it has pictures in it, that automatically devalues the idea," Powell says of the genre, "And it's really sad."\nThrough his comic book creating, Powell adds to his already aesthetic-centered life a contribution to what he sees as a real art and not just popular culture.\nThe life of a comic book writer is likened to that of any struggling artist, in that it commands a day job and a lot of setbacks. Powell's latest release, "Sounds of Your Name," was published by Microcosm Publishing out of Portland, Ore. However, all four thousand copies were tainted by a rare printing malfunction, which led to "grainy and imperfect" illustrations on all 360 pages.\nBecause of the error, the book is sold at less than half-price and comes with a hand-signed apology from Powell and Microcosm and an $8 discount for the republished version of the book. The book will be re-released whenever Powell and his publishers have enough money to republish it. The day when that will occur isn't exactly clear to Powell, but he'll have no trouble keeping busy in the meantime, he says. \nLike many other artists before him, Powell's training involved travel. Powell moved all over the country before graduating from the Visual Arts College of New York with a degree in cartooning. Years later, he moved to Bloomington, where he grew addicted to early morning walks and the local art scene, as well as the social community. \n"One of the things about Bloomington, I find, is that all of my friends who move from Bloomington, move to 'Bloomington' somewhere else," he says. "They get a sense of inertia here occasionally, but they don't really want to move away. They want the same town, just in another state."\nPowell has juggled multiple forms of artistic expression ever since first coming to Bloomington. After settling in, he started his own record label and got a full-time job assisting adults with disabilities. Somehow, when he's not playing with his band, designing cover art for albums, or doing freelance artwork, he finds the time to regularly produce comics.\n"I have a perfect product of art in my life," Powell says. "I've been writing comics at the same time as my theatric, puppet-based band has been touring."\nNearly all the profit he makes from comics goes into his record label.\nHe likens his band "Soophie Nun Squad," whose performance features puppets and song-and-dance routines, to "The Muppet Show." \n"It's lots of costumes and props, very jubilant," Powell says. \nThe concept of "Soophie Nun Squad" sharply contrasts the ideology of his comics, which include narratives of teenage angst and tragedy. While his comic books are filled with harsh language, his ultimate goal for his band is to develop it into an all-ages musical art-based narrative.\n"This is the theater where I can communicate best. I remember the way I thought when I was six, and it's exactly the same as the way I think now," Powell says of his aspirations for the band.\nMeanwhile, his current comic project is a 200-page book titled "Wormwood," which he expects to be released in 2008. One year ago, he had a dream that prompted him to begin working on the Bloomington-based story, which is comprised of fictionalized characters based on actual people in his life and events that occurred during his residence in town. For the release, he has been in discussion with Vertigo/DC Comics, publisher of "V for Vendetta." \nFrank Miller, one of the most respected writers in the industry, the creator of "Sin City," and the author of several "Batman" novels, is one of the thousands of fans of Powell's writing. On the back cover of "Sounds of Your Name," Miller states that Powell "wittily, even surgically, cuts to the bone." He goes on in praise of Powell's graphic style. "Observant, intimate cartooning," he calls it, "anchored with a nice, punchy use of black."\nThis, Powell's most recent comic release, is an anthology of most of his older works, but this week he is heading to a comic book convention in Washington, D.C., to debut a 44-page book titled "Please Release." It is being published by Top Shelf Productions, and has an initial print run of between four and eight thousand.\nPowell is very aware of a bias against comic books as "real" art, but the criticism of his genre does not affect his approach to writing or his content.\n"It's just accessibility versus acceptance. The commonly 'accepted' comics are accepted by the culture, but not accepted as art," Powell says, in reference to superhero comic books and anime, which are associated with fantastical plots and characters.\n"A lot of the difficulty in embracing comic books as literature comes because of difficulty with the format. Having access to the format allows access to the art and allows people to make their own opinion of it." \nPowell expects "Please Release" to be available at Vintage Phoenix Comics and Collectibles and Boxcar Books in Bloomington sometime within the next two weeks, though the official release date is in November.