Hoax #2

Posted: Tuesday, October 18, 2005
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Hoax #2 Creator(s): Various
Publishers: Mental Note Press (Self Published)
From: USA
Price: $2.95(US)

An alternative comix anthology, it's published in Grand Rapids, MI, so I'm guessing all the creatos are located around there. What a strange place it must be...

Review Journal entry #2012

My arrival in Grand Rapids went without a hitch. I can report it's like one of those strange towns in 1960s underground comics. There are brick tenements with steps leading up to the front doors, with lots of folks hanging out watching the day pass by. Every so often a talking animal wanders pass and yells out hello, and it looks like a bunch of hippies are planning the revolution on every corner.

The locals I've met so far seem nice, if a bit loopy. I think they might all be taking drugs or there's too much food colouring in their diet. Nate Neal goes on and on about strange cosmic conspiracies involving Jimi Hendrix. Wow. I can't quite take him seriously.

I spent most of my time in town with him, and he's got a myriad of ways of expressing himself: Sometimes he comes across all freaky, others really funny. he kept telling me stories about Luis and Ishmael. They keep playing tricks on each other, and these can get quite violent. They're funny, and they have arguments about quite interesting topics.

I also spent some time with Lydia Gregg. She's quite a serious woman who has an eclectic thought process which links things like the bodies mechanism for repairing fractured bones with a horrific story of an Arabic woman who is gang raped by a group of soldiers. Not a topic I felt comfortable with, but it was an interesting way of looking at issues.

Karl Kressbach took me to see folk at a local rest home. The nurse there was dealing with patients suffering from dementia. The rather random way memories would resurface reminded me of the way my elderly mother talks.

My visit was book-ended by Eleanor Davis and the 3 Bad Ones she introduced me to. These three guys, I think they are brothers, were looking for a wife but got more than they bargained for. There predicament made me laugh.

Looking back, I really enjoyed my visit to Grand Rapids. The folks I met were very creative. Their love of their wacky city infused the conversations I had with them, but they were also willing to talk about its faults, something I found reassuring in these rather scary times. I'm not saying I'd recommend the place to everyone, but if you are an independent traveller willing to sleep rough now and then it's worth a visit.

In a Word: Looney.



If you have a comment or question about Small Press then feel free to contact me