Update #5: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
I ran cross country in high school, and there was a lyrical freedom to the sport--running distance races over hill and dale in the brisk fall air. But inevitably, every distance race has a painful moment of truth. Running fast over distance starts to hurt, a lot.
What to do? Stop running? Slow down? No, the runner searches for a rhythm and focus that allows them to continue to the finish.
So I gotta admit that right now, my Kickstarter fundraiser has hit the painful part of the race. Off to a fast start, adrenaline carried me halfway without consequence. Now in the middle stretch, I'm searching for the rhythm to carry me successfully to the end. The mind plays tricks on you, it doesn't seem possible. But, I know from experience that it is, so I collect my focus, impose a rhythm on my effort, and continue.
My favorite distance runner ever, Emil Zatopek, won the 5000, 10000 and marathon in the 1952 Olympics, the only runner ever to achieve this feat. He managed his pain in competition with an array of horrible grimaces that diverted attention from his perfect stride. The effect, comic, inspiring, riveting.
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on December 26, 2010.
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Postcard with an ink sketch of a Vocho (VW Bug) on it.
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El Vocho: Love at the Twilight of Oil graphic novel, one copy.
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Two copies El Vocho graphic novel. One for you and one for mom (or other special one).
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El Vocho graphic novel & El Vocho Black Tshirt, mens or womens
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Collectors Reward. One copy El Vocho, plus these rare Steve Lafler comic books: BugHouse #1 (1994), Prometheus' Gift (1991), Guts #3 (1982, first Dog Boy story), Buzzard #7 (1993, Julie Doucet Cover), Femme Noire #2 (1989).
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A copy of El Vocho + a complete 7 issue run of my Dog Boy comics from the 80s on the Cat-Head Comics imprint. This classic series featuring vigorous brushwork and preposterous narrative defined the cutting edge of the 80s alternative comics movement, and they are funny as hell too! Four sets only available.
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One copy El Vocho graphic novel and one 6" x 9" brush & ink, black and white cartoon drawing on bristol board. Choose your own character or subject for the cartoon.
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One copy El Vocho graphic novel and one 5" x 7" color acrylic painting on canvas. Choose your own character or subject for the painting.
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One copy El Vocho graphic novel and one 11" x 16.5" original art page from El Vocho, executed in brush & ink on bristol board. Pages can be viewed at http://www.co2comics.com/pages/co2_el_vocho.html. Please list at least one alternate.
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One copy El Vocho graphic novel and one 11" x 14" color acrylic painting on canvas. Choose your own character or subject for the painting.
Project By
Connected as Steve Lafler (988 friends)
I am a cartoonist and graphic novelist. I cut my teeth doing a preposterous daily comic strip, "Aluminum Foil", at UMass Amherst. Comic book series include Dog Boy with both Cat Head Comics and Fantagraphics, and the Buzzard comics anthology. My several graphic novels include Bughouse, Baja, and Scalawag on Top Shelf, and 40 Hour Man (with writer Stephen Beaupre) on Manx Media.
