PROFILE
Comic book brigade Nonprofit group provides support for aspiring comic artists of New Mexico BY CHARLIE CRAGO hile so much of life in the modern world is spent tied up at work, maintaining financial obligations through a delicate balance of family and home, New Mexican nonprofit 7000 B.C. seeks to reignite the creative flame in all of us. Rather than focusing on success at the corporate level, the main focus of 7000 B.C. revolves around the promotion of its artists and of the art itself. 7000 B.C. is a group of comic writers and artists. It’s focused on providing opportunities for those artists to develop their personal styles and storytelling “voices,” while 7000 promoting an B.C. understanding of the MONTHLY cultural significance MEETING of comic art. The 1-4p, Sat., group accomplishes Dec. 17 those tasks Collected Works through illustration Bookstore workshops, 202 Galisteo conventions and its Suite A, Santa Fe, monthly publication, 505.988.4226 String. 7000bc.org 7000 B.C. operates more like an artist collective than any kind of regimented organization, acting as a motor driving the artistic endeavors of its members. After attending one of the group’s monthly meetings (second or third Saturday of every month, check 7000bc.org), it is clear that the artists who make up 7000 B.C. are far more concerned with building one another’s craft than they are with adhering to strict codes of conformity. There is no leader at 7000 B.C. During my visit, everyone was incredibly enthusiastic in speaking with me, about whatever — comics, film, Local-iQ. Before long, small groups had formed, allowing members to examine one another’s art more intimately, at which point I was taken in by 7000 B.C.’s more senior members. Thankfully, seniority appears not to be indicative of maturity on any level. A jovial, festive mood swelled through the meeting, while acting president, or vice-president, or nearest man to the job — I’m not sure it matters — Chuck Larntz was serious about illustrating the group’s priority of actively promoting its members: “7000 B.C. is like a springboard for aspiring comic creators,” Larntz explained. “Once you get published, it’s like a snowball. The hardest part is getting your first piece published. Then, once you break that barrier, the sky’s the limit. I’ve seen it.” A wealth of information concerning the comic subculture, dating back nearly 40 years and covering industry necessities such
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This is the cover of a published comic book written and drawn by 7000 B.C. administrator Bram Meehan and former group member Jamie Chase, who now works for Dark Horse comics. Members of 7000 B.C. provide feedback and support to each other in the interest of getting more New Mexicans into the comic books business.
as pricing, selling and printing, are but a few among the many avenues of support offered by 7000 B.C. to its artists. Perhaps even more enticing for members is the prospect of inclusion into the group’s monthly publication, String (check out 7000bc.org for back editions), which, as an easy-toread, four-page publication, serves as an immediate outlet for burgeoning ideas. Still, according to Larntz, the “largest benefit” to being part of 7000 B.C. is the potential for having works sold at the various conventions coming to the state, for which the group provides table space for artists to promote their crafts (next up: Albuquerque Comic Con, Jan. 13-15 at Hard Rock Casino). Member Todd Bernardy said 7000 B.C. provides invaluable support. “The great thing about the group is everyone loves creating comics,” Bernardy said. “These aren’t selfloathing fine artists who show their work at galleries and believe art is life and life is pain. These are creators who want to capture a sequence and make a story, fictional or non-fictional, by observation.” Long before the great masters of the Renaissance were painting cathedrals or sculpting the human form, our Paleolithic ancestors were scribbling the contents of their minds onto the walls of their homes. 7000 B.C. gives this prehistoric art form modern-day relevance, reminding its audience to stop and take a moment to draw a pretty picture.
LOCAL iQ | ALBUQUERQUE’S INTELLIGENT ALTERNATIVE | DECEMBER 8-21, 2011
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