McChoppinites, you may already know, but I love the work of the original post-it note comic artist Marc Johns. But I am starting to have a sneaking suspicion why this is: I might be Marc Johns.
All right, I should probably start at the beginning. I first heard of Marc Johns through a friend and her blog a few years back. She mentioned a Marc Johns drawing, now made famous by Digg or something, of a scheming bunny.
I immediately liked the drawing. It spoke to that part of my childhood that was strongly influenced by watching “Pinky and the Brain” and the slightly subconscious connection that I made with understanding science and having some kind of real power. And well, it was funny.
So I started paying attention to Marc.
And then I saw this:
This was not too long after the Slickman, Dan the Man, and I had just finished carving the visages of our favorite arctic explorers into briar burl pipes. That is, we had pipes with faces on them. Bearded faces. And, to top it off, the Slickman and I had just begun getting into old-timey shaving , you know, the kind with a safety razor and brush. The timing was great; I promptly bought a copy of the print and got it framed. It was my first Marc Johns purchase.
And then there were more pipes and more beards. And then mustaches. And mason jars. And even a print about cocktails! All things I was interested in. It was great. This Marc Johns fellow was into all the same stuff as me! So I got more prints. And I got friends prints. I even had a loosely inspired Marc Johns birthday party.
And then there was this:
I’ve already mentioned this particular sticky note artwork in a post before. What I didn’t really mention was that I’ve broken my femur and that I semi-regularly carve long wooden spoons.
The metal rod that was in my femur, next to a long wooden spoon that I carved.
I was now starting to think that this was getting a little weird, mayhaps too coincidental. But none the less I bought the original of the sticky note, along with a few more of pipes and such.
Then, just a few months back I got an email from Marc Johns about some of his new drawings for sale. It was late at night, and admittedly I had had a couple of cocktails. I bought a new drawing, but it wasn’t until the next day I saw this one:
I’m not even going to say anything about it. I’m just going to submit this picture of me from Bay2Breakers 2009:
This, dear McChoppinites, was pretty odd. Although I’m not sure which was more unsettling, that I had missed purchasing the original of Marc Johns “fish costume” or that Marc Johns had drawn a fish costume.
Okay, sure things were getting weird. I mean, it’s not like everyone thinks of wooden spoons, pipes with faces, femurs, and fish costumes, right? Or mayhaps they do? I was unsure.
And then, just last week, I saw my first ever photo of Marc. Apparently Kate Donnelly interviewed Marc and his desk for her project. In the piece there was a picture of Marc, at his desk:
Marc Johns probably drawing something totally awesome
Or wait. Is that me? ?
Me pretending to draw a coffee bean
It was shocking. It’s as if I have I super-hero alter-ego. Is Marc Johns Superman to my Clark Kent? Am I mild mannered rocket scientist by day and a pen slinging super-comic artist by night? The irony of my super-hero alter-ego being a comic writer is not lost on me, by the way. Here it is in analogy form
Marc Johns:Curbman :: Batman:Bruce Wayne
If so, I had no idea. More importantly though, if it is true, which aspect of my life will Marc Johns draw next? Something coffee related? Maybe it will have something to do with a sleeping bag? Or sweetbreads? Sweetbreads are pretty funny, so I could see that. And that is the genius of Marc, McChoppinites. He takes those boring, pedestrian, plebeian aspects of my life and turns them into something awesome. He made a diamond-encrusted rocket! I never thought of that, and I pretty much think about rockets all day. And he clearly comes up with better applications for lasers than I ever have, and I’ve actually seen first hand lasers vaporize holes through steel plates.
So Marc, if you are my super-hero alter-ego, that’s cool. Keep up the good work. And McChoppinites, if you like the work of Marc Johns I recommend you buy a print or original drawing. He even writes a little personal note with every shipment he sends out. Or I do. Or something. And by supporting Marc Johns, you may be supporting me, somehow. Mayhaps. Although I suspect If Marc is my alter-ego he has an alter-ego bank account where he stashes all his major profits from being a totally awesome comic artist. But then again, mayhaps I’ll find it someday?